Test Drive: Tesla Roadster

[kahmed79]

Noise free torque, Awesome !!!

Exactly....you're getting the idea.

[RetardedBuddy]

I would miss the roar of the engine, it is also one of the sensations associated with supercars

[kahmed79]

I would miss the roar of the engine, it is also one of the sensations associated with supercars

The Tesla is a car that you get when you already have a Ferrari, Porsche, Lambo, etc. IMO it cannot replace a gas engined supercar.

[ToofaneBatameezi]

I would miss the roar of the engine, it is also one of the sensations associated with supercars

The Tesla is a car that you get when you already have a Ferrari, Porsche, Lambo, etc. IMO it cannot replace a gas engined supercar.

[/quote]

Now I see the funny side!!

[sami_voodoo]

RB

Brabus do the Tesla, they add a V8 soundtrack to it if you want

Kamran

I could make some stupid comments about it being a golf-cart on steroids :D, but I'm not going to. The $100,000 or so it costs, to my mind, is a bargain. Only the batteries would be at least $30-45k. Then you've got the chassis and re-inforcements, the electronics, the labour charges, etc. I'm wondering if they're even making a profit on this.

All they need to do is to come out with that hatchback or sedan. Make it out of lightweight materials, optimised for electric power (not some internal combustion model) and go less insane on the power. Even half of the power or less would be sufficient.

[2468]

@SAMI

You mean 2000 laptop batteries power would be enough for third world countries

[sami_voodoo]

2468

Powering a third world country? Not too sure about that...

A few things to note though:

Each battery pack costs $36k to replace (by Tesla's own admission) and gives 53 kWh at 360+ Volts. Technically, it can run a domestic A/C for more than 15 hours.

Let's make it more interesting, The battery pack has the same energy as 6.3 litres of petrol. While this may seem as very little, take note of the following points:

The motor is 90% efficient at nominal rating, while at full power, it is 80% efficient. A petrol engine is around 20% efficient at the best of times. The single-speed gearbox would be more efficient as compared to the petrol-engined gearbox as well, since it has fewer parts and fewer gear meshes.

Technically, the "fuel consumption" of the electric motor is at least 4 times less as compared to the petrol engine. Could be 8 times better when you're really caning it.

Not sure if I've proved anything here though...

[sami_voodoo]

Adding a few details on the battery pack for those who are interested:

http://www.teslamotors.com/display_data/TeslaRoadsterBatterySystem.pdf

Cheers!
Sami

[wheels]

@kahmed79

I'm one of those guys that always read your car reviews but never reply on the topic. I must say you are one lucky person.

As always, great job! (Y)

[kahmed79]

@kahmed79 I'm one of those guys that always read your car reviews but never reply on the topic. I must say you are one lucky person. As always, great job! (Y)

Thanks for replying!