Wireless car charging

[uscitizen]

I just invented the future of auto travel in the USA.


And no reason electric trucks could not use the same system.

And if we ever come up with RTS (room temperature superconductors) we would really hum and could start talking of miles per kilowatt.

 

[westwall]

Until another alternative energy form come around, electric cars are the wave of the future. To make them easy to charge, Evatran has developed a wireless charging system.

The base stations are made of a charging disc that sits on the floor of your garage or driveway. You then drive your car over the disc and it wirelessly charges the car's electric battery. You need a special adapter inside the engine to do the charging, but that's about it.

Evatran is testing the system with a handful of fleet Chevy Volts and is hoping to mass produce the units late in 2012. Convenience comes with a price tag as the units now are priced at $2,000 for an indoor unit and $3,00 for an outdoor unit. These prices are expected to drop as the technology develops.

Evatran Brings Wireless Charging To Cars

Yeppers, EV's are the "wave of the future"


Citing a Lack of Usage, Costco Removes E.V. Chargers

By JIM MOTAVALLI


Costco, the membership warehouse-club chain, was an early leader in offering electric-vehicle charging to its customers, setting an example followed by other retailers, including Best Buy and Walgreen. By 2006, Costco had installed 90 chargers at 64 stores, mostly in California but also some in Arizona, New York and Georgia. Even after General Motors crushed its EV1 battery cars, the Costco chargers stayed in place.

Yet just as plug-in cars like the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt enter the market, Costco is reversing course and pulling its chargers out of the ground, explaining that customers do not use them.

Courtesy of Plug In AmericaPhotographed last week, a charger installed at a Costco location in Rohnert Park, Calif. “Please be advised that this electric charger will be removed on August 15th, 2011. Sorry for the inconvenience,” the note says.

“We were early supporters of electric cars, going back as far as 15 years. But nobody ever uses them,” said Dennis Hoover, the general manager for Costco in northern California, in a telephone interview. “At our Folsom store, the manager said he hadn’t seen anybody using the E.V. charging in a full year. At our store in Vacaville, where we had six chargers, one person plugged in once a week.”

Mr. Hoover said that E.V. charging was “very inefficient and not productive” for the retailer. “The bottom line is that there are a lot of other ways to be green,” he said. “We have five million members in the region, and just a handful of people are using these devices.”

Plug In America, the California-based E.V. advocacy group, contends that the stations do get used, and is conducting a rigorous grassroots campaign to save them. The group asserts that some of the units have been delivering free electricity to loyal E.V. owners for a decade or more, and that people regularly plug in.



The group says that the Costco chargers are invaluable for owners of Toyota’s older RAV4 electrics, many of which are still on the road in California. But the actor Ed Begley Jr., a longtime environmentalist and RAV4 owner, said in an e-mail that some of the Costco chargers around Los Angeles stopped working years ago.

The Costco outlets are also outdated by current standards, but a state-supported program stands ready to upgrade them at no cost to Costco.

That was one impetus for a $2.3 million program supported by the California Energy Commission and overseen by the charging companies Clipper Creek and EV Connect, which would have 600 to 650 so-called legacy E.V. chargers upgraded. According to Will Barrett, a Clipper Creek program manager, 30 new chargers have been installed since the program began operations in July. Mr. Barrett said that Costco decided not to participate in the state program last March.



Citing a Lack of Usage, Costco Removes E.V. Chargers - NYTimes.com

 

[uscitizen]

LOL when autos first started out getting gas was a major problem, gas was often bought at drug stores in sealed gallon containers.

 

[westwall]

LOL when autos first started out getting gas was a major problem, gas was often bought at drug stores in sealed gallon containers.

Uhhhh, I thought you were smarter then that? The point, dear sir, is once a gas station was built it stayed open until a newer better one came along. COSTCO has shuttered their charging station because no one was using it. Got it?

 

[Rat in the Hat]

Your car would have a metering device so you could swipe a card and buy electricity on the go.
Equip the interstates first. You would have battery power for around town and the parking spots would have the inductive sources as well to recharge your car while you shop/work.

We have the technology we just lack the determination to make it work.

Your idea would probably work, but where would all the power plants needed to run it be located? And what fuels would they use to generate the electricity?

 

[Old Rocks]

Good luck with the public driving electric in mass, if it ever happens, start a tow company because they will be sitting on the sides of every road. I work with electric vehicles everyday. They suck in the winter, they suck in the heat....... batteries are ridiculously expensive and don't last worth a shit. Then you have the dimwitted public that leave them turned on with lights and are surprised when they don't go. That and they are incredibly ugly.

What was the cost of an automobile in 1910 compared to a horse and buggy? What was the dependibility of the vehicles at the time?

As far as ugly goes;

Tesla Motors | Premium Electric Vehicles

Electric Auto Association

Oldsocks I saw a review of the Tesla last year. They sent the reviewers two of them right off the bat. The reason they soon found was the claimed 275+ miles per charge average was actually around 60 miles, and it took a day to charge the dam things. The first one batteries died after about 60 miles, the second one kept overheating and dying. They had to wait 2-3 hours between attempts to run the tests.


The fact is Tesla company exaggerated the reliability and mileage and charge times. THe car itself is originally a Lotus Elise body and structure, that is heavily modified and stuffed with something like a few thousand laptop like batteries, and a high torque electric motor. It weighs a lot more than the standard Elise, costs almost 3 times as much and although quick in a straight line, handles like a luxury liner.

Its a gimmick to sell and electric sporty car.

From Road and Track;

2010 Tesla Roadster Sport
List price $128,500

Price as tested $159,145
Curb weight 2790 lb.
Engine, transmission 3-phase, 4-pole, AC induction; 1spd
Horsepower, hp@rpm 288 @ 4400-6000
Torque, lb-ft@rpm 295 @ 0-5100
0-60 mph 3.7 sec
0-100 mph 10.9 sec
0-1320 ft (¼ mile) 12.6 sec @ 104.0 mph
Top speed 125 mph*
Braking, 60-0 mph 123 ft
Braking, 80-0 mph 210 ft
Lateral accel (200-ft skidpad) 0.96g
Speed thru 700-ft slalom 70.3 mph
Our estimated range 160 miles


Tesla road test

Tesla Cleans Up Again at the Fifth Monte Carlo Alternative Energy Rally

For the second consecutive year, the Tesla Roadster beats all during a thrilling race in Monaco
MONACO - The Tesla Roadster has reconfirmed its supremacy in the world of the alternative fuel vehicles, beating more than 100 competitors during the exciting Monte Carlo Alternative Energy Rally. Driven by former F1 driver Erik Comas, the Arctic White Roadster also scored a definitive victory in the Electric Vehicles Cup. The race, which ended Sunday, covered more than 800 km and included sprints on the Monaco F1 track.

"Thanks to the incredible efficiency of the Roadster, we were able to drive for more than 450 km on Saturday. There is nothing on the road like it," said Comas. "Next year I will enter five Roadsters owned by my company, Green Car Challenge, into this amazing event."

The rally passed over the Col du Corobin at a height of 1230 meters, and followed some of the same roads as the historic the Monte Carlo Rally.

The Tesla Roadster has once again proven to be the only electric car capable of participating in such hard competitions, always traveling at high performance in all conditions. The victory comes days after Tesla announced that Roadster owners around the world have travelled over 10 million electric miles (16 million kilometers).

The car has an EU-certified range of 212 miles or 340 kms on a single charge. In October 2009, the Roadster set a world record when owner Simon Hackett drove 313 miles (504kms) on a single charge during the Global Green Challenge in Australia.

The Roadster can be plugged into conventional outlets throughout the world, including 120 and 240 volt systems in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. No special equipment is needed for charging: if you have an outlet that charges a cell phone or a hair dryer, you can plug in your Roadster.

 

[uscitizen]

LOL when autos first started out getting gas was a major problem, gas was often bought at drug stores in sealed gallon containers.

Uhhhh, I thought you were smarter then that? The point, dear sir, is once a gas station was built it stayed open until a newer better one came along. COSTCO has shuttered their charging station because no one was using it. Got it?

And gas stations did not open for quite a while, you quite often had to order your gas.
And wait for it to come in.
Start up is rough for any new tech. I susect that many some places also quit selling gas before things caught on. Say the only car i town broke down for a while or was wrecked. Woudl the drug/general store keep getting gas for it?


btw you do have a problem with the concept of supply and demand don't you?

with my idea of implanting inductive charging sources in roadways anyone could buy the electricity as needed/desired with unlimited range.

 

[Old Rocks]

LOL when autos first started out getting gas was a major problem, gas was often bought at drug stores in sealed gallon containers.

Uhhhh, I thought you were smarter then that? The point, dear sir, is once a gas station was built it stayed open until a newer better one came along. COSTCO has shuttered their charging station because no one was using it. Got it?

And here in Oregon, Fred Meyers stores are adding chargers.

 

[uscitizen]

he does not understand supply and demand.

If someone had started selling ipod cases before the ipod came out or say only 3 people in town had ipods they would quit selling the cases wouldn't you think?

 

[Old Rocks]

Good luck with the public driving electric in mass, if it ever happens, start a tow company because they will be sitting on the sides of every road. I work with electric vehicles everyday. They suck in the winter, they suck in the heat....... batteries are ridiculously expensive and don't last worth a shit. Then you have the dimwitted public that leave them turned on with lights and are surprised when they don't go. That and they are incredibly ugly.

What was the cost of an automobile in 1910 compared to a horse and buggy? What was the dependibility of the vehicles at the time?

As far as ugly goes;

Tesla Motors | Premium Electric Vehicles

Electric Auto Association

Oldsocks I saw a review of the Tesla last year. They sent the reviewers two of them right off the bat. The reason they soon found was the claimed 275+ miles per charge average was actually around 60 miles, and it took a day to charge the dam things. The first one batteries died after about 60 miles, the second one kept overheating and dying. They had to wait 2-3 hours between attempts to run the tests.

The fact is Tesla company exaggerated the reliability and mileage and charge times. THe car itself is originally a Lotus Elise body and structure, that is heavily modified and stuffed with something like a few thousand laptop like batteries, and a high torque electric motor. It weighs a lot more than the standard Elise, costs almost 3 times as much and although quick in a straight line, handles like a luxury liner.

Its a gimmick to sell and electric sporty car.

Interesting. You seem to post lies on everything

Tesla Sues 'Top Gear' Over Electric-Car Road Tests - Driver's Seat - WSJ

Electric-car maker Tesla Motors says it served the BBC’s Top Gear with a lawsuit for libel and malicious falsehood. The suit stems from a 2008 episode of the popular British car show in which road tests of the company’s Tesla Roadster battery-powered sports car appeared to perform poorly.

The car maker says the show, with hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, included track tests during which the car was said to have run out of charge after 55 miles when it was supposed to have a range of 211 miles. The overall theme was that electric cars don’t work well in the real world.

Ricardo Reyes, Tesla’s vice president of communications, says that when the show first aired, the folks at the car company “were good sports. Tesla was a young start-up company, having delivered 140 cars to customers in the United States. Those early adopters knew what they were driving, and were not affected by the show’s lies,” Reyes says in a statement.

But the show keeps airing in repeats, essentially haunting Tesla.

“Today, we continue to field questions and explain the serious misconceptions created by the show. Many of us have heard: I know this car, the one that broke down on Top Gear. Despite the show’s buffoonery, Clarkson’s words are taken as truth, not only about the Roadster, but about EVs,” Reyes says.

The company says that if the episode had been broadcast in 2008, and not rebroadcast repeatedly it would not have sued. BBC could not be reached immediately for comment.

Reyes laid out the following list of the show’s findings regarding the car, countered by Tesla’s comments, each labeled as “Fact.”

 The Roadster’s true range is only 55 miles per charge. Clarkson says: “Although Tesla say it will do 200 miles we worked out that on our track it would run out after just 55 miles.”

Fact: The Roadster has been certified under UN ECE R101, the EU regulation for measuring electric vehicle range, at 211 miles. All ECE R101 tests are witnessed and certified by a neutral third party approved by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, in Tesla’s case, the Department of Road Transport – Netherlands. Of course, a car driven aggressively will get reduced mileage, regardless of whether its fueled by petrol or electricity, as Top Gear found. At the other end of the spectrum, through mindful driving, a Tesla owner achieved an astounding 313 miles on a single charge. To let either of these extremes represent real-world range is an incomplete analysis.

 One of the Roadsters ran out of charge and had to be pushed into the Top Gear hangar by four men.

Fact: Neither Roadster ran out of charge during Top Gear’s tests, or even came close. We know because the Roadster records basic operating information. The show fails to mention that neither Roadster ever went below twenty-five percent charge. Why stage the stunt of pushing it into the hangar?

 The Roadster’s brakes broke, rendering the car not drivable.

Fact: During Top Gear’s drive on the test track, the fuse for the braking system’s electric vacuum pump failed. But the brakes were operational and safe. The result was like driving a car without the convenient power brakes to which we’ve grown accustomed. Tesla’s brakes, both with and without the fuse, must pass all UN ECE safety tests, and they do.

 Neither Roadster provided to Top Gear was available for test driving due to these problems.

Fact: At all times, there was at least one Roadster at the ready.

BBC, Tesla Motors, Top Gear

 

[westwall]

LOL when autos first started out getting gas was a major problem, gas was often bought at drug stores in sealed gallon containers.

Uhhhh, I thought you were smarter then that? The point, dear sir, is once a gas station was built it stayed open until a newer better one came along. COSTCO has shuttered their charging station because no one was using it. Got it?

And gas stations did not open for quite a while, you quite often had to order your gas.
And wait for it to come in.
Start up is rough for any new tech. I susect that many some places also quit selling gas before things caught on. Say the only car i town broke down for a while or was wrecked. Woudl the drug/general store keep getting gas for it?


btw you do have a problem with the concept of supply and demand don't you?

with my idea of implanting inductive charging sources in roadways anyone could buy the electricity as needed/desired with unlimited range.

I have zero problem with the concept of supply and demand. I was merely pointing out the typical Chris hyperbole and the fact that the "wave of the future" wasn't. I prefer Tesla's concept of electrifying the planetary magnetic field. A truly wireless electrical system. Instead of wasting money on useless AGW BS they should put that money toward figuring out if Tesla's system would work.

That would truly be a world changing technology. It would do all the things the environmentalists want (other then killing off mass quantities of people, they're still going to have to do that the old fashioned way) and give the world the energy it needs.

 

[westwall]

he does not understand supply and demand.

If someone had started selling ipod cases before the ipod came out or say only 3 people in town had ipods they would quit selling the cases wouldn't you think?

No, they'd stockpile them till the demand arrived.

 

[gslack]

What was the cost of an automobile in 1910 compared to a horse and buggy? What was the dependibility of the vehicles at the time?

As far as ugly goes;

Tesla Motors | Premium Electric Vehicles

Electric Auto Association

Oldsocks I saw a review of the Tesla last year. They sent the reviewers two of them right off the bat. The reason they soon found was the claimed 275+ miles per charge average was actually around 60 miles, and it took a day to charge the dam things. The first one batteries died after about 60 miles, the second one kept overheating and dying. They had to wait 2-3 hours between attempts to run the tests.

The fact is Tesla company exaggerated the reliability and mileage and charge times. THe car itself is originally a Lotus Elise body and structure, that is heavily modified and stuffed with something like a few thousand laptop like batteries, and a high torque electric motor. It weighs a lot more than the standard Elise, costs almost 3 times as much and although quick in a straight line, handles like a luxury liner.

Its a gimmick to sell and electric sporty car.

Interesting. You seem to post lies on everything

Tesla Sues 'Top Gear' Over Electric-Car Road Tests - Driver's Seat - WSJ

Electric-car maker Tesla Motors says it served the BBC’s Top Gear with a lawsuit for libel and malicious falsehood. The suit stems from a 2008 episode of the popular British car show in which road tests of the company’s Tesla Roadster battery-powered sports car appeared to perform poorly.

The car maker says the show, with hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, included track tests during which the car was said to have run out of charge after 55 miles when it was supposed to have a range of 211 miles. The overall theme was that electric cars don’t work well in the real world.

Ricardo Reyes, Tesla’s vice president of communications, says that when the show first aired, the folks at the car company “were good sports. Tesla was a young start-up company, having delivered 140 cars to customers in the United States. Those early adopters knew what they were driving, and were not affected by the show’s lies,” Reyes says in a statement.

But the show keeps airing in repeats, essentially haunting Tesla.

“Today, we continue to field questions and explain the serious misconceptions created by the show. Many of us have heard: I know this car, the one that broke down on Top Gear. Despite the show’s buffoonery, Clarkson’s words are taken as truth, not only about the Roadster, but about EVs,” Reyes says.

The company says that if the episode had been broadcast in 2008, and not rebroadcast repeatedly it would not have sued. BBC could not be reached immediately for comment.

Reyes laid out the following list of the show’s findings regarding the car, countered by Tesla’s comments, each labeled as “Fact.”

 The Roadster’s true range is only 55 miles per charge. Clarkson says: “Although Tesla say it will do 200 miles we worked out that on our track it would run out after just 55 miles.”

Fact: The Roadster has been certified under UN ECE R101, the EU regulation for measuring electric vehicle range, at 211 miles. All ECE R101 tests are witnessed and certified by a neutral third party approved by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, in Tesla’s case, the Department of Road Transport – Netherlands. Of course, a car driven aggressively will get reduced mileage, regardless of whether its fueled by petrol or electricity, as Top Gear found. At the other end of the spectrum, through mindful driving, a Tesla owner achieved an astounding 313 miles on a single charge. To let either of these extremes represent real-world range is an incomplete analysis.

 One of the Roadsters ran out of charge and had to be pushed into the Top Gear hangar by four men.

Fact: Neither Roadster ran out of charge during Top Gear’s tests, or even came close. We know because the Roadster records basic operating information. The show fails to mention that neither Roadster ever went below twenty-five percent charge. Why stage the stunt of pushing it into the hangar?

 The Roadster’s brakes broke, rendering the car not drivable.

Fact: During Top Gear’s drive on the test track, the fuse for the braking system’s electric vacuum pump failed. But the brakes were operational and safe. The result was like driving a car without the convenient power brakes to which we’ve grown accustomed. Tesla’s brakes, both with and without the fuse, must pass all UN ECE safety tests, and they do.

 Neither Roadster provided to Top Gear was available for test driving due to these problems.

Fact: At all times, there was at least one Roadster at the ready.

BBC, Tesla Motors, Top Gear

You seriously went and took a plaintiff in a case against TopGear at their word?

LOL, ok tool, so tell me how did that case turn out then? Tell you what they win that suit you let me know, until then its their word (people trying to sell a 100,000 dollar electric car) against TopGear presenters, producers, directors, camera crew, grips, etc etc...

I think you have WAY too much time on your hands ...

 

[Quantum Windbag]

What was the cost of an automobile in 1910 compared to a horse and buggy? What was the dependibility of the vehicles at the time?

As far as ugly goes;

Tesla Motors | Premium Electric Vehicles

Electric Auto Association

Oldsocks I saw a review of the Tesla last year. They sent the reviewers two of them right off the bat. The reason they soon found was the claimed 275+ miles per charge average was actually around 60 miles, and it took a day to charge the dam things. The first one batteries died after about 60 miles, the second one kept overheating and dying. They had to wait 2-3 hours between attempts to run the tests.


The fact is Tesla company exaggerated the reliability and mileage and charge times. THe car itself is originally a Lotus Elise body and structure, that is heavily modified and stuffed with something like a few thousand laptop like batteries, and a high torque electric motor. It weighs a lot more than the standard Elise, costs almost 3 times as much and although quick in a straight line, handles like a luxury liner.

Its a gimmick to sell and electric sporty car.

From Road and Track;

2010 Tesla Roadster Sport
List price $128,500

Price as tested $159,145
Curb weight 2790 lb.
Engine, transmission 3-phase, 4-pole, AC induction; 1spd
Horsepower, hp@rpm 288 @ 4400-6000
Torque, lb-ft@rpm 295 @ 0-5100
0-60 mph 3.7 sec
0-100 mph 10.9 sec
0-1320 ft (¼ mile) 12.6 sec @ 104.0 mph
Top speed 125 mph*
Braking, 60-0 mph 123 ft
Braking, 80-0 mph 210 ft
Lateral accel (200-ft skidpad) 0.96g
Speed thru 700-ft slalom 70.3 mph
Our estimated range 160 miles


Tesla road test

Tesla Cleans Up Again at the Fifth Monte Carlo Alternative Energy Rally

For the second consecutive year, the Tesla Roadster beats all during a thrilling race in Monaco
MONACO - The Tesla Roadster has reconfirmed its supremacy in the world of the alternative fuel vehicles, beating more than 100 competitors during the exciting Monte Carlo Alternative Energy Rally. Driven by former F1 driver Erik Comas, the Arctic White Roadster also scored a definitive victory in the Electric Vehicles Cup. The race, which ended Sunday, covered more than 800 km and included sprints on the Monaco F1 track.

"Thanks to the incredible efficiency of the Roadster, we were able to drive for more than 450 km on Saturday. There is nothing on the road like it," said Comas. "Next year I will enter five Roadsters owned by my company, Green Car Challenge, into this amazing event."

The rally passed over the Col du Corobin at a height of 1230 meters, and followed some of the same roads as the historic the Monte Carlo Rally.

The Tesla Roadster has once again proven to be the only electric car capable of participating in such hard competitions, always traveling at high performance in all conditions. The victory comes days after Tesla announced that Roadster owners around the world have travelled over 10 million electric miles (16 million kilometers).

The car has an EU-certified range of 212 miles or 340 kms on a single charge. In October 2009, the Roadster set a world record when owner Simon Hackett drove 313 miles (504kms) on a single charge during the Global Green Challenge in Australia.

The Roadster can be plugged into conventional outlets throughout the world, including 120 and 240 volt systems in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. No special equipment is needed for charging: if you have an outlet that charges a cell phone or a hair dryer, you can plug in your Roadster.

Here we go again.

Tesla takes BBC's 'Top Gear' to court : Hot Topics

 

[KissMy]

Here we go again.

Tesla takes BBC's 'Top Gear' to court : Hot Topics

When you think about it, running the piss out of most sports cars will dramatically cut the mileage by 80%. A sports car with a 15 gallon tank driven hard on a track will only get about 60 miles on a tank. The thing is that you can simply refuel them in minutes.

Indy cars get 1.9-mpg. They burn more than 1.3 gallons per lap on average. At wide open throttle they likely get under 1-mpg.

Top Gear Producers, Tesla Reps Continue Bickering Over Lawsuit

Recently, Top Gear’s executive producer Andy Wilman responded to the suit in a blog post on the show’s website, providing a detailed counterpoint to each claim.

He starts with the Roadster’s range, claiming the show never refuted the company’s advertised range of 211 miles, but instead boasted a short 55-mile range based on hard track use. He points out that Tesla engineers back in California confirmed their calculations.

 

[westwall]

Oldsocks I saw a review of the Tesla last year. They sent the reviewers two of them right off the bat. The reason they soon found was the claimed 275+ miles per charge average was actually around 60 miles, and it took a day to charge the dam things. The first one batteries died after about 60 miles, the second one kept overheating and dying. They had to wait 2-3 hours between attempts to run the tests.


The fact is Tesla company exaggerated the reliability and mileage and charge times. THe car itself is originally a Lotus Elise body and structure, that is heavily modified and stuffed with something like a few thousand laptop like batteries, and a high torque electric motor. It weighs a lot more than the standard Elise, costs almost 3 times as much and although quick in a straight line, handles like a luxury liner.

Its a gimmick to sell and electric sporty car.

From Road and Track;

2010 Tesla Roadster Sport
List price $128,500

Price as tested $159,145
Curb weight 2790 lb.
Engine, transmission 3-phase, 4-pole, AC induction; 1spd
Horsepower, hp@rpm 288 @ 4400-6000
Torque, lb-ft@rpm 295 @ 0-5100
0-60 mph 3.7 sec
0-100 mph 10.9 sec
0-1320 ft (¼ mile) 12.6 sec @ 104.0 mph
Top speed 125 mph*
Braking, 60-0 mph 123 ft
Braking, 80-0 mph 210 ft
Lateral accel (200-ft skidpad) 0.96g
Speed thru 700-ft slalom 70.3 mph
Our estimated range 160 miles


Tesla road test

Tesla Cleans Up Again at the Fifth Monte Carlo Alternative Energy Rally

For the second consecutive year, the Tesla Roadster beats all during a thrilling race in Monaco
MONACO - The Tesla Roadster has reconfirmed its supremacy in the world of the alternative fuel vehicles, beating more than 100 competitors during the exciting Monte Carlo Alternative Energy Rally. Driven by former F1 driver Erik Comas, the Arctic White Roadster also scored a definitive victory in the Electric Vehicles Cup. The race, which ended Sunday, covered more than 800 km and included sprints on the Monaco F1 track.

"Thanks to the incredible efficiency of the Roadster, we were able to drive for more than 450 km on Saturday. There is nothing on the road like it," said Comas. "Next year I will enter five Roadsters owned by my company, Green Car Challenge, into this amazing event."

The rally passed over the Col du Corobin at a height of 1230 meters, and followed some of the same roads as the historic the Monte Carlo Rally.

The Tesla Roadster has once again proven to be the only electric car capable of participating in such hard competitions, always traveling at high performance in all conditions. The victory comes days after Tesla announced that Roadster owners around the world have travelled over 10 million electric miles (16 million kilometers).

The car has an EU-certified range of 212 miles or 340 kms on a single charge. In October 2009, the Roadster set a world record when owner Simon Hackett drove 313 miles (504kms) on a single charge during the Global Green Challenge in Australia.

The Roadster can be plugged into conventional outlets throughout the world, including 120 and 240 volt systems in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. No special equipment is needed for charging: if you have an outlet that charges a cell phone or a hair dryer, you can plug in your Roadster.

Here we go again.

Tesla takes BBC's 'Top Gear' to court : Hot Topics

Me thinks that Tesla has bit off quite a bit more than it can chew. They are going to lose their asses quite handily and then they'll owe all those court costs and lawyers fees. This may just put them out of business completely. A stupid move on their part. Too many of the Hollywood elite love the show and those were potential Tesla customers.

Tesla cut too may corners in production and didn't deliver a well built car. Especially for the 100,000 dollar market.

 

[gslack]

What it really boils down to is does it really work in the real world...

1. The car takes hours to recharge, and a charging station. Charging stations are not on every corner nor is there even one in every major city that can accommodate it. The fact it takes hours to recharge makes it even less viable. If you run a regular sports car hard on a track or on the highway and you don't get their claimed estimated gas mileage, you can pull in to any of the many many gas stations and refuel it no problem and it will take a couple minutes. If you do that with a Tesla Roadster, you have to get it towed to home or a recharging station which I do not know of any in my area, and then it will take most of your day to charge it.

2. Remember its supposed to be a viable alternative sports car to rival some of the other premium sports cars in the world. It costs over 100,000 and I am pretty sure the charging station is not free with the car most likely a couple thousand there too. And for that money you can almost buy 2 of the vehicle it is made from, that does not have any of those imitations and handles a great deal better.

3. The brake vacuum fuse failing is a failure in the breaking system pretending its not or that its still usable therefore not a failure is asinine. They (TopGear) test drive cars, they do this all the time, they do not give a good review to one that has mechanical or electrical failures. They may like a lot of the things about it (which they did) but a failure in a system is a failure in a system and especially if it will limit performance or make it harder to drive.

4. The engine overheating is an overheating engine end of story. A performance testing car show like TopGear tests performance of a car, and an overheating engine causing reduced performance IS a failure of the car and it should be reported. I cannot believe Tesla are even attempting to defend that nonsense.

5. When you send your car to get it tested on a show like that you are subjecting your car to tests that the average driver may not put the car through. And that can have benefits or be harmful to the cars reputation. You take the same chances anyone else does. Also the presenters are allowed to give their opinion, and that is the plain and simple truth of it. Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, Lotus, Aston Martin, and so on take the same chances. Recently they reviewed the Porsche SUV and pretty much hated everything about it. Porsche didn't sue them though. They sad it was ugly, was terrible at both being a 4 door big car and a 4 wheel drive suv. They had nothing good to say about it and yet Porsche took it in stride and went on.

6. Back to the point of its viability in real world conditions. A sports car is not a regular roundabout car. It is expected to perform like a sports car should. It should be durable enough to handle being driven to its capabilities without failing within a reasonable amount. A car failing to even reach 1/4 of its advertised range when its driven like a sports car, having a motor overheating and losing power making any test pointless, break vacuum fuses blowing (why didn't the Tesla people replace this simple fuse) causing breaking performance to drop, and taking all day to recharge the batteries is a direct hit on its viability and reliability.

In my opinion this company was made by treehugging ecomentalists, with little knowledge of actual car manufacturing and even less knowledge of how car reviews and test results work. They got a bunch of money and surrounded themselves with all the people to make a electric sports car, but no idea how to make it work beyond the average green propaganda spamming. And now they are made cause they got a bad review... WAH! Crybabies... Welcome to the real world of car manufacturing..

Plain and simple the car is not a viable alternative to sports cars. Failures of the system in two tests cars, hours of recharge time and not even 1/4 of the estimated distance per charge, and no even remotely convenient way to recharge the thing when you are out doing what sports cars are made to do make it a gimmick and niche product at best. Its for the very wealthy with more money than sense and want to show off their neat toy.

This lawsuit will go about as far as they need it to drum up press and free advertising.

 

[BoycottTheday]

Tesla Electric Cars Get $465 Million Government Funding - Tesla Roadsters - The Daily Green

Funny, they get govt funding then act like Facists when someone downgrades them,

its deja vu all over again.

 

[westwall]

Tesla Electric Cars Get $465 Million Government Funding - Tesla Roadsters - The Daily Green

Funny, they get govt funding then act like Facists when someone downgrades them,

its deja vu all over again.

Yep, next thing you know they'll accuse the Top Gear presenters as racists.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Here we go again.

Tesla takes BBC's 'Top Gear' to court : Hot Topics

When you think about it, running the piss out of most sports cars will dramatically cut the mileage by 80%. A sports car with a 15 gallon tank driven hard on a track will only get about 60 miles on a tank. The thing is that you can simply refuel them in minutes.

Indy cars get 1.9-mpg. They burn more than 1.3 gallons per lap on average. At wide open throttle they likely get under 1-mpg.

Top Gear Producers, Tesla Reps Continue Bickering Over Lawsuit

Recently, Top Gear’s executive producer Andy Wilman responded to the suit in a blog post on the show’s website, providing a detailed counterpoint to each claim.

He starts with the Roadster’s range, claiming the show never refuted the company’s advertised range of 211 miles, but instead boasted a short 55-mile range based on hard track use. He points out that Tesla engineers back in California confirmed their calculations.

The Tesla is a sports car, not an economy car. The only proper way to drive it is full throttle.