The Tesla Roadster looks pretty good.

[Prius]

Originally Posted by kingofthering

What about the people who commute back and forth, pick up kids, and run errands?
That adds up and during cold weather, with heat/defroster on, the mileage of the EV1 dropped significantly.

I didn't make that up, the GM engineer told this to Car and Driver.

I bet that if GM wanted it to be practical, they would have worked the kinks out.

Face it, the EV1 was a crock. GM wanted it to be a POS and flap so they could put more Suburbans on the road without us complaining.

[Coventrysucks]

Originally Posted by Egg Nog

I hereby dub thee "Pessimist of the Year".

I just can't see what all the fuss is about.

People have done electric cars before, nothing new there.

People have done the Lotus Elise before, nothing new there.

Expensive Electric Elise != Whoohoo, the future of road-based personal transportation has arrived!!!!

[Rockefella]

Originally Posted by Coventrysucks

I just can't see what all the fuss is about.

People have done electric cars before, nothing new there.

People have done the Lotus Elise before, nothing new there.

Expensive Electric Elise != Whoohoo, the future of road-based personal transportation has arrived!!!!

Good point there, but I think the fuss has more to do with the Tesla being a good-looking, quick sportscar for a somewhat reasonable price. (compared to something like a Venturi Fetish for example)

[jediali]

Originally Posted by Egg Nog

I hereby dub thee "Pessimist of the Year".

ill second that...

[Prius]

Originally Posted by Rockefella

Good point there, but I think the fuss has more to do with the Tesla being a good-looking, quick sportscar for a somewhat reasonable price. (compared to something like a Venturi Fetish for example)

No, the reason why there is such a big fuss over it is because it is fully electric. Plus it has some pretty astronomical figures, going 130 and going 230 miles before needing a charge.

[Rockefella]

Originally Posted by Prius

No, the reason why there is such a big fuss over it is because it is fully electric. Plus it has some pretty astronomical figures, going 130 and going 230 miles before needing a charge.

So you're telling me that this is the first fully-electrical car or something?

Look up Venturi.

[Prius]

I know it is not the first fully electric car. The first fully electric production car was the EV1. Then there was that Venturi Fetish. I have heard of the Venturi fetish. I think it is mainly over teh figures. The EV1s and all of the other Big three expiremental electric cars didn't get that great milage. This one is supposed to go 200+ miles before needing a charge, can go 130MPH, AND is fully electric. It is a combination of the three. I am not sure how fast the Venturi Fetish was, the only real thing I know about it is that it existed and production was limited to 25 cars. What I do know was that the older EVs were not able to top a hundred, and barely or got under 100 miles before needing a recharge.

[Coventrysucks]

Originally Posted by jediali

ill second that...

ktxsbyenow

Originally Posted by Prius

I am not sure how fast the Venturi Fetish was, the only real thing I know about it is that it existed and production was limited to 25 cars.

I heard they sold the sum total of none.

[henk4]

Can some mod correct the title?

[Prius]

Originally Posted by Coventrysucks

ktxsbyenow



I heard they sold the sum total of none.

No wonder nobody has heard of it

[Rockefella]

Originally Posted by henk4

Can some mod correct the title?

Done. Nikola was starting to get annoyed.

[nota]

Originally Posted by Prius

I know it is not the first fully electric car. The first fully electric production car was the EV1. Then there was that Venturi Fetish. I have heard of the Venturi fetish. I think it is mainly over teh figures. The EV1s and all of the other Big three expiremental electric cars didn't get that great milage. This one is supposed to go 200+ miles before needing a charge, can go 130MPH, AND is fully electric. It is a combination of the three. I am not sure how fast the Venturi Fetish was, the only real thing I know about it is that it existed and production was limited to 25 cars. What I do know was that the older EVs were not able to top a hundred, and barely or got under 100 miles before needing a recharge.

It's reputed that about a 100 years ago there were more (fully) electric cars on the road than powered by petrol for example the world famous Detroit Electric etc

The EV1 was commercially released in 1996 with an underperforming lead-acid battery that powered the car only 60 miles to a charge. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of 2001, Americans drive an average of 203 miles a week. But the range of the first generation of EV1s was still seen as inadequate and impractical for many drivers, and led analysts and the public to dismiss the technology.

Two years later, the nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) battery, developed by Stanford R. Ovshinsky’s Ovonic Battery Company, was used in second-generation EV1s. With the NiMH battery, the EV1 was able to travel 100 - 120 miles per charge. GM had already acquired in 1994 a 60% interest in the Ovonic Battery Company and could have used the more powerful NiMH batteries earlier in the EV1’s life, given the demonstrated performance of NiMH batteries in prototype electric vehicles.

The advanced batteries used in later-version EV1s are expensive—but not as expensive, in the long run, as an internal combustion engine. With no moving parts to maintain or repair, the battery lasted the life of the car (especially since the car’s life was abruptly terminated before its time). GM never mass-produced the NiMH batteries, which would have reduced their cost. Toyota currently uses NiMH batteries in the highly profitable Prius.

A new generation of Lithium-ion batteries power electric cars in development today. They are four times as much energy efficient as hydrogen fuel cells and can provide 250 to 300 miles per charge. Critics point out that the expense of employing Lithium-ion batteries, but the costs would be dramatically reduced in large numbers of production vehicles.

[Prius]

Oh, I forgot about the early 1900s Electric cars

[Egg Nog]

Yeah, admittedly this is not the fastest car ever or the best small 2-seater ever. I really don't think anyone is arguing about that. You can buy a similar car for less money. You can buy a faster car for less money. That's obvious.

Why care? Well, it's not exactly just like rest of the electric cars that have "all been done before". How about because it's the first saleable attempt at an electic car since new battery technology has allowed for improvements? It goes 400km on a charge instead of 80. It goes 210km/h instead of 90. It looks good doing it. Tesla Motors is committed to being carbon-neutral during the build process, including the construction of the batteries.

Even if your local power plant is burning fossil fuels to produce the electricity, it's less polluting than any of its competitors (I believe they said 135mpg equivalent). In places like Vancouver that are lucky enough to have extremely cheap and clean power, it's a huge benefit over its competitors. Sure you can't go on a massive roadtrip, but people don't buy sports cars for that purpose anyways. How about never having to fill up the tank? There's some extra convenience.

That's why you should care.

[Coventrysucks]

Originally Posted by Egg Nog

That's why you should care.

Well, I'm not very enthused by that, sorry.

It is the wrong application for the technology.

Maybe if they put their efforts into HGVs, coaches, buses and the like to make a significant contribution to reducing emissions in towns and cities - that might be impressive.

Making a heavy lightweight sports car for the benefit of George Cloony isn't.

As for being "carbon neutral", you can go out and get a nice shiny Range Rover with a supercharged V8 that is "carbon neutral".