The Tesla Roadster to take a 200 mile road trip
It looks like Tesla is about to set out to prove that their Roadster is capable of going 200 miles or more on a charge [UPDATE: the car will stop along the way at a Hyatt in Sacramento to show off the charging capability (and charge the batteries), something Tesla's David Vespremi told AutoblogGreen was the plan all along] with their planned road trip from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe. This trip will take them through the mountains, where the life of their battery pack is sure to be tested. However, with the lack of an internal combustion engine, problems with the thin air up there should not be a problem. Sponsoring the trip is the Global Hyatt hotel chain, who, it appears, is mulling over the idea of installing electric car charging stations at some of their hotels.
[Source: Green Wombat]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
wmorin 10:01AM (8/15/2007)
I want the Tesla .. But I will have to wait to see if it meets the Canadian Safety standards. I wish there was a way to squeeze 300 miles .. But I guess if it's capable of going 240 miles on a charge I'd have to accept it. But also, if there was a "Solar Roof" option that trickle charged the car, that would be the cream of the crop. Or better yet, make the hood, and Back Battery cover embedded solar cells.. Wait .. I'll invent that and become a Multi-millionaire..
PS. If anyone steals my idea, give me 10% ..
Wil.
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MikeB 10:21AM (8/15/2007)
wmorin,
Given the number of kWh in the Tesla's battery, the size of the roof, and the efficiency of solar collectors, you'd have to park your Tesla in the Arizona desert for a month in order to trickle charge the battery enough to drive 1 extra mile.
You'd have a better chance if you decided to cover the roof of your house & garage with solar cells, and even that won't be able to keep up with 100 miles/week of driving.
Solar is going to be really great in a few years, with some nice efficiency and cost improvements already in the pipeline, but it's no where near ready to make an impact on high-power consumption mobile devices.
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Travis Rassat 10:28AM (8/15/2007)
I think it's great that Hyatt is putting some thought into installing chargers at some of their hotels. I could imagine taking a Tesla on a road trip down Route 66, spending the night in a Hyatt every 200 miles... It could be the rebirth of 50's American car culture, without the guilt!
Wil - I think your idea has been done already - http://www.solarelectricalvehicles.com.
Nonetheless, it's a great idea!
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Todd 10:57AM (8/15/2007)
Travis,
Do you really feel guilty when taking a road trip? I would be really concerned about my mental health if I were you.
Having an awareness of our dynamic environment is one thing, but feeling guilty about it? Even my liberal friends and my catholic friends don't go *that* far.
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Kardax 12:06PM (8/15/2007)
Google says that trip is 186 miles. With all the hill climbing, it's gonna be close.
I think with efficient driving (moderate speed, careful use of the brakes, etc) it can be done.
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Tony Belding 12:58PM (8/15/2007)
I punched "san francisco california to incline village nevada" into Google Maps and it came back with a 205-mile path. Seems like a good demonstration to me.
Is it possible to "squeeze 300 miles" out of the car? I'll go out on a limb and say probably you could, if the circumstances were favorable. Range will vary depending things like: condition of the battery pack (it degrades with age and use), passenger and cargo load, use of heat and A/C, driving speed and style (moderate, constant speed is best), and whether the terrain you're traversing is hilly or flat. The official range rating is based on the EPA driving cycle. It's a guideline, and it's a benchmark for comparing different vehicles, but as always, "your mileage may vary -- a lot".
Just to drive the point home. . . Consider the Prius! I've read about a man who's trying to sue Toyota because he didn't get anywhere near the EPA-rated gas mileage out of his Prius. At the other extreme are the "hypermilers" who get incredible mileage numbers out of theirs. They're driving the same cars, they're just driving them very differently.
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Joseph 2:37PM (8/15/2007)
Hmm...I wonder who will be driving it.
To be fair, I don't think Tesla Motors should drive the car. I love Tesla, but they gotta play a fair game.
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wmorin 2:19PM (8/15/2007)
Tony makes a valid point on what I asked. The worst things about buying the Tesla is the recharge time, and the availability to just plug in. Considering the trip I am asking the 300 Miles, is because most of the trip is back road, I.E No gas stations for miles. There are houses, but how odd would it be for someone to pull up in your drive way, asking if you can spark some juice (the electric kind) I perhaps should wait until the 2nd or 3rd generation comes out. The cost is reasonable but being left alongside of the road, is not .. lol
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GoodCheer 2:19PM (8/15/2007)
Altitude gain does seem like it could be a significant energy drain. Looking at rough numbers
2150 m up from sea level to Donner Pass
1350 kg of Tesla & two people
= 2.9E6 Joules of potential energy.
1 W-h = 3600 J, so Donner Pass takes 0.8 kW-h, or just less than 1/50th of the battery energy.
How about that, I would have thought it would be more than that. I suppose it goes to show just how important aerodynamics are.
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Kardax 4:10PM (8/15/2007)
Joseph: It's guaranteed a Tesla employee will be driving :)
Virtually no one outside the company has driven the car yet; they're not about to hand off one of their precious prototypes to someone not familiar with the car's handling for a 200 mile run.
I bet $50 the driver will be David Vespremi, Tesla PR guy. Anyone wanna take me up on that?
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Don 4:19PM (8/15/2007)
Somehow I think Tesla's got this planned out to a "T"...they can't have potential buyers waffling because this thing goes 170 miles instead of over 200.
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Eric 4:24PM (8/15/2007)
Any word on when the Tesla will arrive in Sacramento? I'm in Sacramento and would love a chance to see a Tesla up close!
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Jeremy Korzeniewski 5:52PM (8/15/2007)
Meh, with the update, this is much less interesting, isn't it? Why not try and show that the car can do the full 200 miles on the charge? That would be much cooler, imho.
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Kardax 6:35PM (8/15/2007)
Agreed; the update completely changes things. It's now more-or-less a standard Tesla PR showing, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does take away the risk and excitement factors from what we originally expected.
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