0-60 in 4 seconds. Say goodbye to the good 'ol days...

[sssnot]

http://www.teslamotors.com/

[jeff priest]

How much does it cost?

[sssnot]

$80,000.00

[jeff priest]

Wow. I can't say anything bad about the performance { 0- 60 in 4 seconds is impressive for any car } . I wonder if you would need someone to make vroom vroom sounds when you would drive it?

[sssnot]

Crank up the jams!

[Slojo]

Sign me up!! Oh wait, 80g's, that's too much for me.

[JCMurf52]

Is that price of $80,000 accurate or just a guess? A similar sized Lotus is about $40-50,000
Jack

[Don]

Jack......might be a challenge to register in CT as it might be designated as a " Composite ". ( smile ), along with no revenue for emissions testing:

0 to 60 in 4 seconds, some comparisons from Road & Track :

Ferrari F430 F1 ( $202,353 ) 3.8
Lamborghini Gallardo ( $201,100 ) 3.9
Porsche 911 Turbo ( $ 125,535 ) 3.9
Corvette Z06 ( $ 65,690 ) 4.1
Viper SRT10 ( $ 85,745 ) 4.2
Ford GT ( $ 153,345 ) 3.8
____

[cobra de capell]

Originally Posted by Don

Jack......might be a challenge to register in CT as it might be designated as a " Composite ". ( smile ), along with no revenue for emissions testing:

0 to 60 in 4 seconds, some comparisons from Road & Track :

Ferrari F430 F1 ( $202,353 ) 3.8
Lamborghini Gallardo ( $201,100 ) 3.9
Porsche 911 Turbo ( $ 125,535 ) 3.9
Corvette Z06 ( $ 65,690 ) 4.1
Viper SRT10 ( $ 85,745 ) 4.2
Ford GT ( $ 153,345 ) 3.8
____

The Lamborghihi Murcielago is listing in Motor Trend at 3.4 - 0 to 60! Oh, $293K to $350K is the price! But, you get 631 HP! The interesting part is the warrantly is for 2 years - 24,000 miles - Yikes!

[Slojo]

Today's Wall Street Journal (7/27/06), section D1 has an article on these new electric cars. They quote a price range of somewhere from $85,000 to $110,000 for the Tesla. I wouldn't mind doing my part for the environment, but man that's way too much money for me and probably the everyday driver.

[sssnot]

Originally Posted by Slojo

Today's Wall Street Journal (7/27/06), section D1 has an article on these new electric cars. They quote a price range of somewhere from $85,000 to $110,000 for the Tesla. I wouldn't mind doing my part for the environment, but man that's way too much money for me and probably the everyday driver.

...but not too much for a car that goes that fast! I imagine that the price of Tesla-technology cars (in varioous forms, i.e. 4dr, minivan, etc.) will be way less very quickly. They could easily be a dominator very quickly for the average commuter...if they can fill the demand!

[Excaliber]

1 cent a mile? And pigs fly! When you figure in the 80K plus price tag ALONE the cost per mile will be staggering. By the way, RANGE before needing a full charge has go to be tied to 'performance'. I don't think you can have both at reasonable levels.

It's not performance that will sell electric cars, all though that will help, it's basic COST. IF I were to buy one my reasoning would be based on extreme low operating costs (fule mileage if you would). Thus I would be comparing the 'value' to Econo Box type cars, not SUV's or high performance vehicles. And what happens when those batteries need replacing? Thats gonna be a HUGE expense and will have a dramatic impact on 're-sale' value.

Not quite ready for prime time these electric cars, perhaps down the road...

[sssnot]

I think the point here is that this is THE turning point. Performance use to be the real issue--and battery size. Now those two problems are effectively dealt with in this vehicle. 250 miles on a charge is pretty good range for a commuter car, wouldn't you say?

Now that the technology is clearly available, the price can only drop.

[computerworks]

Originally Posted by sssnot

Now that the technology is clearly available, the price can only drop.

But the 36 month Service at the dealer will be a killer.

Laptop batteries...I know a bit about them... good for 2 or three years, then they must be replaced.

The Tesla has...what? ...6000 of them?

[Don]

The cost to operate the gas cars include the Federal and State gasoline taxes. When and if electric cars increase in popularity , to maintain the roads and all the other government use of the gasoline tax, new taxes will more than likely be added to electric cars to offset the loss in gasoline tax revenue. Hence, the cost to operate will increase.

Agree with the comment on battery replacement. There will definitely be an influence on the value of a pre-owned electric cars if the batteries will need to be changed shortly after a purchase. For discuusion purposes, all other items being equal , there is not that much difference, if any, in the value of a gasoline car having 60,000 miles and one having 61,000 miles. If the battery had to be replaced at 61,000 miles and there is 60,000 miles on the electric vehicle, I would offer there will be a significant difference in value.

[Excaliber]

"THE" turning point? well I don't think so, but I hear you. Yeah, 250 miles is respectable range. Pretty small car though...

It appears that current move is toward 'hybrids', gas plus electric motor power. The electric motor is used to increase accelleration\performance from the small gasoline engine.

[Don]

Link to the 7/27 WSJ article mentioned by Slojo:

http://online.wsj.com/article_print/...450617046.html

[SCOBRAC]

Electric cars are nothing new, they've been around since the early 1900's. (Un) Fortunately even GM can't make them work. It was rumored they lost $25-30k on every single EV-1 it built. They didn't even have the confidence to sell the stupid things... Every one was leased and presently none are on the road. We still have electric car charging stations at the city hall in my town that are NEVER used.

[mj_duell]

Originally Posted by SCOBRAC

Electric cars are nothing new, they've been around since the early 1900's. (Un) Fortunately even GM can't make them work. It was rumored they lost $25-30k on every single EV-1 it built. They didn't even have the confidence to sell the stupid things... Every one was leased and presently none are on the road. We still have electric car charging stations at the city hall in my town that are NEVER used.

Well.....Yes and No. I have the direct inside track on this; I'm married to one of GM's senior fuel cell research scientist. We had an EV1 for a short time as part of GM's research program. Not all, but some are still on the road today, but only certain GM employees drive them through the program. They get charged by home adapters or at the GM facilities that host the cars. The car was not a complete loss and taught the engineers thing they needed to know as far as the electric motor and power applications were concerned. The major shortcoming was the 100 mile range which was not always 100 miles depending on your driving habits. It was amazingly fast for its short driving time.

I'm holding out for one of the fuel cell powered cars my wife is working on. Hydrogen is the best solution for the future.....although I love dealing in cars that harkened back to a time where dead dinosaurs were king . Anyway, with fuel cells the range of an average car will be in the 600-700 mile area and it will burn 100% clean. Electric motors driven by the power output of a fuel cell are very torquey. I have been for rides in some of GM's test vehicles and they are very fast. Technically the only thing holding us back is the supply infrastructure for the hydrogen.

By the way, don't anybody think that a fuel cell powered Cobra has not been discussed at my house . I'm waiting for the day the FC cars hit the dealers and I start the worlds first FC hop-up parts business and have an in house development scientist.

Just my ramblin for the evening.



--Mike / Turn Ten Racing, Inc.

[4pipes]

Ask your wife if the energy required to produce the hydrogen is a justifiable amount, given that hydrocarbons were probably burned to generate the electricity to separate the hydrogen gases. Some kind of ratio would be helpful to understanding this quandry.