Tesla Roadster: The Electric Car that Redefines "Power" (Part 1)
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada 
on 08.28.06
Image created by www.candylab.co.uk
[This is a post by Eckhart Beatty. -Ed] Engine trouble? Forgot to change the oil and air filter--again? Or did the transmission give out? Need any other major repair job? Someday you may never have these headaches again. Enter Tesla's Roadster. It's electric and its features eclectic. This new uber sports car–launched in July, 2006—will never require a call to Car Talk. The two popular Boston radio hosts might be scratching their heads between calls.
We've profiled the car at TreeHugger already, but given its paradigm-shifting design, we feel its technical side merits a review in itself; here we’ll demonstrate what actually makes it tick.
We're looking at an electric car that is fundamentally different in probably almost every conceivable way from any other vehicle you've heard of or driven. Taking a closer look inside, we examine the mechanical specifications of the car as discussed in the whitepaper co-authored by founder and CEO Martin Eberhard; it is available at Tesla's website.
Tesla's flagship Roadster sports a very unique design—in more ways than one. The power system comes most immediately to mind. Historically battery capacity was limited by its unweildly mass as well as of the inconvenience of finding recharging stations and then waiting to get the juice refreshed. In this marque, those employed are based on essentially the same Lithium-ion variety found in the typical laptop PC. Chosen due to their superior charge capacity as well as longevity, the batteries themselves are far superior to the lead-acid variety (well over 100,000 miles—a four to one advantage).
The power supply is partitioned into 11 sectors of 621 cells, each of which is linked to its own processor, serving to monitor both the rates of charge and discharge for each cell. This structure makes for “intelligent,” dynamic charging throughout to coordinate optimal performance of the system as a whole.
The inverter relies upon 72 insulated transistors to convert DC energy into AC power. Since transistors generate little heat, the air cooling system is simple and not heavy. As for heating inside, electric-generated heat can be delivered “immediately” on demand—no more waiting for the engine to warm up on a sub-freezing winter morning!
The regenerative braking system (popularized by cars such as the Prius but discussed in scientific journals for decades) captures some of the vast amount of energy typically lost in automotive systems. As a by-product of this integrated system, it places virtually no wear on the brakes themselves since gears in the generators capture much of energy normally wasted when the typical car brakes.
More importantly still, there are far fewer moving parts to repair or maintain, since it has no internal combustion engine. According to the whitepaper, “The only work that a well designed electric car will need for its first 100,000 miles is tire service and inspection.” The battery longevity is rated for the same distance.
Owing to enhanced technology, the Roadster gives its driver nearly 80% greater power than the now-defunct EV1, GM's famous flagship electric car. The rotor at the center of the AC motor is made of brazed copper, which is more efficient than the conventional construction made of aluminum. A revolutionary design, it represents a new “plateau” of sorts in the electric car world. The start-up derives its name from the famous engineer Nicholas Tesla who invented the AC induction motor, a breakthrough in his time.
To ensure optimal safety, a host of sophisticated features are always on the watch for signs of trouble. A computer works in conjunction with the drive train and sensors to deliver optimal road traction and reduced wear on the tires. Some other devices include a smoke detector, voltage meter, temperature gage, water sensor, and accelerometer to detect rapid changes in car velocity typical of accidents. Upon impact in such an event, the batteries’ built-in “intelligence” enables them to shut themselves off to avoid an explosion or fire.
More tomorrow in part 2.
See also: ::Official Tesla Motors Website, ::Tesla Motors Blog, ::The Tesla Roadster: Electric Sports Car, ::Tesla Motors: Affordable Electric Cars are Coming
[This has been a post by Eckhart Beatty. -Ed]
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In a similar(ish) vein, Lotus has developed a bioethanol version of the Exige :-
http://www.pistonheads.com/doc.asp?c=52&i=14864
The more extreme end of the green lobby probably frowns at the very idea of a "green" performance car, as we should obviously all be driving around in bland utilitarian boxes (or ever so clean buses..), but personally I love it. Shows people that green doesn't have to equal dull.
I think this is a good thing for the present. Many people are under the impression that electric vehicles are underpowered and ugly. Even if such things are ultimately unsustainable, they improve the current perception of alternative energy vehicles, which in turn will improve the rate of their adoption.
Philder, I agree with you, green doesn't have to equal dull, but too many in this movement are more interested in social engineering than simply preserving our environment.
Anyway, this car rocks and I can't wait for the day we get affordable electric sports cars for the masses.
Sorry, but to say that an electric car needs no maintenance or repair is misleading. While the roadster is indeed an awesome car, it has plenty of mechanical moving parts - wheel bearings, shock absorbers, probably struts... all of which can break or wear well before 100k miles. I seriously doubt the wheels are directly driven by the motor - there is almost certainly a gear reduction and/or differential.
That is not to say that it won't be exceedingly reliable - just getting rid of the emissions system of a typical gas car eliminates a large portion of what usually fails.
I spent the weekend working on an electric car at the opposite end of the spectrum. The coolest part was no significant grease or oil - very clean.
I had built an electric VW bus, and looking for another electric project (just got my Ebike) can the design be open source? I would love to buy the lithium batteries and controlers and have a source for the motor for a new project
"No moving parts"
uhhhhh... Me thinks an edit is a bit neccesary. Obviously, if the vehicle had no moving parts it wouldn't be able to move.
"less moving parts" would be more accurate. also one should bring note to the fact that the moving parts it DOES have are high-wear-resistance parts like bearings and the sealed electric motor.
What happens to the batteries when they need to be replaced?
If I had $100,000... Sorry to the Bare Naked Ladies.
I'd love to have that car just because it's uber sexy lookin forget what powers it. Now let's get the price down and make sure that when it's zero degrees F it still has a decent range and I'm totally in.
BTW the EV1 was only leased in warm weather areas because if it was below freezing and you needed to run the heater etc. the range crashed to as little as 12 miles or so. I read that last week. Was that in "Who Killed the Electric Car"? I haven't seen the movie yet.
"What happens to the batteries when they need to be replaced?"
They are recycled. They actually pay you to take them back.
I have actually met one of the co-founders of this company. They know this car is not for everyone, but this car is not meant to be every mans car. this will replace and out performe top end sports cars. Just imagine smoking a porsche in an eco-car; that is what this means.
Also, this is just the first entry into the car market for these guys ... and, you might as well start at the top-end because that is where the big spenders are at!
hey monk, check out ac propulsion.
Interesting. Article appears to have been edited at some point during the day, and is now more accurate.
Thanks for the great pics of this amazing car. Does anyone have any idea how much this car is expected to go for?
Thanks for the lead on AC Propulsion. I had a DC system before and was less than impressed with the range in the hills. A range of 150 miles is more like it. Now to find a nice 550 spyder body...
At the Tesla page they call out the source fuel to be natural gas, which can be burned fairly cleanly at the power plant level, but still puts out pollution in big quantities. In the midwest the fuel source would have to be coal, to get the electricity. Now, I know as much as any treehugger, that coal sucks for the environment. And that current policies are not tryining to reduce emmisions, even loosening them for coal power. So, my point is that it is still a fossil fuel fueled car that puts out pollution. How much pollution would be generated to charge the car for every type of electricity fuel source? Also, what I would like to see from Tesla is a chart that shows the cars emboddied energy, this would show it's true environmental impact. This would include all the energy used to make the car from the wheels to the batteries to the rear view mirror, everything. Then we can get a clear picture of the enviro-cost of the product before it burns any rubber.
Point being that cars are enegry intensive to make and to run. So every one get involved with your local planning commsion as build a bike, and pedestrian friendly world. Go Critical MAss, Go!
"Does anyone have any idea how much this car is expected to go for?"
The Roadster, Tesla's first car, goes for $90k. Their second car will be a "sporty sedan" that should sell for around $45k, and their third car should be cheaper still.
If the Tesla doesn't ditch those obsolete litium ion laptop batteries for the NanoSafes, the Tesla will screw its customers and become the laughingtstock of the automotive and business community. The creator of the car was arrogantly claiming personal brilliance for using laptop batteries (not a natural fit for a 2500 pound car). Unfortunately, this brilliant computer whiz now has thousands of dollars of now useless sensing paraphernalia to monitor his crappy lithium ion cells and maintain their temps. He was so sure that laptop batteries
would be the first to exhibit improved technology. He was WRONG. WRONG. WRONG.
Anybody read up on Nikola Tesla? see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla
The car is nice, I would drive one, and also tune it up a bit.
Whoever wrote that article clearly illustrates what I HATE about sensational writing. There are so many not just ultra sensational but down right FALSE statements that it makes EVERYTHING coming off the author's keyboard suspect ... downright untrustworthy!
"We're looking at an electric car that is fundamentally different in probably almost every conceivable way from any other vehicle you've heard of or driven."
PLEASE!!! PLEASE!!! "...in every concievable way..."???? "from any other vehicle you've ever heard of..."????
COME ON!!! It has SO FRIGGEN MUCH in common with cars in general and even more with modern electric cars. WHY IN THE FRICKEN WORLD is this guy printing crap like that??
MAYBE (I have to even doubt this now) it might have been correct to saysomething like "We're looking at an electric car that has fundamental differences from any other vehicle you've heard of or driven." IF in fact THAT is true it is much less sensational but still sensational ... hey author WHY do you have do that crap? Get real or write fiction! Or campaign promises or something, not car reviews!
--
editor note: Okay, you don't like hyperbole. Noted. I think the author was just a bit too excited, and the Tesla car *is* exciting.. It wasn't meant to be taken literally.
www.teslamotors.com you be the judge
I am in favor of this AC electric car.
Everything about it is well thought out and makes good sense.
I would prefer a NANO battery, but whatever gets us to an electric car first, is best.
We have the ability, today, to make all the electric needed to run these cars.
I want to see the Tesla succeed.
I think its interesting they used AC motors insted of DC.
Yes AC transmits without much loss over distances but
with only 10' at most from the batteries to the wheels, I don't see any advantage here. Plus the addition of an inverter is an extra burdin in cost and weight.. The lithium ion batteries will explode if they are cracked open and exposed to air.
Lithium batteries are intrinsically dangerous because lithium explodes with contact to moisture. Vehicles have dangers that we must accept, gas tanks, batteries, etc, but the newer NiMX batteries from Corbasis have nickle hydroxide and water as an electrolite and are quite light and powerful and provin in the Prius and many other hybrid vehicles. The only thing Tesla about this machine is the AC motors that N. T. invented. It looks good but I would change out the battery pack. Franklin
Please...somebody shoot holes in my numbers here:
To charge the Tesla car from a dead battery would require 70A at 220V for 3.5 hours, which is about 53 kilowatt-hours per day or 19 gigawatt-hours per year. If 1% of US car owners (currently about 230 million) switched to a similar vehicle it would mean an additional roughly 12 gigawatt-hours of electricity per re-charge. If half of those people do that once a day, that would be 2234822613.2 gigawatt-hours per year, which is about 500 times the total electricity generation of the entire US in 2005 (4054688 gigawatt-hours).
shooting a hole in the math above, as invited.
53KWH x 365 is 19 MEGAwatthours, not GIGA. 1000 times less.
Tesla says 220 mile range, so the calculated 53KWH complete recharge would yield 4.15 miles per KWH. Ordinary use of 15,000 miles per year would be 3.6 MWH per car (assumes no storage loss).
Not a trivial amount of power, but it is a high-powered sports car, not built for efficiency. In my city, that 53KWH to "fill up" would cost about $4.77 at this writing.
I like the car. It hot, i know that much for sure. I'm training to become a car designer, so I can personally say that this car has good design quality, especially for a sports car. If you like "good looking" hybrids, you should also look up the Fisker hybrid. The tesla ( to me ) is a clean, almost hotter, version of the Lotus Elise.
YEIYAH!!!