New Tesla Roadster 2.5, New Tesla Motors Website

[serkol]

I wonder if this one will fall apart like their last one did on Top Gear.

Do you mean in 2008? Don't you know that Top Gear cheated? The car was fine, they pulled it with no reason, just for sensationalism, and later BBC admitted that Top Gear lied. Read Wikipedia or search for the original BBC post.

 

[klavis]

[citation][nom]serkol[/nom]Do you mean in 2008? Don't you know that Top Gear cheated? The car was fine, they pulled it with no reason, just for sensationalism, and later BBC admitted that Top Gear lied. Read Wikipedia or search for the original BBC post.[/citation]

I am talking about that episode and no, they didn't cheat, they didn't say it ran out of electricity, they said they estimated it would run out in 55 miles, unlike what the company said, which was 200. Plus it takes 16 hours to charge. What I was talking about is that fact the motor over heated, reducing the power and when the car was charging they found that the breaks had broken, hence the car broke on Top Gear.

 

[gm0n3y]

Love what Tesla is doing. Though I was hoping that the refresh would be to use the latest battery tech to lower the weight.

As for how 'green' this is. I'm sure that its electricity usage is better for the environment than a comparable petrol car (due to greater efficiencies in power generation). If that is enough to make up for the greater impact of the initial construction (making the batteries mostly) is another question.

Still, some company needs to be doing this and since the big auto manufacturers seem to be inept when it comes to producing electric cars, at least Tesla has stepped up to provide some new innovation.

 

[klavis]

I still think I'd rather have a hydrogen car.

 

[ColliSions]

[citation][nom]klavis[/nom]I still think I'd rather have a hydrogen car.[/citation]
lol hydrogen, you need lots electricity to make hydrogen so it's big time inefficient.

Ive talked to someone driving the roadster on the street, he told me he has solar panels setup on his garage and house and that's enough to recharge a battery that recharges the car from a daily use

 

[izmanq]

i tried make a rough calculation for the energy cost for the car traveling 245 miles, based on electricity cost at my place.

The tesla roadster charger said it use 240 V 70 Amps, so its power consumption is 16.8 kW. For fully charge will take 3.5 hours.
The energy consumption is 16.8 kW x 3.5 hours = 58.8 kWh

At my town the electricity price is around 0.11 USD / kWh so for the roadster to travel 245 cost me around 6.4 USD

I think it's very cheap.

If i compare it to my current car cost to travel them same distance (245 miles).
I'm using Honda Fit, roughly it can travel 6.25 miles per litre. so to travel 245 miles will use around 39.2 litre.
the gas price at my country is 0.5 USD / litre. so for my car to travel that far will cost me around 28.6 USD.

if i'm not mistaken in my calculation this car cost to travel 245 miles is 1/4 cost of my current car :|

 

[doive1231]

Volcanoes + driving = more Co2

 

[Hupiscratch]

In this, I could have a lead-foot and not feel guilty about it.

Don't you mean a lithium-foot?

 

[victomofreality]

Meh I like the push to electric cars but until we get away from coal generated electricity theres really no environmental benefits.
Coal pollutes a lot more then petrol.

 

[gm0n3y]

From Wikipedia:

The segment also showed the car's batteries running flat after 55 miles (89 km), saying that the recharge would take 16 hours and also that the car then broke down. Tesla Motors' spokesperson responded with statements in blogs and to mainstream news organizations that the cars provided to Top Gear never had less than 20% charge and never experienced brake failure. In addition, neither car provided to Top Gear needed to be pushed off the track at any point. Finally, although Clarkson showed a limp windmill and complained that it would take countless hours to refuel the car using such a source of electricity, the car can be charged from a 240V outlet in as little as 3.5 hours. After numerous blogs and several large news organizations began following the controversy, the BBC issued a statement saying "the tested Tesla was filmed being pushed into the shed in order to show what would happen if the Roadster had run out of charge. Top Gear stands by the findings in this film and is content that it offers a fair representation of the Tesla's performance on the day it was tested," without addressing the other misrepresentations that Tesla highlighted to the media. After several weeks of increasing pressure and inquiries from the BBC, Clarkson wrote a blog for The Times of London, acknowledging that "that the film we had shot was a bit of a mess." In the months that followed Clarkson's acknowledgment, the original episode—including the misstatements—reran on BBC America and elsewhere without any editing, though the BBC is still looking into Top Gear's journalism standards, according to British media reports.

 

[gm0n3y]

[citation][nom]izmanq[/nom]the gas price at my country is 0.5 USD / litre.[/citation]
Man you're lucky, here in Canada its $1.20 / litre, often more. And we're a net exporter of oil.

 

[gm0n3y]

[citation][nom]victomofreality[/nom]Meh I like the push to electric cars but until we get away from coal generated electricity theres really no environmental benefits. Coal pollutes a lot more then petrol.[/citation]
Coal, for the amount of energy generated at a plant, is much more efficient than petrol.

 

[bv90andy]

when I first saw the title I was happy and I started searching for km/battery charge, but nothing, so not interesting.

 

[techguy378]

[citation][nom]andybird123[/nom]that's because it is based on the Lotus chasis and shares 6 percent of it's parts with the Lotus Elise (which to me looks like the chasis and most of the body panels)to comment on the article; so the 2.5 is entirely cosmetic - what they really need to improve is the batteries[/citation]
The Tesla Roadster has a longer driving range (even at extremely high speeds) than any other electric vehicle ever invented. Tesla once said the Roadster gets the equivalent of 250mpg. That's leaps and bounds better than the Toyota Prius and the Roadster still provides much better performance.

 

[pojih]

For the performance alone I would love this car.

Comparable performance-wise petrol cars get how many mpg?

I would love to own it, maybe in about 10 years when the price has dropped down I will be able to!

 

[lashton]

they are not free, the power stations that power them pollute the air for you and disposing of those batteries Hmmm thats bad, these are just an ALternative power source THATs all its less green than a normal car

 

[techguy378]

[citation][nom]lashton[/nom]they are not free, the power stations that power them pollute the air for you and disposing of those batteries Hmmm thats bad, these are just an ALternative power source THATs all its less green than a normal car[/citation]
It would be better if it were only the power stations polluting the air instead of both gasoline vehicles AND the power stations doing it. Also, I've yet to see any hard proof that batteries used in hybrid and pure electric vehicles have any problems with short battery life. I've been using the same NiMH AA 2500mAh batteries continuously for about 3 years now and they work just as good as when I bought them. This AA battery uses the very same technology as that found in Toyota's hybrid vehicles.

 

[Guest]

I'd heard of the Tesla roadster before, but never researched it. I've heard things along the lines of "See! You CAN build a fun and fast electric sports car!" However, finally looking up the performance numbers today I am disappointed.

0-60mph in 3.7s is not bad, but a quarter mile time of 12.75s is abysmal for a $125k+ car. The top speed is also pretty awful -- 125Mph. Tesla would need to increase this ceiling substantially before the car is even remotely trackable.

The Tesla Roadster's price to performance ratio is just not very good. My Corvette Z06 goes from 0-60 in 3.7s, does the quarter mile in 11.7s, and has a top speed of 200+Mph, while stickering for $78,000.

I don't want to dog too much on the ride though, since it's part of the first generation of performance electric vehicles whereas engineers have worked with combustion for a century. There's just still some work to do getting that price/performance ratio competitive with combustion.

 

[klavis]

Yes I read that article, it still doesn't not speak to the fact that the engine overheated and the breaks broke, which was my point. They had two cars, both of which showed problems when they used them.

 

[tharkis842]

DAMN! That's sexy! I'm sure it's way out of my price range.. 🙁.