Tesla goes plaid - Unveils "ludicrous speed" 0-60 in 2.8 seconds
44 replies, posted
I [I]so[/I] want a Tesla. They're amazing cars.
Here's Jay Leno reviewing the model S:
[hd]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoFVO31CbE0[/hd]
Amazing machine, I'd love to have one of those as a daily driver.
[editline]18th July 2015[/editline]
Fun fact: [url=http://jalopnik.com/the-tesla-model-s-is-the-safest-car-ever-produced-1171606291]It's the safest car ever produced[/url], getting 5.4 stars out of 5, on the NHTSA rank, and [url=http://jalopnik.com/the-tesla-model-s-just-scored-another-five-star-safety-1654976056]5 out of 5 on the Euro NCAP rank[/url].
Literally, the safest car money can buy.
[QUOTE=demoguy08;48234635]Looking forward to when I can realistically afford a Tesla in 10 years. Although by then it's likely other car makers will have hopped onboard the (electric?) train and started to offer decent alternatives.
A basic Model S [I]without [/I]addons is currently ~$97000 here.[/QUOTE]
Here in Denmark it's actually very reasonably priced, considering the tax on gasoline-powered vehicles (basically 100%). I see Tesla S's basically every day here in the Copenhagen area.
[QUOTE=winsanity;48232257]Yup (go to 5:25) [video=youtube_share;raBWFsPlx7w]http://youtu.be/raBWFsPlx7w?t=5m25s[/video]
[/QUOTE]
Its more insane than that
[QUOTE=Elon Musk]While working on our goal of making the power train last a million miles, we came up with the idea for an advanced smart fuse for the battery. Instead of a standard fuse that just melts past a certain amperage, requiring a big gap between the normal operating current and max current, [B]we developed a fuse with its own electronics and a tiny lithium-ion battery[/B]. It constantly monitors current at the millisecond level and is pyro-actuated to cut power with extreme precision and certainty.[/video]
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Pretiacruento;48236602]
Fun fact: [url=http://jalopnik.com/the-tesla-model-s-is-the-safest-car-ever-produced-1171606291]It's the safest car ever produced[/url], getting 5.4 stars out of 5, on the NHTSA rank, and [url=http://jalopnik.com/the-tesla-model-s-just-scored-another-five-star-safety-1654976056]5 out of 5 on the Euro NCAP rank[/url].
Literally, the safest car money can buy.[/QUOTE]
Euro NCAP:
[quote]
The best alternatively-fuelled vehicles tested in 2014 were the Lexus NX followed by Tesla Model S by a small margin.
[/quote]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/wl1ZFNd.png[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/tjIYHLW.png[/img]
[QUOTE=Goz3rr;48240301]Euro NCAP:
[/QUOTE]
It would be interesting to see it retested now as a lot of the things it was rated down on have been implemented earlier this year to all existing cars.
Automatic emergency braking / collision avoidance has been added and a software update to the airbag system improved the airbag "calibration" to stop it from bottoming out in some cases as it did in the NCAP test.
If it was only beat by a small margin without these improvements I imagine it would beat the Lexus now.
Does raise an interesting question on how often they test them since they're pretty much continuously updated. Do they test regular cars every new model year? I'd imagine they do. But Tesla doesn't have model years. Do they test the Tesla's every year? Which options do the tested vehicles have?
[editline]18th July 2015[/editline]
It's still a ridiculously safe car to [I]be in[/I] if you get into an accident. I wouldn't want one crashing into me as it's a pretty heavy brick.
[QUOTE=OvB;48240504]Does raise an interesting question on how often they test them since they're pretty much continuously updated. Do they test regular cars every new model year? I'd imagine they do. But Tesla doesn't have model years. Do they test the Tesla's every year? Which options do the tested vehicles have?
[editline]18th July 2015[/editline]
It's still a ridiculously safe car to [I]be in[/I] if you get into an accident. I wouldn't want one crashing into me as it's a pretty heavy brick.[/QUOTE]
I want to say that they have to be retested every two years but might be wrong. Only a couple of people have died in the Model S that I can think of, a car thief that didn't wear a seatbelt and ended up splitting the car in half and getting thrown several yards through the air, and some guy in his 60s that drove the Model S off a cliff.
[editline]19th July 2015[/editline]
It's worth noting that Tesla claim if the car thief was wearing his seatbelt he probably could of walked away from the crash as the cabin remained in good condition.
[IMG]http://gas2.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/stolen-tesla-model-s-splits-in-half-catches-fire-after-massive-crash-in-la-area_100471936_l.jpg[/IMG]
7 seats in a three box sedan plus ample boot space in such a quiet package is amazing. the model S is a bloody fantastic family car, especially if you live on the west coast of the US.
where i live in ireland, a model S can take me from the very top to the very bottom of the country in one full charge.
[editline]20th July 2015[/editline]
internal combustion is cool, but i'd be lying if i said i think it's better than electric cars as a concept now. this is the future
[QUOTE=.Lain;48248763]
internal combustion is cool, but i'd be lying if i said i think it's better than electric cars as a concept now. this is the future[/QUOTE]
Electric cars with current battery tech aren't very sustainable in large numbers in comparison to ICE cars due to the amount of rare metals that go into the production of motors and battery packs, which must be replaced every five to seven years, whereas a basic ICE just needs some common metals (iron / aluminum) and petroleum and will last basically forever when seals and oil are replaced as indicated.
[QUOTE=Saber15;48248863]Electric cars with current battery tech aren't very sustainable in large numbers in comparison to ICE cars due to the amount of rare metals that go into the production of motors and battery packs, which must be replaced every five to seven years, whereas a basic ICE just needs some common metals (iron / aluminum) and petroleum and will last basically forever when seals and oil are replaced as indicated.[/QUOTE]
Tesla already recycle 60 - 70 percent of the battery pack's content and they will start to recycle even more of it when the Gigafactory is completed. The lithium in the battery packs is 100% recyclable as well.
A battery pack in a Tesla should last longer than 5 - 7 years. Yes it degrades over time but Tesla has put a lot of work into this and it is covered under warranty for 8 years.
[QUOTE]
Battery degradation is non-linear over time; meaning it starts very very slow, but after 4-5 years, it gets faster.
After the first 5 years, degradation may be as low as 5%. But by the 8th year, they expect about 30% degradation.
Every evening, performance statistics are collected from all the cars and battery performance is assessed. If a few cars are degrading substantially faster than expected, Tesla will proactively call the customer and ask him/her to come over for a battery inspection/replacement.
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Saber15;48248863]Electric cars with current battery tech aren't very sustainable in large numbers in comparison to ICE cars due to the amount of rare metals that go into the production of motors and battery packs, which must be replaced every five to seven years, whereas a basic ICE just needs some common metals (iron / aluminum) and petroleum and will last basically forever when seals and oil are replaced as indicated.[/QUOTE]
This is true of course but combustion engines still need some rare earths, eg fuel injectors have a rare earth component which shrinks when electricity is run through it iirc. A big problem with modern electric cars aside from the limited lifetime of the chemical batteries is how envoronmentally unfriendly those batteries are. Mechanical batteries via flywheels are a thing that is being researched, but I think they would only be suitable in hybrids.
[QUOTE=Saber15;48248863]Electric cars with current battery tech aren't very sustainable in large numbers in comparison to ICE cars due to the amount of rare metals that go into the production of motors and battery packs, which must be replaced every five to seven years, whereas a basic ICE just needs some common metals (iron / aluminum) and petroleum and will last basically forever when seals and oil are replaced as indicated.[/QUOTE]
Lithium production and rare earth is being artificially strangled by Chinese monopolies, rumor has it most of their processing plants are idling most of the year, plus Tesla uses massive amounts of recycled materials and the gigafactory will have a dedicated lithium mine in the US
[editline]19th July 2015[/editline]
[QUOTE=Antdawg;48249122] Mechanical batteries via flywheels are a thing that is being researched, but I think they would only be suitable in hybrids.[/QUOTE]
Chemical batteries have a few orders of magnitude more energy density than any mechanical system could ever devise, chemical fuels have an even greater energy density than batteries, the math just proves mechanical energy saving systems would never be practical
[QUOTE=Antdawg;48249122]This is true of course but combustion engines still need some rare earths, eg fuel injectors have a rare earth component which shrinks when electricity is run through it iirc. A big problem with modern electric cars aside from the limited lifetime of the chemical batteries is how envoronmentally unfriendly those batteries are. Mechanical batteries via flywheels are a thing that is being researched, but I think they would only be suitable in hybrids.[/QUOTE]
Flywheel batteries in automotive applications have been around since [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrobus]the 1950s[/url]
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