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I'll jump in before Del. Sorry I missed that discussion. Back in the mid-90's my R&D team developed the tires for the GM EV-1 (initially called the Impact - not so bright a choice). I can't see how Tesla obtains their incredibly high efficiency numbers with a performance car setup. The EV-1 was equipped with skinny, very low RR tires in order to obtain decent range -- maybe 80 miles. The EV-1 had a very low drag coefficient, so most of the losses were from tire rolling resisitance. We had a development protoype that allowed full motor torque. It could do 0-60 way faster than 8 seconds, but also had a front tire life of about 2500 miles. GM added a torque limiter to the "production cars." These were leased, never sold. The EV-1 used an electric heat pump for heat and A/C and this sucked a lot of power. It also had electric power steering. (now where have I seen that???) to consume more battery power.
Tesla says they use "consumer grade" Li-ion batteries. Most Li-ion cells degrade after about 300 charge cycles -- like cell phone batteries. Neither do they claim any breakthrough in electric motor technology. They quote a fuel efficiency based on the conversion of natrual gas to electricity. Nice for the numbers, but NG is not a major source of the country's electric power.
I just sounds a bit too good to be true. But it would be pretty awesome if it is.
Del's objections were that, if we all adopted electrics, there wouldn't be enough generation capacity on the grid to charge them all.
As far as the Tesla vs. the EV-1, if I recall correctly, the EV-1 still used a traction motor driving the wheels through a transmission. My understanding is that the Tesla is a motor-in-hub design and more efficient.
Agree on the use of NG being inappropriate for comparison.
This is not something I have studied by any means so feel free to correct me.
Tesla says they use "consumer grade" Li-ion batteries. Most Li-ion cells degrade after about 300 charge cycles -- like cell phone batteries. Neither do they claim any breakthrough in electric motor technology. They quote a fuel efficiency based on the conversion of natrual gas to electricity. Nice for the numbers, but NG is not a major source of the country's electric power.
Well, with the exploding battery problem in Sony's Li-Ions, I don't know if I want 5,000 of them behind my head!
with Del. But one of our great resources IS the electic power grid that allows power from low-demand areas to be shifted easily to high-demand areas. So as long as we all recharge at night, it could work. I have a friend at work who has been studying Del's question, and the conclusion is that an elecrtic vehicle society will very likely require a return to nuclear power. Now that's a debate for another thread.
The EV-1 was a single 125 hp traction motor driving through a reduction final drive. There was no gearbox. From what I can glean at the Tesla website, that car uses the same setup, rather than in-wheel traction motors.
My problem with batteries is that it takes me 5 minutes to refill my gas tank, but 6 hours to recharge my batteries. Until quick charge batteries become a reality, the range is really a limiting factor.
When gas prices get too high...
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with Del. But one of our great resources IS the electic power grid that allows power from low-demand areas to be shifted easily to high-demand areas. So as long as we all recharge at night, it could work. I have a friend at work who has been studying Del's question, and the conclusion is that an elecrtic vehicle society will very likely require a return to nuclear power. Now that's a debate for another thread.