http://www.leftlanenews.com/tesla-pl...ile-range.html

 

I wonder how aware they are that a 45-minute charge time is going to keep their market share very, very small. People are used to taking only a couple minutes to refuel a car, and the honest truth is that no other model is going to fly.

The "stop for lunch" bit makes for a nice story, but I can't "stop for lunch" on my way to work in the morning.

 

Isn't a 45 minute charge much quicker than the other electric vehicles out there (either current or upcoming?) Not to mention the range is right in line with other pure electric vehicles that take longer to charge. Shoot, it used to take longer than that to charge up my old remote control cars and they only lasted for a few minutes on a charge.

 

The cynical ******* in my head thinks instead of being out in 3 years, costing $30k, lasting 300 miles and charging in 45 min - that it would rather come out in 6, cost $50k and go 200 miles.

I hope he's wrong.

I'll get burned at the stake for this, but I think the threat of persisting high fuel costs is good for this country in the long run.

 

Is your commute to work over 300 miles? If not then no worries.

Stop for lunch would only be an issue when you want to go on a trip over 300 round trip miles with no stops otherwise planned.


I've been saying that for YEARS even before gas prices were an issue (well, depending on if 2 dollars a gallon was an issue for you or not). I actually wanted the government to start leveraging some heavy (50% or more) additional taxes on gas so as to nudge the public toward the direction we're currently heading. Difference being if the government did the nudging they could keep the prices in check and, well... at least the money would be going to our government instead of the middle east.

 

So, let's assume that the 305 mile range requires a 30 kilowatt-hour (kWh) effective pack capacity (based on doubling the Volt's apparent efficiency of 0.2 miles/kWh). That'd roughly come out to an actual pack capacity of 60 kWh, and at current projected pack prices of $1300/kWh, the pack alone would be $78,000. Even using the much lower cost of loose laptop cells (~$300/kWh) as our baseline cost (an unrealistic assumption since it ignores the cost of packaging, protecting, and cooling the cells), it's still a $18,000 pack.

And to charge a 30 kWh pack in 45 minutes would require at least 40 kW, which means 240V/200A service. That seems somewhat, uh, impractical.

It pisses me off when companies talk about this sort of stuff when it's so clearly impossible. That just turns off people to alternative energy solutions.

 

Interesting...the problem with electrics has always been range for me. Not for commuting but for long trips.

Wife and I usually stop every 250-300 miles or so to eat anyways. If there were enough stations conveniently located to plug in at we could feasibly drive any of our normal long trips in this car.

 

45min charge is ridiculously quick assuming this new car has a 53kwh battery like the Tesla Roadster.

53/ .75hr = 70kwh = 70,000 watt / 240volt = 291 AMPs Someone let me know if my math is wrong.

edit: just noticed you posted this

 

Joke: money -> government -> war in iraq -> middle east

But for the sake of discussion, I would support money going to the government if the government would play an instrumental role in shifting our energy needs away from oil. However, I don't believe that would be the case.

 

Sounds more like a quasi-hybrid along the same lines as the Volt.

 

Reading the article, it sounds like these are all features, but maybe not on the same car.

That sounds like the low cost sedan isn't going 305 miles.

He does the same thing with the 45 minute charging. It sounds to me like these are all feature he wants developed, but not on the same car, or at least the 30k car that is mentioned.

 

I just love it when a company "plans" this and "envisions" that... We should all be driving flying cars with Mr. Fusion powerplants driving the flux capacitor...

But seriously... It's good that more companies are working on new technologies, but for the most part, when a company boasts a massive leap forward like this, they've usally over-promised and will under-deliver.

By the time any company gets an electric car to market that will meet those charging and range spec, I doubt there will be any cars that can be bought for under $30k... Especially if the cost of materials keep going up and the value of the dollar keeps dropping...

 

Maybe they know something you don't know? I mean if they're currently in the 'envisioning' stage whatever that is supposed to be, maybe they've got knowledge of technology expected 5-6 years out that would lead to a production model meeting these requirements 7-8 years from now?

Additionally I think hype about alternative fuel vehicles does exactly the opposite... it keeps people focused on the subject... excited to spend... excited on what's going to be out next.

With this kind of hype and public attention on the scene back with GM's original EV came out, the whole program would probably be much further along than it is today with the Volt at a 2010 calendar release at the earliest.

 

45 min charge is possible, you are just going to need one hell of an upgrade to your home electrical system.

Like Eric Bryant said, you will probably need a 240V/200A outlet, I don't know if such a thing even exists.

 

I believe the 45 minute charge he's referring to is to charge the batteries back up to 80% with the on-board generator, which may end up being powered by gas or diesel.