Tesla cross country road trip coming to Vegas

[shadroch]

If you are in Vegas the 27th, perhaps you can make time to help out a great cause. A couple has been driving their Roadster across America since May raising awareness of renewable energy and funds for their favorite charity.
www.renewamericaroadtrip.com

For all the naysayers out that, Tesla has entered into a partnership with Mercedes/ Damlier and also obtained a half a billion dollar line of credit,so it doesn't look like they are going away anytime soon.

[SystemsTrader]

Good to see, I hope its a success!

[zengrifter]

Tesla S announced: $50K USD car that seats 7, goes
300 miles between charges and does 0-60 in 5.6 seconds. zg

[Katweezel]

johndoe johndoe post April 30 09 thread "Tesla model in NYC this week" anything goes
Executive Member

Quote:
Originally Posted by shadroch View Post
Yep, you pretty much hit it right on the head.

John doe:
The car is a fake because the windows on the prototype don't open.
Ever been to the Auto Show? How many concept cars/or prototypes have 100% working parts.

Shadroch:
I've been to several auto shows, and have personally driven dozens of concept cars. The problem is, the S isn't being promoted as a "concept car", it's being promoted as a practical, cost-effective, production ready vehicle for the masses, at the low-low price of $58000. They don't put prices on concept cars at auto shows.

John doe:
No comments about their lack of quick-charging, even if the infrastructure was built? Now you're stuck charging this thing overnight (or at least for several hours) every time the battery dies. Thanks but no thanks. I expect you'll see them admit many other things as time goes on.

And as for the battery you claim is smaller and cheaper than the roadster, and all the quick-swappable hoopla from earlier that's supposed to solve the charging problems:

Quote:
Tesla is committed to using the same battery strategy as in the Roadster -- using large, liquid-cooled packs assembled out of off-the-shelf lithium-ion batteries, the so-called 18650-sized batteries. The packs will be somehow sandwiched in the floor of the vehicle. The quick-replacement design is problematic, said Straubel and Kurt Kelty, the company's director of energy storage systems, and is the subject of a lot of "deep thinking." Regardless, Tesla has no plans to invest in battery-swap infrastructure as part of the Model S' business plan.
Fantasy is fun though. end quote

So Tesla delivered, and it looks like Shadroch was... correct.

[shadroch]

Theres a Tesla owner in Cali who charges his roadster only by solar power.
Gets about 72 miles worth by charging the thing overnite. He has a long article that explains the nuts and bolts of it, but I don't understand how you collect solar power at night.

[johndoe]

Originally Posted by Katweezel

johndoe johndoe post April 30 09 thread "Tesla model in NYC this week" anything goes
Executive Member

Quote:
Originally Posted by shadroch View Post
Yep, you pretty much hit it right on the head.

John doe:
The car is a fake because the windows on the prototype don't open.
Ever been to the Auto Show? How many concept cars/or prototypes have 100% working parts.

Shadroch:
I've been to several auto shows, and have personally driven dozens of concept cars. The problem is, the S isn't being promoted as a "concept car", it's being promoted as a practical, cost-effective, production ready vehicle for the masses, at the low-low price of $58000. They don't put prices on concept cars at auto shows.

John doe:
No comments about their lack of quick-charging, even if the infrastructure was built? Now you're stuck charging this thing overnight (or at least for several hours) every time the battery dies. Thanks but no thanks. I expect you'll see them admit many other things as time goes on.

And as for the battery you claim is smaller and cheaper than the roadster, and all the quick-swappable hoopla from earlier that's supposed to solve the charging problems:

Quote:
Tesla is committed to using the same battery strategy as in the Roadster -- using large, liquid-cooled packs assembled out of off-the-shelf lithium-ion batteries, the so-called 18650-sized batteries. The packs will be somehow sandwiched in the floor of the vehicle. The quick-replacement design is problematic, said Straubel and Kurt Kelty, the company's director of energy storage systems, and is the subject of a lot of "deep thinking." Regardless, Tesla has no plans to invest in battery-swap infrastructure as part of the Model S' business plan.
Fantasy is fun though. end quote

So Tesla delivered, and it looks like Shadroch was... correct.

Note that my comments were fully based on Tesla's public statements, which I referenced and quoted directly. (Your summary is kind of hard to follow..)

What have they delivered that is different from before? A (heavily subsidized) car on the market is all well and good, but the charging limitations have not been solved, and the calculations and limitations I presented earlier haven't been refuted.

[shadroch]

What have they delivered that they hadn't before? How about 1,000 batteries to be used by Mercedes in their next generation Smart cars. Thats certainly new, and by ratching up the numbers, they have been able to greatly reduce the cost of the battery. They were losing money on each Roadster, with the cars costing some $145,000 to produce, and selling for about thirty grand less. Now cost are under $90,000 per car. They've more than doubled the units produced each month, and reduced the waiting period to about six months, down from over a year.
The next generation Roadster debuts this month. A bit more powerful(0-60 in 3.2), but much more comfortable, with a newly designed suspension to help the steering problems. They've gotten Mercedes and a company out of Abu Dabi to partner with them, and the nearly half a billion in loans they've obtained( in a terrible climate for loans) will allow them to finish the factory for the S, and puts it back closer to schedule. The partnership with Mercedes allows them inside track at the ion-pouch lithium battery MB is developing.
It's way too soon to declare success, but things are looking much better than the doom and gloom you and so many other were predicting a few months ago. They may actually eeak out a paper profit for July.
Aren't you glad you couldn't short the companies stock now?

[aslan]

Originally Posted by shadroch

Theres a Tesla owner in Cali who charges his roadster only by solar power.
Gets about 72 miles worth by charging the thing overnite. He has a long article that explains the nuts and bolts of it, but I don't understand how you collect solar power at night.

He may be collecting it via another system during the day, storing it in batteries and transferring it to the Tesla battery overnight.

[johndoe]

I would still short the company if I could!

Mercedes has recognized the PR value of an association with Tesla, and there's probably a small market available for people who want to show these off as status symbols, at least for a little while.

But unless they're forced to, the masses certainly won't trade a quick fill-up for an overnight charge. It's a huge hit in utility.

But to be balanced, I think there might be a small long-term value in Tesla as a useful electrical base platform for future chemical fuels (fuel cells, etc.) that don't require ridiculous charging times. However, I'm not sure there's much of a barrier of entry to other companies who'd like to do this as well. And that's assuming that these other fuels become viable someday.

[shadroch]

I just don't understand your hang-up with the charging period. With the exceptions of police cars, taxis and a few other commercial vehicles, most cars are not used 24 hours a day. What is the big deal about plugging your car in while it's in the garage overnite? It's not even as if you need to do it every nite, either. No more having to stop at dirty gas stations,losing your car for a half a day every few months for an oil change. People in cold climates plug their desiels in overnite, so this isn't some radical
Bottom line is- you need to sleep to recharge your battery. The Roadster will recharge in less time.

Oh, and Tesla products are now eligible for financing thru Bank of America, for five year loans. I guess BoA thinks they'll be ariound awhile.