[noflash]

http://www.teslamotors.com/

[tl_boy]

man that is really significant. 0-60 in 4 secs? Amazing to get that kind of power out of an electric car. Really impressive engineering.

I'd consider buying one in future. Looks good too.

[1001]

looks like a lotus. hope this thing actually fits a person in it tho.

[325 Baller]

i think its gorgeous. I would love to have one and help the enviroment, if it comes in Automatic .

[Asiann]

Man that would be worth it for me since driving 250 miles would almost be crazy to do here.

[ska///235i]

$90K.....lets just take the train

[ward]

Originally Posted by 325 Baller

i think its gorgeous. I would love to have one and help the enviroment, if it comes in Automatic .

they still have to burn fossil fuels to make electricity (unless you're powered by neuclear)

plus energy is lost each time you convert it

burning your fossil fuels directly for energy should be more efficient as you lose energy in the transfer of fossil fuels to electricity, and you lose a bit more going from electricity to batteries.

electric cars just move where the polution is (not that there's no value to that)

[BenMW]

I saw the Movie "Who killed the electric car?" the other day and I would recommend it. It was about how the technology was there to convert over to electric cars but big oil and government and car companies stopped it.

I love the look of it and with that type of performance...! jeaz just add a few more goodies and extend the battery life and I'd highly consider one.

[325 Baller]

ward im sorry but can you make that a little bit less confusing?

[ward]

Originally Posted by 325 Baller

ward im sorry but can you make that a little bit less confusing?

electricity has to be created, it's not found in nature

power plants basically all operate the same way, some fuel (neuclear, coal, fossil fuels,) gets burned to heat water into steam

the expansion of the steam (like pressure making a teapot whistle) makes a turbine (big propeller, sort of like how exhaust makes a turbo spin)

The spinning turbine makes a giant magnet spin inside a bank of coiled wire, the motion of a spinning magnet makes electrical current in the banks of coiled wire (like an electric motor, but backwards)

anyways, my point is that electricity is still created by burning stuff, while you could alternatively just burn stuff in your car.


Hope I helped, and didn't make it sound too silly

Ward

[tl_boy]

Ward, what about wind, solar, and water produced energy? Here in Houston, for example, there are a couple companies that offer consumers the choice of getting wind produced (only) energy. Better for the environment.

Another option is ethanol. I was just talking with a family friend in the oil industry. He was in Brazil recently, and a good number of cars there run on ethanol - corn oil. They have pump stations all around, etc. I think he said even Houston has 3 stations that have ethanol. He said it cost like $10 bucks to drive an SUV like 200 miles!! He said it burns cleaner too, so less toxic gasses in the environment.

[325 Baller]

no i mean i understand that but it still reduces the emissions, since theres always going to be coal powerplants but not always petrol cars. So yes in one sense your correct that your still hurting the enviroment but not nearly as much as having a petrol car.

[MeTaL]

Too bad they don't have that roar sound you get from petrol cars

[sstarch1]

Originally Posted by MeTaL

Too bad they don't have that roar sound you get from petrol cars

Ward is completely right. Electric cars are great and more efficient, but that energy has to be produced by burning fossill fuels.

Wind, solar and hydro power are the BEST ways of obtaining "clean" energy.

An interesting fact i had been told in my Nanotechnology class: if the USA wants to satisfy all of the energy needs for this country using Nuclear power plants, there would have to be a Nuclear Power Plant constructed everyday for the next 50 years.

Also, an interesting alternative for home electricity is solar energy panels. Solar energy is believed by many to be the source of energy for the future (completely renewable, readily avalible, and "simple") Even now, especially in other countries (japan i believe is in the lead) consumers are installing solar panels on their roofs at home. Even with the highes efficiency solar panels availible, which are around 20-30%, that cuts their home electricity needs in half. Imagine when we get reasonable efficiencies of 80-99% from solar panels. Then OIL as we know it could be used only for cars, which would drive the price down and stop the WAR/OIL machine.

[vladinecko]

what ward said about energy conversion popped in my head right away too. however, i think this car is an excellent start to what i hope will be a lot more efficient and oil-independed future. as many mentioned, there are alternative sources of electric energy out there already, now we'll just have to utilize it more.

[noflash]

Here's an new Edmunds article on the car.
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...cleId=116204#2

YES, it was developed with Lotus.

And, YES, the energy comes from somewhere but there is tremendous saving to the environment with an electric car in terms of emissions. This car gets the equivalent of
135 miles per gallon.

Lastly, there is an option to have solar panels mounted on your garage just for charging the car. And that's infinity miles per no gallon (assuming you don't live in Seattle).

It's a great leap and just like every other brand new technology, cheaper & better versions should start popping up in the near future.

[just4kickz]

uhh what ward basically means is the transfer of energy into any state results in wasted "energy" otherwise known as heat... its simple chemistry, bio, and physics... kinda like when our body burns glucose for energy it results in heat which also maintains our body at a "normal" temperature

[just4kickz]

btw solar power is a great concept but its really efficient. i think it converts less than 1% of light into energy... (i dont know the #s) anyways we just havent developed the technology yet... and its not like the president is going green anyways...

[sstarch1]

Originally Posted by just4kickz

btw solar power is a great concept but its really efficient. i think it converts less than 1% of light into energy... (i dont know the #s) anyways we just havent developed the technology yet... and its not like the president is going green anyways...

I pointed out earleir, its about 10-20%

[noflash]

Originally Posted by just4kickz

uhh what ward basically means is the transfer of energy into any state results in wasted "energy" otherwise known as heat... its simple chemistry, bio, and physics... kinda like when our body burns glucose for energy it results in heat which also maintains our body at a "normal" temperature

Uh, I read all of ward's post and he was basically saying that you are still burning fossil fuels with an electric car. I agree, but don't downplay the fact that it burns much, much less fossil fuel than internal combustion engine vehicles.

Your bimmer's engine wastes far more energy than tranfer of energy.

And your comment about solar panels being "really efficient" is just so retarded, I don't know how to answer. You are not burning terrorist oil -- it's free! It doesn't pollute. The panels cost prohibitive, but it's clean energy. How efficient are you?

[ward]

Originally Posted by just4kickz

uhh what ward basically means is the transfer of energy into any state results in wasted "energy" otherwise known as heat... its simple chemistry, bio, and physics... kinda like when our body burns glucose for energy it results in heat which also maintains our body at a "normal" temperature

that's the other part of the problem with electric cars that I didn't express very well


fossil fuels-> electricity -> battery power -> motion (each transfer loses energy as heat)

vs

fossil fuels -> motion

yeah, probably still a bit more efficient to run the power plant and electric car, but less so than many think.

[noflash]

Originally Posted by ward

that's the other part of the problem with electric cars that I didn't express very well


fossil fuels-> electricity -> battery power -> motion (each transfer loses energy as heat)

vs

fossil fuels -> motion

yeah, probably still a bit more efficient to run the power plant and electric car, but less so than many think.

Well, it is measurable. You're 325i can get 25mpg of fossil fuel and the electric car can get 135mpg of fossil fuel. Everything is inefficient, I get it. The important thing is it's using less foreign oil and putting out less emissions.