Tesla Motors - 100% Electric Vehicle

[PAUL SS]

Bring on the Volt! Please.

[5thGenOwner]

Originally Posted by Nycteus

Tesla's quote on their website is $49,900.



As an Electrical Engineer... this will never happen. Wind is not even close to being reliable or sufficient enough of a power source. Solar panels are not efficient enough. If I can recall some old calculations, we can only capture 80 Watts per square meter of energy from the sun (trying to recall... I think the sun outputs close to 800 Watts per square meter) so we'd need something like the entire northeastern section of the US to be covered in solar panels to supply the power being produced by coal/gas power plants.

Also, coal power is suprisingly clean.

However, Nuclear Power is what we want/need for clean power generation but it is too tied up in danger/politics.


Also, for the guy saying about efficiency:

So many well educated people on this board.

I do believe you are correct, we currently are only able to capture 1/10th of the energy the sun puts out. (As for a total... numbers are all over the place, but multiply what we currently can get by 10, and that's a pretty good increase.) And if the sun puts it out, there's gotta be a way to harness it. "Here comes the sun... and I say it's all right!"

But as for storage of that other 9/10ths of energy, if/when man does capture it... well, you probably know better than most. Current battery/storage technology just doesn't cut it... so we better make that leap along the way. I don't want to understate man's ingenuity... I do believe we still have some L-E-A-P-S ahead of us.

Tesla, if nothing else, represents high performance. They may never turn another dime profit. But it is crystal clear there is a huge desire for success in alternate fuels. And Tesla just proves there is a possibilty for alternate fuels to compete in the performance arena. Not perfect, no... but it is hope. (Real hope... not that other sh*t!)

As for right here right now, I agree... Nuclear is currently the best way to move away from conventional fossil fuels, for electricity at least. Why it has been all but abandoned in the US, is beyond me. Mr. Einstein didn't share his wisdom with us... for us to squander it. Nuke it!

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by Captain Awesome

I love how people still don't realize how inefficient these "100% electric" vehicles are...

I guess some people won't realize this until after they own one how foolish the idea is.

Hint: Generating, transmittingm and storing electricity wastes a whole lot more energy and pollutes the environment much more than burning a bunch of dead dinosaurs.

Except that gasoline isn't just sitting around in pools waiting for you to pour it into your gas tank. It takes energy to pump it out from the ground (or dig it, as the case may be), transport it, refine it, then transport it again before it reaches your gas tank.

Originally Posted by Mindz

it's the nuclear and coal plants that power the stations that provide the energy to charge the car going up that makes electric car buyers just as bad as fossil fuel burners. Had we all solar and wind power stations, it'd be fine, but everyone uses coal plants to power their plugs at home.

At worst, there is minimal difference in CO2 from coal vs gasoline. And coal is about the worst from an emissions stand point. BUT there are other advantages to electricity:

1. Any pollution is concentrated and remote, and therefore easier to deal with. CO2 recapturing for coal plants, contained nuclear waste, etc. Tailpipe emissions are nearly impossible to manage and is worst in urban areas.
2. Practically all electricity in the US is generated from sources from within North America. No money gets sent to places like Venezuela or Iran
3. Its easier to replace coal electricity with greener options than it is to replace gasoline with green options. Electricity is electricity. Ethanol isn't gasoline.
4. Crude oil sources will continue to get dirtier and more expensive. No guarantees on cheaper electricity, but at least it will be cleaner
5. If you have a solar panel or wind turbine at your house you never have to pay to fuel your vehicle. Not too many people have their own oil well ...

For the record, I still hate the idea of electric sports cars.

[alrox]

Originally Posted by Nycteus

Tesla's quote on their website is $49,900.

Yes. It was a lie when they said it over a year ago as well. You can't price a toy car like this 3-5 years away from production.

Fully electric cars will never work for 99.99999% of Americans simply because they take too long to recharge. The only viable energy source that can be replenished in under 15 minutes is gasoline. We simply won't buy a car that we have to wait hours for it to refuel.

[Brokinarrow]

Originally Posted by alrox

Mere toys for the rich. They will never replace gas burning engines in our lifetimes. Gasoline is a far superior energy source compared to electricity. The "$50,000" Tesla is a blatant lie as well.

Don't be so sure. You know, there was another type of transportation that they said were 'mere toys for the rich' once upon a time - oh yeah, the automobile Anyway, at the rate our technology is advancing I will not be surprised when gasoline cars will become antique collectibles. Two words to usher in the electric age: Fusion Power.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by Brokinarrow

Don't be so sure. You know, there was another type of transportation that they said were 'mere toys for the rich' once upon a time - oh yeah, the automobile Anyway, at the rate our technology is advancing I will not be surprised when gasoline cars will become antique collectibles. Two words to usher in the electric age: Fusion Power.

Last I checked, fusion was 20 years away. They said the same thing 20 years ago. And 20 years before that.

[Brokinarrow]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

Last I checked, fusion was 20 years away. They said the same thing 20 years ago. And 20 years before that.

The difference now is that we have much better technology to experiment with and perfect the process. I know it's been promised for quite some time, but I think we're much closer now. Besides, with the potential benefits of fusion power, this is something that world should be investing heavily in. There's a way to do it, we just have to perfect it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_ignition_facility

[alrox]

Originally Posted by Brokinarrow

The difference now is that we have much better technology to experiment with and perfect the process. I know it's been promised for quite some time, but I think we're much closer now. Besides, with the potential benefits of fusion power, this is something that world should be investing heavily in. There's a way to do it, we just have to perfect it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_ignition_facility

Never happen for end consumers.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by Brokinarrow

The difference now is that we have much better technology to experiment with and perfect the process. I know it's been promised for quite some time, but I think we're much closer now. Besides, with the potential benefits of fusion power, this is something that world should be investing heavily in. There's a way to do it, we just have to perfect it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_ignition_facility

I think they said that 20 years ago as well ...

[Brokinarrow]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

I think they said that 20 years ago as well ...

Probably, but they didn't have lasers that could heat something to the same temperature as the sun back then And man had been dreaming of flying for hundreds of years before it happened. And we didn't have computers back then to help us. Have some faith, fusion power will happen (clicks heels three times)

[HeHasReturned]

Originally Posted by alrox

Yes. It was a lie when they said it over a year ago as well. You can't price a toy car like this 3-5 years away from production.

Fully electric cars will never work for 99.99999% of Americans simply because they take too long to recharge. The only viable energy source that can be replenished in under 15 minutes is gasoline. We simply won't buy a car that we have to wait hours for it to refuel.

A. It's two years away from production

B. They've managed to bring the recharge time down to 45 minutes. Won't be long until they further narrow it down in future electric cars. Not to mention that a 160 mile range is way more than people drive on average daily, so they can always recharge it overnight. Only time you'll have to worry is on a long trip somewhere. That also isn't a huge problem. If you drive 300 miles straight, chances are you're willing to take a 30 minute rest stop anyways.

[alrox]

Originally Posted by HeHasReturned

A. It's two years away from production

Wait for the delays. It won't be ready.

Originally Posted by HeHasReturned

B. They've managed to bring the recharge time down to 45 minutes.

No, they have not. Stop believing the propaganda. These electric cars are very similar to 'rocket cars' of the 1950's as far as the lies go.

http://www.teslamotors.com/learn_more/faqs.php

The large and expensive infrastructure required to support such a minority of cars(EV's) will make them financially unfeasible unless you're rich and want something unique.

[Brokinarrow]

Originally Posted by alrox

Wait for the delays. It won't be ready.



No, they have not. Stop believing the propaganda. These electric cars are very similar to 'rocket cars' of the 1950's as far as the lies go.

http://www.teslamotors.com/learn_more/faqs.php

The large and expensive infrastructure required to support such a minority of cars(EV's) will make them financially unfeasible unless you're rich and want something unique.

Funny, wasn't the same thing said about the first automobiles?

[Nycteus]

The idea to take away from this topic is that we are getting ever closer to EVs. While not everyone is in favor of change, if EVs have been given the exact same R&D that combustible engines have currently, we would all be running around in Zero Emission EVs.

However, it's obvious by their stock debut that people want to see the type of vehicle this company offers. They are not close to competing with gasoline engines, but what makes this such a great opportunity for mankind is that it is allowing the "market" to grow.

If the sales of these vehicles begins to turn heads (Toyota already has a large stock-interest in Tesla) then it will unwillingly force the entire automotive industry to shift heads and invest research into magnetic engines and transmissions.

Perhaps even more importantly, this will allow R&D money to feed heavily into the battery field. Or maybe we'll even go as far as Fusion power plants as mentioned earlier.