Just saw my first Tesla on the road....

[daniel]

Originally Posted by jayman

Funny though how Tesla came out with a Volt well before GM did.

Not really a fair statement. The Volt was supposed to have been a serial PHEV. The Tesla is an EV. The Volt was supposed to have been a 4-passenger coupe. The Tesla is a two-seat high-performance roadster with enough luggage space for one bag of golf clubs. The Volt was supposed to have been a family car. The Tesla is for wealthy hot-rod aficionados.

And of course GM actually built an EV long before Tesla. But Toyota or Nissan may end up building something functionally equivalent to the Volt around the time that GM finally announces that it's not possible to build the Volt with today's technology after all.

[jayman]

Originally Posted by ZC1

Maybe we should just pool our money together..... he dreams.....

ZC1

I get to drive it Monday and Tuesday.

[jayman]

Originally Posted by daniel

Not really a fair statement.

No, of course not

GM was never entirely "fair" with their EV program either. Imagine where the EV1 program would be now if GM had kept it up. But, that is water under the bridge - unfortunately

I think it's interesting that Tesla can produce a future car - admittedly a hot rod - but one that if simplified and more practical (Luggage space) could provide primary transportation for a great many urban dwellers

I wouldn't be surprised if Tesla is bought out, though hopefully *not* by GM. I'm sure Toyota could apply their vast engineering knowledge to the Tesla, and create a Yaris to Corolla size EV at a very reasonable entry price

[daniel]

I don't think Toyota needs to buy out Tesla in order to produce an EV, whether it be a sports car or a family sedan. After all, they built the Rav4EV. A bigger fear is that GM buys out Tesla in order to put a stop to its plans for a family sedan at some time down the road.

[jayman]

Originally Posted by daniel

A bigger fear is that GM buys out Tesla in order to put a stop to its plans for a family sedan at some time down the road.

Agreed

[calbear629]

Hi everyone, new to the forum here.

So going back to the sound of the tesla while turning the corner, it was virtually silent? How did it sound while accelerating.

I'm always curious as to how the roadster would sound every time I drive past their west LA dealership.

[daniel]

I rode in one, but I've never heard one driving past. Starting out and going slowly, it's very quiet. But once you've gone far enough or hard enough to get the battery pack warm, the refrigeration unit comes on (to provide liquid cooling to the battery) and than the Roadster is noisier than a Prius running in EV mode. Also there's a real whine with hard acceleration. I had expected it to be as dead quiet as the Prius on battery power, and I was disappointed. When we got out and shut the car off, the refrigerator continued to run (and make noise). It will stay on until the battery cools off enough.

The weird thing is that my low-tech Xebra has a higher-tech battery pack than the Tesla. I think that LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate) was not available when they began designing the Tesla, and of course cost was an issue. Even with the refrigerator, the Tesla battery pack is probably cheaper than the same capacity LiFePO4 would be.

[clett]

The issue for Tesla is energy density, to get good performance and the longest range they want the lightest battery they can get. That's why they stuck with old-skool cobalt.

LiFePO4 cells are safe and cycle well, but only manage about 100 Wh/kg (ie 10 kg battery required per mile of range).

The cobalt based cells in the Tesla are less safe, but manage 180 Wh/kg (ie 5.5 kg battery required per mile of range).