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Hybrid Vehicles Electric Vehicles The Tesla Roadster - Electric Car
251 messages, Last post on Aug 22, 2008 at 4:34 PM
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Replying to: tpe (Jun 20, 2007 3:32 am) I am hopeful someone will find the solution. I think the EV is the only way we can become somewhat free from fossil fuels. http://www.roadtripamerica.com/wheels/flc.htm
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Replying to: gagrice (Jun 20, 2007 5:09 am) I don't know if it represents any new technology, maybe just the refinement and repackaging of existing technology. Totally new technologies don't come along too often anymore. More often than not when people talk new technology they are primarily referring to just a new application. However, there are some proprietary aspects involved in Tesla's Roadster. I know that they are actually selling their battery packs to Think Nordic. If it was really off the shelf pieces why would they buy from Tesla? I've stated numerous times that I actually think battery progress has been pretty significant and steady. I was just pricing a Dell laptop. You can get a spare 9 cell, 85 watt-hour battery for $79. That's $20 cheaper than a couple years ago and about 15% more energy per cell. In fact it's about 25% more energy per cell than what's being used in the Tesla Roadster. I'm also starting to re-think my negative position on fuel cells. The actual fuel cells have advanced tremendously. The main roadblock has always been hydrogen storage. I never believed that storing hydrogen in big tanks under enormous pressure had much potential. A lot of promising work is being done towards storing hydrogen in a solid state. This could potentially allow for home production and refueling, using grid or solar/wind electricity as your original power source. Essentially hydrogen is nothing more than the battery and stored the right way it might prove better than Li-ion.
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Replying to: gagrice (May 16, 2007 4:56 am) Fast-charging stations can be added onto gas stations. If there's no gas station on the way to where you're going, you're doomed no matter what kind of car you're driving. We have cars now that can go over 200 miles on a charge. Who's to say we won't have one that can go 300 soon? EESTOR, that Texas-based company that doesn't have a website or release a lot of information, is working on an energy storage system that can be recharged millions of times without degradation (more than the life of the car). If it has that many life cycles, it's sure to have an awesome range. I wonder how much it'll boost the price of Zenn's cars, though.
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Replying to: knightskye (Jun 20, 2007 8:24 am) I've read that EEStor's energy storage device is not supposed to cost much more than lead acid batteries. And since it wouldn't need to be replaced the lifetime cost will actually be much cheaper. The big question is whether or not they can actually deliver. My guess is no. Certainly not this year, which is when ZENN's website previously stated this energy storage device would be available in their neighborhood electric vehicles. I'm a big EV proponent so I hope that I'm wrong but EEStor has been hyped for some time now and have provided no product for testing/demonstrating their claims. The companies that I take more seriously are the ones with actual working prototypes being tested in the field. |
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Replying to: tpe (Jun 20, 2007 5:41 am) I hope that is not some cheap knock-off you are considering for your laptop. The 9 cell 85 WH I am looking is now $159. That is $16 more than last year. Dell Battery
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Replying to: gagrice (Jun 20, 2007 6:45 pm) No, it was for a new laptop from Dell's website. If you go to the battery option for this laptop you can see here this it comes with a 6 cell battery. An additional 9 cell battery is a $79 option. http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DNDWEA3&s=dhs I do see that buying replacement batteries through Dell's website is pretty expensive. Maybe they are trying to steer you towards buying a new laptop, which skews the price.
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Replying to: tpe (Jun 21, 2007 4:04 am) |
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Replying to: sunray1 (Jun 19, 2007 6:38 pm) I hear that! Pricing such a nice car out of reach is a strange idea, but I'm hoping that the masses will eventually be able to afford such a car. It's great, however, to see such a fast car that is not gas powered. I mean, 0-60 is less than 4 seconds is pretty impressive. I've even seen videos where the Telsa has shamed many other powerful cars (gas powered, no less!!)...
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Replying to: mr_hybrid (Jun 26, 2007 8:02 pm) Tell that to Toyota. It's not really Tesla's fault, it's because of the batteries and the other expensive equipment under the hood. Plus, it's not mass-produced like most cars. They plan to release another car in a couple years with a price of $50,000, about twice the price of a Prius, half the price of the Roadster. They said they'll have the $50,000 one be a weaker version and a better version for $65,000. They raised the price of the car, from $92,000 to $98,000. I hope Phoenix will have a car around $25,000 to $30,000.
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Replying to: knightskye (Jun 27, 2007 8:48 pm) Phoenix announced recently that they've begun work on a plug-in hybrid. I don't know if that's something that interests you but my guess is it will have a better chance of being in the $25-30k price range than a pure BEV, at least in the near term.
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