Tesla Roadster - All Electric sports car (2007 prototype)

[Janusha]

Its funny how they are trying to pass this off as an american car. They do that inorder to score technology money from the state of California and the US-government. Same goes for the Dodge Circuit. Both of which are rebadged European sportscars.

[cplai]

@Janusha The body of this car was designed by Lotus. But don't judge a car only by its skins. Like if you wear a George Bush mask in Halloween, do you become him? No.

[Janusha]

I just got back from a car show where I drove the 2010 version. Dealers told me its only 7% Lotus. I said.. what 7% mannhours? 7% of its weight? the number of parts? Its a silly thing they say inorder to market it as their own product instead of an electric Lotus. They were forced to coincede that yes its built at the Lotus headquarters in England by Lotus people with Lotus tech. Its simply delivered to Tesla where they insert the electric engine and battery and hey... An "american" car is born.

[Janusha]

Oh and by the way.. The bodywork is made in France and shipped to the Lotus factory where Lotus puts it on.

This isnt the first electric Lotus. There is the Nemesis and Dodge Circuit which is Dodges way of scoring California state funding and Obamas tech money. Its really also a redressed elecric Lotus.

[cplai]

@Janusha Toyota and GM has abandoned the NUMMI auto factory in Fremont California. Tesla has recently taken their place. That means the Tesla will be made in Fremont, California. Remember that the key intellectual properties are the batteries and electrical energy management system. Even Toyota has signed up with Tesla to use their battery design.

[cplai]

@Janusha The main problem with electric cars is the range. Did you know the Toyota Prius can only drive 2 miles on battery power after it runs out of gas? Making a long range electric car is not a trivial engineering challenge. I applaud Tesla for making the first step.

[Janusha]

I seriously doubt they will change the current Tesla and have it made in USA. And if it is, it will still be a Lotus product. However they are currently showing a concept version of their NEXT car which might be made in California.

As for their tech.... its stuff they buy from other companies. This isnt uncommon.

[Janusha]

Thing is.. Electric power currently struggles with range so it makes sense to make it into a sportscar. because then they can justify a higher pricetag to cover the extra cost of light weight materials. Also it made sense to call Lotus because Lotus made their first fully carbonfibre car over 40 years ago. In contrast the entire continent of USA has no experience whatsoever with light weight cars or sportscars.

[Porsche010]

maybe the engine is on... noone knows because it doesent make any noise..

[mikxr]

ok cheers mate.

[mikxr]

where does the spare go?

[cplai]

@mikxr I honestly don't know where they hide the spare tire. Probably like most pick-up trucks, they can hang the spare under the bottom using a cranked chain. Besides, many urban people simply get rid of the spare because a flatbed truck is often just minutes away. Getting rid of the dead weight improve the milage and range of the car too.

[coolerdude44]

anybody know this car's top speed?

[cplai]

Click More Info in the video description area on your right.

[coolerdude44]

why is it so low? it seems like it has potential to be a real super car, but with a camry-like top speed?

[rampagerampage]

it really looks like a real sport car.. you wouldn`t know this was an electric sport car if you saw it parket somewere.. nice..

[cplai]

The body is designed by Lotus. I am not sure if it was a reuse of an existing chasis or a dedicated design for Tesla.

[cant7think7clearly]

Not sure why but the Tesla Roadster really stirs me more than any other supercar ever has. Even if the steering wheel's on the wrong side of the car. ;)

[coolerdude44]

its on the right side for the rest of the world, england is not the only country, despite what you may think

[cant7think7clearly]

That was a poor attempt at a joke. Don't take things so seriously mate!

:)

[coolerdude44]

XD

well, from what ive seen on top gear, that seems to be the mentality

[rtsoccerplayer]

thats actually really nice, i'd buy one if i had the opportunity

[whytrustanyone]

wtf? is that a dead body in the trunk?

[cplai]

No, that is not a dead body. It was just the salesman's jacket on top of his briefcase.

[mikecute7]

holy shit!!! thats a cool car... does that car run as fast as other sports car?? or is it slow like other electric cars...

[cplai]

Read more video details on the right. Top Speed is 125mph. Not as fast as a lambo, good enough for US roads. In term of fuel efficiency, it is hard to compare gas consumption with electric power consumption. But it is equivalent to 135 miles per gallon. Compared to to the 8 mpg of a lambo, it is 17X difference.

[TwitchingPoo]

Its damn fast. Accelerates faster than lambo and top speed is twice as fast as ur meant to go on a normal road. :D theyre brilliant

[MechanicalEngineer1]

Maybe it reaches larger numbers faster but zero to 60 in four seconds falls short of the lambos 0-60 in 3.5 seconds wouldn't you say? What they should say is the 0-100 acceleration time which must be faster than the Lambo. Also, we have to be more specific, which Lambo? If you meant Gallardo, then your right because it needs 4.2 secs.

[TwitchingPoo]

Thats all true but think, how much effort has gone into electric cars? Not much I say. No where near as much research as petrol cars. Think about this, In 10 years time there will be some circuit with the same effect as a turbocharger or supercharger which acts on the electric motor to provide a huge boost. As well as that think of this, Electric motors are efficient but will Inimaginaly improve over a few years. 0 - 100 in 2 seconds in 10 years i say :D

[MechanicalEngineer1]

Maybe just use "hooked up" motors like they do in RC race cars. Probably use brushless twin motor setups.

[cplai]

It has been proven that the high torque of the electric motor at 0 rpm is an advantage. Search youtube for "Dodge Viper 500 hp Vs Tzero Electric Car" or "Electric car vs Ferrari" or "ELECTRIC CAR tzero blows off a Ferrari" for some old videos that show electric cars can be very good sport cars.

[cplai]

Toyoto used to post a hybrid super sports car on their website, I think it was called volta or something. They took it down recently. It can also go 0-60 in 4 seconds. The major difference is the range. A hybrid car can continue the trip after refuelling. A electric car cannot move when the battery is out.

[cplai]

Google "Toyota Alessandro Volta Concept" and you should find info outside of Toyota website.

[TwitchingPoo]

Yea thats all good but it still produces some polution. All cars switching to hybrid would be great but switching to electric would be AWESOME. think of this. Tesla roadster does 500km/charge. You knobs realy gona drive around australia in 1 day HAH. Ya know like from brisbane to sydney and back maybe. HAH id liek to see that. Even then, you can still recharge while ur not in the car therefore PERMANENT TRANSPORT. half hour charge would get u 100 km and thats enuf fot 1 day driving too.

[TwitchingPoo]

I mean hybrids still produce some pollution. Hybrids are a piss weak way of still selling petrol and trying to say theyre still eco-friendly. They are clean but not entirely. Still, if all cars were electric you would need to demolish coal power plants and build cold fusion power plants for endless and clean energy.

[cplai]

I didn't say hybrid is better. I just said hybrid solves the short range disadvantage of the electric cars. Hybrid is real and currently available. Cold fusion and electric cars with 5 minutes charging cycle do not exist yet. When they do, hybrid is not needed.

If government are commited, they can build induction coils under all interstate freeway to power electric cars while they speed along.

[TwitchingPoo]

Yea that would be wesome. like wireless cars. They would run permanently and without polution. but what r conduction coils? do they eminate electricity? or something on those lines?

[cplai]

Do you own an electric tooth brush like SonicCare? You just drop the brush handle into a charging base that look like a hole. The hole is actually a coil of wire powered by A/C current to create a flucuating magnetic field. Another induction coil inside the brush handle picks up the magnetic field and converts it to electricity to charge the tooth brush. There is no metal contact between the tooth brush and the charging unit. Regular voltage transformers work with similar principles.

[cplai]

If one lane of each major highway is paved with induction coils on the ground. The electric cars with the proper equipment can drive over the lane to pick up the power from the magnetic field to replenish the battery. They can go in town on battery charge, but tap into the powered lane while on highway. When all the highways are powered, electric cars will have unlimited range. But who is going to line the highway with such charging system?

[MechanicalEngineer1]

Well, if you pass a magnet by a coil, it will induce a current in the coil. Basic physics 2 stuff. So Technically, if they lined the road with powerful magnets and the cars had the necessary coil, the road itself wouldn't need a special "system." However, obtaining this amount of magnetic material is probably not feasible. Maybe only have it on certain stretches with miles in between?

[cplai]

Such passive system won't work. The induced current come from the kinetic energy, ie. the relative motion and the coil. The energy must come from some place. i.e. the car will slow down in order to give the current. So it is a wash. To charge a moving car, the energy must be fed by the road actively using some kind of induction coils.

[edcastrovalley]

Awesome, do they even sell these yet?

[cplai]

Yes, they have been on sale for sometime (pre-order). It is priced just below US$100,000, but it would be over 100K after tax and license fee. The first production car will not be rolled out the production car until sometime this year. Google their website to get an update.

[MechanicalEngineer1]

Check yahoo autos. MSRP: $89,000. Tax, title, license will not set you over 100K. Its in production already.

[awaken69]

range is 150-250 miles, not 300 according to newest tests...

[cplai]

Thanks for pointing out the error. I have changed the video discription.