Telsa Roadstar

[Kommandant]

This seems very promising for an electric car

Some of the more interesting parts of the article:

The trick? The Tesla Roadster is powered by 6,831 rechargeable lithium-ion batteries -- the same cells that run a laptop computer. Range: 250 miles. Fuel efficiency: 1 to 2 cents per mile. Top speed: more than 130 mph. The first cars will be built at a factory in England and are slated to hit the market next summer.

With its two-person capacity and aerodynamic contours, the lightweight machine can go 250 miles on a single charge. (When connected to a special 220-volt, 70-amp outlet, recharging takes about three and a half hours.)

http://www.wired.com/news/wiredmag/0...l?tw=rss.index [Full Article]

[agony]

Very neat looking package, should be interesting to see how they perform and what sort of cost they are to buy.

[turboute]

Wonder how far they would get with a decent stereo attached? lol.

for the right price I would consider buying one (still need a petrol car for holidays etc...)

[LUXO_8]

Originally Posted by turboute

(still need a petrol car for holidays etc...)

generator/battery charger attached to your camper trailer.....free touring

[XzLr8]

LoL that is the toughest lookin lil battery powered car i think ive ever seen but as previouslly stated wouldnt touch a battery till they're being driven on the road by everyday people until then once again as previouslly stated COMBUSTION HERE WE COME!

[XRQTR]

Do a search on electrtic cars, you will find plenty in daily use in the U.S. and europe, as for speed how does a 12 second quarter mile time sound, alot of them are very quick as they have torque from 0-?????rpm, some rev as high as 20,000rpm.

Although keep in mind that these examples are mostly owner built as no company actually mass produces a full electric sports car, yet.

[Kommandant]

the sports car class lets Eberhard price it on the high end -- in the range of a Porsche 911 Carrera S, roughly $80,00

he's already preparing a sedan, codenamed White Star, which could hit streets as early as 2008. Of course, the sedan won't be as lightweight or aerodynamic as the Roadster, so its range is likely to drop significantly. Eberhard's response: maybe with today's tech. But battery power is improving steadily, and several companies say they may soon double battery life. By the time the sedan comes out, he says, batteries will be ready to deliver: "We're going to ride that technology curve all the way home."

[Mechan1k]

$80.00 ... I'll buy 10 thanks
Yes I know it's a typo

[Lightning Strike GT]

The Aust Govt will not bring these in as they will get NO TAXES from petrol sales..

[BlueRaven]

http://www.teslamotors.com/

This website explains a lot... they are making a bit of noise now.

The FAQ has some very interesting points and explains how the batteries will work..

[uranium_death]

I won't touch this one as electric and battery operated cars are still in nappies.

I will wait until they are more powerful and efficient before I look at them.

For now, it's combustion ahoy!

[70caprigt3k]

Ill stick with combustion, you can't quite get an electric engine to sound as good as a combustion engine.

[uranium_death]

Originally Posted by 70caprigt3k

Ill stick with combustion, you can't quite get an electric engine to sound as good as a combustion engine.

I'll drink to that!

[XRQTR]

Originally Posted by 70caprigt3k

Ill stick with combustion, you can't quite get an electric engine to sound as good as a combustion engine.

What????

Didn't you ever put playing cards in your bike spokes????

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by XRQTR

What????

Didn't you ever put playing cards in your bike spokes????

LOL! Yes....

But seriously, I plan to have some kind of econobox for during the week, and then a toy for the weekend. Whether it be hybrid, diesel, gas, electric, I dont really care; as long as it looks half decent and does the job.

I seriously dont see the point in wasting cash on something that you use daily, how many people take passengers when they go to work?

Its just a sad fact that one day petrol will be too expensive to use everyday, dont know when that will be, but it will happen. And all of this technology is only going to get better.

My only worry is with accidents etc etc, could be an awkward situation.

[XRQTR]

Well thats pretty much what the manufacturers of the current run of ugly little slugs are pushing for, use it as your daily commuter to and from work, most of this time is spent sitting in traffic jams and you produce s#!tloads more CO and CO2 sitting their at idle.

But with more enviro concious companies getting behind it and investing into these companies, the more they can spend on designers and production materials. I remember many years ago on the old Beyond 2000, I think it was Lamborghini that made a concept electric, it went for 2-3 hours regular driving and about 45 minutes of real hard driving. It was quite an impressive looking little thing, and had plenty of go in it at full noise, the downfall o0f course was the battery life, but with someone like Lambo it was bound to look hot and get attention, if only they had decent reserves of power.

As for governments not making money being the reason for lack of interest and support your not too far from the truth. I think it was on Dateline on the ABC where they showed a story about a full electric car that GM had made for the local market in the US, people that had them instantly fell in love, they were quick enough to zip around town and held their own on the freeways, even the styling wasn't too bad. What killed it??? The US government. All those who leased one, yes lease as they were not for sale, were eligible for a government subsidy of US$4000 because they were mostly self employed and small business, HOWEVER, if you were also self employed or a small business and went out and bought a Hummer at the same time you were eligible for, wait for it, US$100,000 rebate/subsidy from the government. So the energy efficient car was fine I suppose because you didn't need to fill the huge a$$ed fuel tank, whereas on the other hand the Hummer needed a federal grant just to keep it fueled and running.
p.s. all but a handful of these electric cars have now been crushed.

I mean it's like the Victorian government and the wind farm issue, it's been stopped because some 'environmentalist', if you can believe that, claims that a small migratory bird flies directly through the proposed sight. Mind you none of the locals have ever seen this bird in the area, the claim is that it flies through but doesn't stop their, hmmmm :

So in effect, the government may talk the talk but they run the other way with a bag over their heads when it comes to walking the walk, like John Howard at the moment with the Kyoto treaty signing, his claim is that we can do it on our own, so why not sign it then if you're confident we can achieve the goal???? :

lol rant off

[Outbackjack]

Originally Posted by 70caprigt3k

Ill stick with combustion, you can't quite get an electric engine to sound as good as a combustion engine.

pipped at the playing card post!! :