Is Tesla's EV the answer to the U.S's economic problems

Credit to the Tesla Web site for this Info: www.teslamotors.com

How It Works

When you build a car that's electric, you start with one built-in advantage: Electric cars just don't have to be as complex mechanically as the car you're probably driving now. Sophisticated electronics and software take the place of the pounds and pounds of machinery required to introduce a spark and ignite the fuel that powers an internal combustion engine.

For example, the typical four-cylinder engine of a conventional car comprises over a hundred moving parts. By comparison, the motor of the Tesla Roadster has just one: the rotor. So there's less weight to drive around and fewer parts that could break or wear down over time.

The Tesla Roadster's elegantly designed powertrain consists of just the four main components discussed below. Mind you, these aren't "off-the-shelf" components, and each includes innovations, both small and large. But when you build a car from the ground up, you have the luxury of questioning every assumption — and to distill as you reinvent.

The Battery

When we set out to build a high-performance electric car, the biggest challenge was obvious from the start: the battery. Its complexities are clear: it's heavy, expensive, and offers limited power and range. Yet it has one quality that eclipses these disadvantages and motivated us to keep working tirelessly: it's clean.

The Tesla Roadster's battery pack — the car's "fuel tank" — represents the biggest innovation in the Tesla Roadster and is one of the largest and most advanced battery packs in the world. We've combined available and proven lithium ion battery technology with our own unique battery pack design to provide multiple layers of safety. It's light, durable, recyclable, and it is capable of delivering enough power to accelerate the Tesla Roadster from 0 to 60 mph in under 4 seconds. Meanwhile, the battery stores enough energy for the vehicle to travel about 220 miles without recharging, something no other production electric vehicle in history can claim.

Motor

Some people find it hard to imagine our car's supercar-level acceleration comes from a motor about the size of a watermelon. And while most car engines have to be moved with winches or forklifts, ours weighs about 115 pounds — a strong person could carry it around in a backpack (although we don't recommend it). Compare that to the mass of machinery under the hood of $300,000 supercars that still can't accelerate as quickly as the Tesla Roadster.

But more important than the motor's size or weight is its efficency. Without proper efficiency, a motor will convert electrical energy into heat instead of rotational energy. So we designed our motor to have efficiencies of 85 to 95 percent; this way the precious stored energy of the battery pack ends up propelling you down the road instead of just heating up the trunk.

Transmission

Our single-speed gearbox couples the low drag and fuel efficiency of a manual transmission with the driving ease of an automatic. The Tesla Roadster has only one forward speed. That speed is quick. How fast quick arrives is up to the driver. Perfectly modulated velocity is under total control at all times.

There is no clutch pedal. Just move the shift lever and the Power Electronics Module takes care of everything. You can launch from full stop to highway speed without taking your focus off the road, your foot off the accelerator, your hands off the wheel, or your mind off an entirely new kind of driving experience.

Power Electronics Module (PEM)

Most of the subsystems in the Tesla Roadster are completely electronic and under direct software control. Unlike lesser cars, these systems are not merely a hodge-podge of independent systems arranged pell mell. Instead, each component is designed to be part of a whole that is based on the modern architecture of complex network and computer systems.

You'll see the hub of this network every time you pop the trunk — the Power Electronics Module (PEM). When you shift gears or accelerate in the Tesla Roadster, the PEM translates your commands into precisely timed voltages, telling the motor to respond with the proper speed and direction of rotation. The PEM also controls motor torque, charging, and regenerative braking, and it monitors things like the voltage delivered by the Battery, the speed of rotation of the motor, and the temperatures of the motor and power electronics.

The PEM controls over 200 kW of electrical power during peak acceleration — enough power to illuminate 2,000 incandescent light bulbs.

 

Like anything mass produced the S coup is at $49,900; the roadster at $101,900. Part of the issue with pricing is the roadster is built in Cali which we all know probably is increasing the cost to build by 25%.

Move the factory and couple that with mass production reductions and I think we are there!!!!!

 

The guys that invented it are two ex GM electrical engineers who got tired of the red tape. They quit GM. Each pitched in $75,000 and invented this car in their garage.

It is an American invention and who ever coddles them will be big time rich. They filled out all the paperwork and jumped thru all the hoop's 9 months ago....they are still waiting for an answer to the question.....Can we have 350 million of the Stimulus money to build a factory in the US.

We have the opportunity to keep them here......I wonder what is going to happen!!!!!!!

 

Seems to me when Toyota wasn't looking they got smoked

 

Looks like all it's gonna take is some funding

 

Thanks for your answer!! It caused some serious thought. So I did some research for about 3 hours. What I found is a mixture of different things.

Actually EV's can be far more cleaner then even the cleanest gas engine cars...up to 500 times cleaner............depending on how the electricity that is used to charge the vehicle is made.

The findings are typical and expected. If the electricity is created by wind, solar or hydro the car is up to 500 times cleaner then just gas. If the electricity is created by Coal, which is how 1/2 of all the electricity in the US is made then the EV would actually be dirtier.

This is not to say we couldn't make monumental strides cleaning up the electricity plants. Still in the long run the economic benefits to all involved would be well worth the investment.

To bad the Gov't is willing to force the change to EV's when the auto makers are down. Seems ridiculous to me to spend Billions building them back up to try and develop an alternate vehicle.

 

Why do you only think fossil. Nuclear is a huge option....a option virtually untapped

 

you didn't think the govt wouldn't try to control this switch did you??

Of course they will.........it's the govt way

And I am well aware of the shift that would occur. I also believe gov't must be involved for it to occur long term. Plus there is simply too much money going to be spent to build the infrastructure for them not to be involved.

I mean, God forbid we be allowed to prosper without some kind of tax and regulation

 

Barriers are made to be broken......take the Berlin wall for example. Or the fact that no man had ever stepped foot on the moon. Or how about polio. seems we eradicated it when we wanted to.

Nope...simple! There will be those that make excuses why it can't be done and then there will be those that don't take excuses and let it side track them. Just like there are those that own the companies and those that will always be an employee of those companies. Two different types with different agendas and different goals. The Dr Phil show ends in 3,2 1

 

and we should have a moratorium on new births....my god the new children may use electricity and that is a terrifying scenario.

more misconception and negativity on why we cant do it. Charging the tesla is electrically equal to running a 75 watt light bulb

Additionally the Tesla is 3x's more efficient then an internal combustion engine and 2 x's more efficient then a hybrid. Tesla uses 0 oil. the other cars and there technologys use massive amounts of oil. Switching to all electric vehicle's will reduce the USA's consumption of oil 50 - 80% long term. I must add that the US has enough coal inside of our borders to be able to produce 3 x's the amount of electricity long term then all of the worlds oil reserves combined. We are King...at least for a day

 

From completely dead to fully charged is accomplished using 110 volts in less then 4 hours. The ability to plug in the cars as the infrastructure is built across the nation will further deplete the need to charge at night. Additionally if we were going to charge....night would be ideal because power consumption on the grid is reduced 70% at night.

The Roadster gets 254 miles to a charge and the S coup ($49.900) gets 300 miles. 95% of all people do not travel farther then 25 miles from their home 1 way. the need to recharge would be 1 or 2 times a week ....max. The cost around $7.00

 

Yes I am. It will be a monumental task to build the infrastructure needed to support this endeavor. It was a monumental task to get to the moon....but we did it. We just got to want to bad enough. It will cost Billions and billions of dollars too, maybe even trillions. Now.....Hey there's a novel idea; creating jobs with something real instead of artificial money borrowed from our kids and our kids grand kids.

Maybe the Obama administration could be building the charging stations needed or approving the request from Tesla motors for 350 billion dollars of the tarp money to build the factory needed to mass produce these vehicles. How about all the jobs that would be created directly and indirectly as a result of a new industry in the US. That may actually do something to stimulate the economy long term and bring the cost of the vehicles down so that normal people like you and I could afford to buy one. Instead we give GM, and Chrysler 90 billion to give to our union friends.....oh goodie

I mean what the hell our Govt is already in the car business......shouldn't be that much of a leap