Tesla customer conference call 2: reaffirms WhiteStar, talks DriveTrain 1.5
Click the Roadster for a high-res gallery
Tesla Motors had another customer conference call the other day where some of the management team took questions from those who have put up cash and are waiting patiently for their new electric cars. The first such call happened in December just after new CEO Ze'ev Drori came on board. For this meeting Ze'ev and chairman Elon Musk were joined by CTO JB Straubel and Vehicle integration VP Malcolm Powell along with primary talking head Darryl Siry.
The meeting opened up with a statement from Musk where he reiterated the company's commitment to building WhiteStar in addition to getting the Roadster into production. JB Straubel gave a run-down on DriveTrain 1.5. Not much has changed since we spoke to Tesla last week although Straubel did say that the motor cooling implementation hasn't been finalized yet. They are testing several different configurations and expect to have it validated within the next few months. Customers also delved into areas such as being allowed to invest in the company. Straubel explained that the new transmission has no clutch mechanism or even a neutral state. The gears are continuously engaged, and neutral comes by way just turning off the current flow to the motor. Switching the current flow to spin the motor backwards will give reverse. You can listen to the entire call here.
Gallery: First Drive: Tesla Roadster
[Source: Tesla]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
BillO 2:59PM (2/03/2008)
Very nice, hearing about the current status. My faith in the company is on the upswing these days. I was relieved to hear that Whitestar is still moving along. That's the one I'm interested in -- the Roadster is just too small, and the Fisker Karma is too big.
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