Would you buy an electric car?

[diamondD]

Tesla Motors


The site is pretty hard to copy stuff from, but 0-60 in 4 seconds? 135mpg equivalent. 250 mile range on a charge and 3 hours to recharge. And it doesn't waste the braking energy, it passes it on to the battery.


Detroit better get all over this technology. America could be the leader in this technology and revolutionize the world. The Middle East would be a hell of a lot less cocky and might actually have to start catching up to the rest of the world.

[Hardrock69]

It is knind of a misnomer to call the company "Tesla Motors".

Tesla invented a device that powered a car with an electric motor and no recharging required.

It drew energy from the air around it.

http://www.frank.germano.com/blackbox.htm

Thereafter, Tesla shifted his attentions from the appreciation of the gigantic to an appreciation of the miniature. He sought a means for proliferating an immense number of small and compact aether power receivers. With one such device, Tesla succeeded in obtaining power to drive an electric car. But for the exceptional account, which follows, we would have little information on this last period in Tesla's productive life, one that very apparently did not cease its prolific streams of creativity to his last breath. The information comes through an unlikely source, one rarely mentioned by Tesla biographers. It chanced that an aeronautical engineer, Derek Ahlers, met with one of Tesla's nephews then living in New York. Theirs was an acquaintance lasting some 10years, consisting largely of anecdotal commentaries on Dr. Tesla. Mr.Savo provided an enormous fund of knowledge concerning many episodes in Tesla's last years.

The Black Box

Himself an Austrian military man and a trained aviator, Mr. Savo was extremely opened about certain long-cherished incidents in which his uncle's genius was consistently made manifest. Mr. Savo reported that in 1931, he participated in an experiment involving aetheric power. Unexpectedly, almost inappropriately, he was asked to accompany his uncle on a long train ride to Buffalo. A few times in this journey, Mr. Savo asked the nature of their journey. Dr. Tesla remained unwilling to disclose any information, speaking rather directly to this issue. Taken into a small garage, Dr. Tesla walked directly to a Pierce Arrow, opened the hood and began making a few adjustments. In place of the engine, there was an AC motor. This measured a little more than 3 feet long, and a little more than 2 feet in diameter. From it trailed two very thick cables, which connected with the dashboard. In addition, there was an ordinary 12-volt storage battery. The motor was rated at 80horsepower. Maximum rotor speed was stated to be 30 turns per second. A 6-foot antenna rod was fitted into the rear section of the car.

Dr. Tesla stepped into the passenger side and began making adjustments on a "power receiver" which had been built directly into the dashboard. The receiver, no larger than a short-wave radio of the day, used 12 special tubes, which Dr. Tesla brought with him in a box-like case. Mr. Savo told Mr. Ahler that Dr. Tesla built the receiver in his hotel room, a device 2 feet in length, nearly 1 foot wide, and 1/2 foot high. These curiously constructed tubes having been properly installed in their sockets, Dr. Tesla pushed in 2 contact rods and informed Mr. Savo that power was now available to drive. Several additional meters read values, which Dr. Tesla would not explain. No sound was heard. Dr. Tesla handed Mr. Savo the ignition key and told him to start the engine, which he promptly did. Yet hearing nothing, the accelerator was applied, and the car instantly moved. Tesla's nephew drove this vehicle without other fuel for an undetermined long interval. Mr. Savo drove a distance of 50 miles through the city and out to the surrounding countryside. The car was tested to speeds of 90 mph, with the speedometer rated to 120.

After a time, and with increasing distance from the city itself, Dr. Tesla felt free enough to speak. Having now become sufficiently impressed with the performance of both his device and the automobile. Dr. Tesla informed his nephew that the device could not only supply the needs of the car forever, but could also supply the needs of a household "with power to spare". When originally asked how the device worked, Tesla was initially adamant and refused to speak. Many who have read this "apocryphal account" have stated it to be the result of an "energy broadcast". This misinterpretation has simply caused further confusions concerning this stage of Tesla's work. He had very obviously succeeded in performing, with this small and compact device, what he had learned in Colorado and Shoreham.

As soon as they were on the country roads, clear of the more congested areas, Tesla began to lecture on the subject. Of the motive source he referred to "a mysterious radiation, which comes out of the aether". The small device very obviously and effectively appropriated this energy. Tesla also spoke very glowingly of this providence, saying of the energy itself that "it is available in limitless quantities". Dr. Tesla stated that although "he did no know where it came from, mankind should be very grateful for its presence". The two remained in Buffalo for 8 days, rigorously testing the car in the city and countryside. Dr. Tesla also told Mr. Savo that the device would soon be used to drive boats, planes, trains, and other automobiles. Once, just before leaving the city limits, they stopped at a streetlight and a bystander joyfully commented concerning their lack of exhaust fumes. Mr. Savo spoke up whimsically, saying that they had "no engine". They left Buffalo and traveled to a predetermined location, which Dr. Tesla knew, an old farmhouse barn some 20 miles from Buffalo. Dr. Tesla and Mr. Savo left the car in this barn, took the 12 tubes and the ignition key, and departed.

Later on, Mr. Savo heard a rumor that a secretary had spoken candidly about both the receiver and the test run, being promptly fired for the security breach. About a month after the incident, Mr. Savo received a call from a man who identified himself as Lee De Forest, who asked how he enjoyed the car. Mr. Savo expressed his joy over the mysterious affair, and Mr. DeForest declared Tesla the greatest living scientist in the world. Later, Mr. Savo asked his uncle whether or not the power receiver was being used in other applications. He was informed that Dr. Tesla had been negotiating with a major shipbuilding company to build a boat with a similarly outfitted engine. Asked additional questions, Dr. Tesla became annoyed. Highly concerned and personally strained over the security of this design, it seems obvious that Tesla was performing these tests in a desperate degree of secrecy for good reasons. Tesla had already been the victim of several manipulations, deadly actions entirely sourced in a single financial house. For this reason, secrecy and care had become his only recent excess.

[Sarge's Little Helper]

It is knind of a misnomer to call the company "Tesla Motors".

Tesla invented a device that powered a car with an electric motor and no recharging required.

It drew energy from the air around it.

http://www.frank.germano.com/blackbox.htm

Thereafter, Tesla shifted his attentions from the appreciation of the gigantic to an appreciation of the miniature. He sought a means for proliferating an immense number of small and compact aether power receivers. With one such device, Tesla succeeded in obtaining power to drive an electric car. But for the exceptional account, which follows, we would have little information on this last period in Tesla's productive life, one that very apparently did not cease its prolific streams of creativity to his last breath. The information comes through an unlikely source, one rarely mentioned by Tesla biographers. It chanced that an aeronautical engineer, Derek Ahlers, met with one of Tesla's nephews then living in New York. Theirs was an acquaintance lasting some 10years, consisting largely of anecdotal commentaries on Dr. Tesla. Mr.Savo provided an enormous fund of knowledge concerning many episodes in Tesla's last years.

The Black Box

Himself an Austrian military man and a trained aviator, Mr. Savo was extremely opened about certain long-cherished incidents in which his uncle's genius was consistently made manifest. Mr. Savo reported that in 1931, he participated in an experiment involving aetheric power. Unexpectedly, almost inappropriately, he was asked to accompany his uncle on a long train ride to Buffalo. A few times in this journey, Mr. Savo asked the nature of their journey. Dr. Tesla remained unwilling to disclose any information, speaking rather directly to this issue. Taken into a small garage, Dr. Tesla walked directly to a Pierce Arrow, opened the hood and began making a few adjustments. In place of the engine, there was an AC motor. This measured a little more than 3 feet long, and a little more than 2 feet in diameter. From it trailed two very thick cables, which connected with the dashboard. In addition, there was an ordinary 12-volt storage battery. The motor was rated at 80horsepower. Maximum rotor speed was stated to be 30 turns per second. A 6-foot antenna rod was fitted into the rear section of the car.

Dr. Tesla stepped into the passenger side and began making adjustments on a "power receiver" which had been built directly into the dashboard. The receiver, no larger than a short-wave radio of the day, used 12 special tubes, which Dr. Tesla brought with him in a box-like case. Mr. Savo told Mr. Ahler that Dr. Tesla built the receiver in his hotel room, a device 2 feet in length, nearly 1 foot wide, and 1/2 foot high. These curiously constructed tubes having been properly installed in their sockets, Dr. Tesla pushed in 2 contact rods and informed Mr. Savo that power was now available to drive. Several additional meters read values, which Dr. Tesla would not explain. No sound was heard. Dr. Tesla handed Mr. Savo the ignition key and told him to start the engine, which he promptly did. Yet hearing nothing, the accelerator was applied, and the car instantly moved. Tesla's nephew drove this vehicle without other fuel for an undetermined long interval. Mr. Savo drove a distance of 50 miles through the city and out to the surrounding countryside. The car was tested to speeds of 90 mph, with the speedometer rated to 120.

After a time, and with increasing distance from the city itself, Dr. Tesla felt free enough to speak. Having now become sufficiently impressed with the performance of both his device and the automobile. Dr. Tesla informed his nephew that the device could not only supply the needs of the car forever, but could also supply the needs of a household "with power to spare". When originally asked how the device worked, Tesla was initially adamant and refused to speak. Many who have read this "apocryphal account" have stated it to be the result of an "energy broadcast". This misinterpretation has simply caused further confusions concerning this stage of Tesla's work. He had very obviously succeeded in performing, with this small and compact device, what he had learned in Colorado and Shoreham.

As soon as they were on the country roads, clear of the more congested areas, Tesla began to lecture on the subject. Of the motive source he referred to "a mysterious radiation, which comes out of the aether". The small device very obviously and effectively appropriated this energy. Tesla also spoke very glowingly of this providence, saying of the energy itself that "it is available in limitless quantities". Dr. Tesla stated that although "he did no know where it came from, mankind should be very grateful for its presence". The two remained in Buffalo for 8 days, rigorously testing the car in the city and countryside. Dr. Tesla also told Mr. Savo that the device would soon be used to drive boats, planes, trains, and other automobiles. Once, just before leaving the city limits, they stopped at a streetlight and a bystander joyfully commented concerning their lack of exhaust fumes. Mr. Savo spoke up whimsically, saying that they had "no engine". They left Buffalo and traveled to a predetermined location, which Dr. Tesla knew, an old farmhouse barn some 20 miles from Buffalo. Dr. Tesla and Mr. Savo left the car in this barn, took the 12 tubes and the ignition key, and departed.

Later on, Mr. Savo heard a rumor that a secretary had spoken candidly about both the receiver and the test run, being promptly fired for the security breach. About a month after the incident, Mr. Savo received a call from a man who identified himself as Lee De Forest, who asked how he enjoyed the car. Mr. Savo expressed his joy over the mysterious affair, and Mr. DeForest declared Tesla the greatest living scientist in the world. Later, Mr. Savo asked his uncle whether or not the power receiver was being used in other applications. He was informed that Dr. Tesla had been negotiating with a major shipbuilding company to build a boat with a similarly outfitted engine. Asked additional questions, Dr. Tesla became annoyed. Highly concerned and personally strained over the security of this design, it seems obvious that Tesla was performing these tests in a desperate degree of secrecy for good reasons. Tesla had already been the victim of several manipulations, deadly actions entirely sourced in a single financial house. For this reason, secrecy and care had become his only recent excess.

Oops. I wasn't paying attention. Tell me again what is going on.

[Hardrock69]

Fuck off you electronic dick.

Here is an original article from a Packard newsletter:

http://www.keelynet.com/energy/teslafe1.htm

The Forgotten Art of Electric - Powered Automobiles
by Arthur Abrom
Electric powered automobiles were one of the earliest considerations and this mode of propulsion enjoyed a brief but short reign. The development of electricity as a workable source of power for mankind has been studded with great controversy.

Thomas A. Edison was the first to start to market systems (i.e. electric generators) of any commercial value. His research and developmental skills were utilized to market a "direct current" system of electricity. Ships were equipped with D.C. systems and municipalities began lighting their streets with this revolutionary D.C. electric system. (At that time) Edison was the sole source of electricity!

While in the process of commercializing electricity, Thomas Edison hired men who knew of the new scientific gift to the world and were capable of new applications for electricity. One such man was a foreigner named Nikola Tesla. This man, although not known to many of us today, was without a doubt the greatest scientific mind that has ever lived. His accomplishments dwarfed even Thomas Edison's! Whereas Mr. Edison was a great experimenter, Mr. Tesla was a great theoretician. Nikola Tesla became frustrated and very much annoyed at the procedures Edison followed.

Tesla would rather calculate the possibility of something working (i.e. mathematical investigation) than the hit and miss technique of constant experimentation. So in the heat of an argument, he quit one day and stormed out of Edison's laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey.

Working on his own, Tesla conceived and built the first working alternating current generator. He, and he alone, is responsible for all of the advantages we enjoy today because of A.C. electric power.

Angered by Edison, Tesla sold his new patents to George Westinghouse for 15 million dollars in the very early 1900's. Tesla became totally independent and proceeded to carry on his investigative research in his laboratory on 5th Avenue in New York City.

George Westinghouse began to market this new system of electric generators and was in competition with Edison. Westinghouse prevailed because of the greater superiority of the A.C. generators over the less efficient D.C. power supplies of Thomas Edison. Today, A.C. power is the only source of electricity the world uses. And, please remember, Nikola Tesla is the man who developed it.

Now specifically dealing with automobiles in the infant days of their development, electric propulsion was considered and used. An electric powered automobile possessed many advantages that the noisy, cantankerous, smoke-belching gasoline cars could not offer.

First and foremost is the absolute silence one experiences when riding in an electrically powered vehicle. There is not even a hint of noise. One simply turns a key and steps on the accelerator - the vehicle moves instantly! No cranking from the start, no crank to turn (this was before electric starters), no pumping of the accelerator, no spark control to advance and no throttle linkage to pre-set before starting. One simply turned the ignition switch to on!

Second, is a sense of power. If one wants to increase speed, you simply depress the accelerator further - there is never any hesitation. Releasing the accelerator causes the vehicle to slow down immediately - you are always in complete control. It is not difficult to understand why these vehicles were so very popular around the turn of the century and until 1912 or so.

The big disadvantage to these cars was their range and need for re-charging every single night. All of these electric vehicles used a series of batteries and a D.C. motor to move itself about. The batteries require recharging every night and the range of travel was restricted to about 100 miles. Understand that this restriction was not a serious one in the early part of this century. Doctors began making house calls with electric cars (do you remember doctors making house calls?) because he no longer needed to tend to the horse at night time - just plug the car into an electric socket! No feeding, no rub-down and no mess to clean up!

Many of the large department stores in metropolitan areas began purchasing delivery trucks that were electrically powered. They were silent and emitted no pollutants. And, maintenance was a minimum on electrically powered vehicles. There were few mechanics and garages in operation in the early 1900's. So city life and travel appeared to be willing to embrace the electric automobile. Remember, these masterfully built vehicles all ran on D.C. current.

Two things happened to dampen the popularity of the electric automobile. One was the subconscious craving for speed that gripped all auto enthusisasts of this era. Each manufacturer was eager to show how far his car could travel (i.e. the transcontinental races) and what was its top speed!

Col. Vanderbilt constructed the first all concrete race track in Long Island and racing became the passion for the well-to-do. Newspapers constantly record new records of speed achieved by so-in-so. And, of course, the automobile manufacturers were quick to capitalize on the advertising effect of these new peaks of speed. Both of these events made the electrically powered vehicles appear to only belong to the "little old lady" down the street or the old retired gentleman who talked about the "good old days".

Electric vehicles could not reach speeds of 45 or 50 m.p.h. for this would have destroyed the batteries in moments. Bursts of speeds of 25 to 35 m.p.h. could be maintained for a moment or so. Normal driving speed-depending upon traffic conditions, was 15 to 20 m.p.h. by 1900 to 1910 standards, this was an acceptable speed limit to obtain from your electric vehicle.

Please note that none of the manufacturers of electric cars ever installed a D.C. generator. This would have put a small charge back into the batteries as the car moved about and would have thereby increased its operating range. This was considered by some to be approaching perpetual motion - and that, of course, was utterly impossible! Actually, D.C. generators would have worked and helped the electric car cause.

As mentioned earlier, Mr. Westinghouse's A.C. current generating equipment was being sold and installed about the country. The earlier D.C. equipment was being retired and disregarded. As a side note, Consolidated Edison Power Company of New York City still has one of Thomas Edison's D.C. generators installed in its 14th St. powerhouse - it still works! About this time, another giant corporation was formed and entered the A.C. generating equipment field - General Electric. This spelled the absolute end for Edison's D.C. power supply systems as a commercial means of generating and distributing electric power.

The electric automobile could not be adapted to accomodate and utilize a polyphase motor (i.e. A.C. power). Since they used batteries as a source of power, their extinction was sealed. No battery can put out an A.C. signal. True, a converter could be utilized (i.e. convert the D.C. signal from the battery to an A.C. signal), but the size of the equipment at this time was too large to fit in an automobile - even one with the generous dimensions of this era.

So, somewhere around 1915 or so, the electric automobile became a memory. True, United Parcel Service still utilizes several electric trucks in New York City today but the bulk of their fleet of vehicles utilizes gasoline or diesel fuel. For all intensive purposes, the electrically powered automobile is dead - they are considered dinosaurs of the past.

But, let us stop a moment and consider the advantages of utilizing electric power as a means of propelling vehicles. Maintenance is absolutely minimal for the only oil required is for the two bearings in the motor and the necessary grease fittings. There is no oil to change, no radiator to clean and fill, no transmission to foul up, no fuel pump, no water pump, no carburetion problems, no muffler to rot out or replace and no pollutants emitted into the atmosphere. It appears as though it might be the answer we have been searching for!

Therefore, the two problems facing us become top speed and range of driving - providing, of course, the A.C. and D.C. problems could be worked out. With today's technology this does not seem to be insurmountable. In fact, the entire problem has already been solved - in the past, the distant past and the not so distant! Stop! Re-read the last sentence again. Ponder it for a few moments before going on.

Several times earlier in this article, I mentioned the man, Nikola Tesla and stated that he was the greatest mind that ever lived. The U.S. Patent Office has 1,200 patents registered in the name of Nikola Tesla and it is estimated that he could have patented an additional 1,000 or so from memory!

But, back to our electric automobiles - in 1931, under the financing of Pierce-Arrow and George Westinghouse, a 1931 Pierce-Arrow was selected to be tested at the factory grounds in Buffalo, N.Y. The standard internal combustion engine was removed and an 80-H.P. 1800 r.p.m electric motor installed to the clutch and transmission. The A.C. motor measured 40 inches long and 30 inches in diameter and the power leads were left standing in the air - no external power source!

At the appointed time, Nikola Tesla arrived from New York City and inspected the Pierce-Arrow automobile. He then went to a local radio store and purchased a handful of tubes (12), wires and assorted resistors. A box measuring 24 inches long, 12 inches wide and 6 inches high was assembled housing the circuit. The box was placed on the front seat and had its wires connected to the air-cooled, brushless motor. Two rods 1/4" in diameter stuck out of the box about 3" in length.

Mr. Tesla got into the driver's seat, pushed the two rods in and stated, "We now have power". He put the car into gear and it moved forward! This vehicle, powered by an A.C. motor, was driven to speeds of 90 m.p.h. and performed better than any internal combustion engine of its day! One week was spent testing the vehicle. Several newspapers in Buffalo reported this test. When asked where the power came from, Tesla replied, "From the ethers all around us". Several people suggested that Tesla was mad and somehow in league with sinister forces of the universe. He became incensed, removed his mysterious box from the vehicle and returned to his laboratory in New York City. His secret died with him!

It is speculated that Nikola Tesla was able to somehow harness the earth's magnetic field that encompasses our planet. And, he somehow was able to draw tremendous amounts of power by cutting these lines of force or causing them to be multiplied together. The exact nature of his device remains a mystery but it did actually function by powering the 80 h.p. A.C. motor in the Pierce-Arrow at speeds up to 90 m.p.h. and no recharging was ever necessary!

In 1969, Joseph R. Zubris took his 1961 Mercury and pulled out the Detroit internal combustion engine. He then installed an electric motor as a source of power. His unique wiring system cuts the energy drain at starting to 75% of normal and doubles the electrical efficiency of the electric motor when it is operating! The U.S. Patent Office issued him a patent No. 3,809,978. Although he approached many concerns for marketing, no one really seemed to be interested. And, his unique system is still not on the market.

In the 1970's, an inventor used an Ev-Gray generator, which intensified battery current, the voltage being induced to the field coils by a simple programmer (sequencer). By allowing the motor to charge separate batteries as the device ran, phenomenally tiny currents were needed. The device was tested at the Crosby Research Institute of Beverly Hills, Ca., a 10-horepower EMA motor ran for over a week (9 days) on four standard automobile batteries.

The inventors estimated that a 50-horsepower electric motor could traverse 300 miles at 50 m.p.h. before needing a re-charge. Dr. Keith E. Kenyon, the inventor of Van Nuys, California discovered a discrepancy in the normal and long accepted laws relating to electric motor magnets. Dr. Kenyon demonstrated his invention for many scientists and engineers in 1976 but their reaction was astounding. Although admitting Dr. Kenyon's device worked, they saw little or no practical application for it!

So the ultimate source for our electrically powered automobile would be to have an electric motor that required no outside source of power. Sounds impossible because it violates all scientific thought! But it has been invented and H.R. Johnson has been issued a patent No. 4,151,431 on April 24, 1979 on such a device!

This new design although originally suggested by Nikola Tesla in 1905, is a permanent magnet motor. Mr. Johnson has arranged a series of permanent magnets on the rotor and a corresponding series - with different spacing - on the stator. One simply has to move the stator into position and rotation of the rotor begins immediately.

[Hardrock69]

There is only one drawback to this, and it is not addressed anywhere on the Tesla Motors website (that I can find anyway).

EM radiation.

Here are the specs for the motor:

Type designation 3-phase, 4-pole electric motor
Max net power 185kW

185 Kilowatts of power is nothing to sneeze at.

We all know that say, a TV set, is a producer of ElectroMagnetic radiation.

Just walk in front of one while your electric guitar is plugged into your amp with the volume up on the guitar.


Long Term exposure to EM radiation is not very healthy.

Yet they want you to sit directly behind a motor that is possibly producing 185,000 watts of power.

I love the fact it has no emissions, and requires no gasoline.

But long-term studies need to be done on the effects driving this car would have on a human.

[Big Train]

That and the huge batteries. No way would I ever own an electric car.

The huge mass of batteries is a waste, is extremely toxic. Just for ONE car. Multiply that out for millions of cars. The maintenence issues I'm sure are a bitch. There is a lot to it that makes me say hell no.

[Nickdfresh]

Nikola Tesla's 'Black Magic' Touring Car

PHOTO CAPTION: 1931 Pierce-Arrow touring car similar to the one alleged to have been converted by Nikola Tesla and his nephew to run on some unknown form of energy. Tesla is said to have sold his alternating current patents to Westinghouse for $15 million, but by his death in 1943, he was penniless.
By EV World

Did Nikola Tesla really run a touring sedan on free energy?

July 11, 2006

In the summer of 1931, Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current and the holder of some 1200 other U.S. patents, along with his nephew Peter Savo, installed a box on the front seat of a brand new Pierce-Arrow touring car at the company factory in Buffalo, New York. The box is said to have been 24 inches long, 12 inches wide and 6 inches high. Out of it protruded a 1.8 meter long antenna and two ¼ inch metal rods. Inside the box was reputed to be some dozen vacuum tubes -- 70-L-7 type -- and other electrical parts. Two wire leads ran from the box to a newly-installed 40 inch long, 30 inch diameter AC motor that replaced the gasoline engine.

As the story goes, Tesla inserted the two metal rods and announced confidently, "We now have power" and then proceeded to drive the car for a week, "often at speeds of up to 90 mph." One account says the motor developed 1,800 rpm and got fairly hot when operating, requiring a cooling fan. The "converter" box is said to have generated enough electrical energy to also power the lights in a home.

The car is said to have ended up on a farm 20 miles outside of Buffalo, "not far from Niagra Falls."

So what was the power source? Some charged "black magic", while others remained naturally skeptical. Tesla is reputed to have removed the box and returned to his New York City laboratory without revealing how he did it, though the suspicion lingers to this day, on the 150th anniversary of his birth in Smiljan, Croatia on July 9/10, 1856, that he had somehow tapped into the earth's magnetic field or perhaps even more exotically, zero point energy or gravitation waves.

We will, of course, probably never know how he powered the car, or even if the event actually took place -- though we know Tesla was an unparalleled genius when it came to understanding electromagnetism and how to apply it for benign and some allege, deadly purposes. Legend has it that he actually invented a death ray of some type and this is why the government, on his death in 1943, is said to have confiscated all his personal papers. Presumably, they didn't want his research falling into the wrong hands… or was it because they didn't want the world to figure out how to propel our vehicles on free energy?

Is the story of the free energy 1931 Pierce-Arrow just another "urban legend"? I have no way of knowing, but it seems a fitting memorial to a mysterious man who transformed the world as we know it, providing millions with electricity and billions in profits for some of world's largest and most powerful multinational corporations.

Happy birthday, NIKOLA.

Thanks to Dave Cutter for bringing this intriguing story to our attention.

http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=article&storyid=1062

Not the first 'Tesla.'

[Nickdfresh]

BTW, yes I'd buy one if it came in a more sustainable hybrid and I had $100K laying around (or whatever they'll want)... In any case, can't have one 'til late 2007...

[bastardog]

I will buy all the 60's muscle cars around while people start buying that junk electric shit.
then when they realice that electricity comes from a plant that use petroleoum and that those engines are 100% less efficient (or more)than car engine.......I will be there making money with old cars.

sounds cool for a shitty tv movie

[Dr. Love]

I was reading on MSN about hybrid cars that got 100+ mpg. I don't care if the car looks like a horrible piece of shit, if it were priced decently I'd get it.

[diamondD]

Those muscle cars aren't getting what these guys are getting. It's pretty impressive. Also gonna be expensive. 85k - 120k


Tesla Motors CNN article



SAN CARLOS, California (AP) -- Like many Silicon Valley engineers, Martin Eberhard loves cars, especially fast ones. But the self-described "closet gearhead" didn't feel comfortable buying a hot rod that guzzled gas from the Middle East or some other troubled region.

So three years ago, Eberhard and friend Marc Tarpenning launched Tesla Motors Inc. Their goal: to design a sports car that would go as fast as a Ferrari or Porsche, but run on electricity.

With about 80 employees, Tesla just raised $40 million from high-profile investors including Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and PayPal co-founder Elon Musk. It plans to start selling its first model next year.

"I'm not the only person that would like to buy a car that's beautiful and fun to drive but also remain on the moral high ground," said Eberhard, 45, who sold his previous company, electronic book maker NuvoMedia, for $187 million to Gemstar/TV Guide International in 2000. "None of the energy that goes into an electric car comes from the Middle East."

Silicon Valley thinks it can do what Detroit could not -- create a thriving business selling electric cars. In the 1990s, General Motors and other automakers spent billions to develop battery-powered vehicles, but they flopped because most couldn't travel more than 100 miles before having to recharge.

By tapping the Bay Area's engineering expertise and culture of innovation, a cluster of entrepreneurs, engineers and venture capitalists here are racing to bring their own electric cars to market. But unlike the Detroit and Japanese automakers, they are working on high-performance sports cars for wealthy car enthusiasts.

At least three Silicon Valley startups -- Tesla Motors of San Carlos, Wrightspeed Inc. of Woodside and battery maker Li-on Cells of Menlo Park -- are among a small cadre of companies nationwide developing electric cars or components.

As fuel costs rise, technology improves and consumers seek more environmentally friendly vehicles, this new generation of electric car companies sees potential in a market niche largely neglected by the big automakers.

But some industry analysts question whether electric cars could ever become cheap enough, or have the battery life, to compete in the mainstream auto market.

"To attract consumers en masse, the price has to be low enough where they can see the break-even point," said Anthony Pratt, an automotive analyst at J.D. Power & Associates. "The problem with electric vehicles is that they tend to be limited by the battery technology."

Some major automakers are also working on electric vehicle technology, but most are focused on hybrid cars that run on a combination of gas and electricity, Pratt said.

Backers of electric cars, powered by batteries charged from an electric outlet, say the country could quickly reduce its dependence on foreign oil -- as well as emissions of "greenhouse" gases blamed for global warming -- if more drivers went electric.

But so far, efforts to bring electric cars to market have stalled.

In the 1990s, the major automakers introduced several thousand electric cars under a California state mandate to develop cars with no tailpipe emissions. While those cars attracted a small but devoted following, they didn't get much traction in the marketplace because of their restricted driving range.

The big automakers lobbied against the mandate until it was overturned in 2003. Most car companies then recalled their electric vehicles and destroyed them, sparking an outcry among loyalists.

While those models were hobbled by limited driving range, advances in battery technology and electronic components can allow electric vehicles to go more than twice as far on a single charge.

Tesla and Wrightspeed are using lithium-ion batteries that are more powerful, lighter and efficient than the lead acid batteries used in early electric cars or the nickel metal hydride batteries used in today's hybrids.

"The battery technology has improved," said Ron Freund, chairman of the Electric Auto Association in Palo Alto. "They keep getting better. They last longer, they're smaller and they charge faster."

The success of Toyota's Prius and other hybrids have shown there's a market for eco-friendly cars. Page and Brin, Google's billionaire founders, are known to drive Priuses.

But Tesla's Eberhard thinks the Prius is "terrifically ugly" and believes other wealthy car enthusiasts feel the same way.

In Tesla's workshop about 20 miles south of San Francisco, Eberhard and Tarpenning offered a glimpse of their first model -- a sleek two-seater called the Roadster that resembles a Lotus Elise -- but would not allow photographs. They plan to unveil it at an event for prospective buyers next month in Santa Monica.

"We're building a car for people who like to drive," Eberhard said. "This is not a punishment car."

To build the Roadster, Tesla engineers designed a sophisticated battery system with more than 8,000 lithium-ion cells and a network of computers to control them, Eberhard said. They also built an electric motor that is more than twice as powerful as earlier electric vehicles.

The Roadster will be able to drive about 250 miles on a single three-hour charge, drive up to 135 miles per hour and accelerate from zero to 60 in four seconds, Eberhard said. It will cost between $85,000 and $120,000.

Named after the inventor Nikola Tesla, known for his pioneering research in the field of electricity, the company has big ambitions. Tesla executives talk about building a "new kind of car company" and hope to eventually introduce a series of models, starting at the market's high end and bringing down the price as technology improves.

But the company must first undergo rigorous government safety and environmental tests -- a process whose complexity the founders admit they did not anticipate.

"The car business had more challenges than we expected," Tarpenning said.

Ian Wright, who left Tesla to start Wrightspeed last year, is aiming at the same $3 billion market for high-performance sports cars. The New Zealand-born electrical engineer spent nine months retooling an Ariel Atom race car to run on a lithium-ion battery -- a prototype of the car he hopes to eventually sell for about $120,000.

Wright frequently takes prospective investors -- and reporters -- for a spin in the hills near his Woodside home.

With no doors, roof or windshield, a drive in Wrightspeed's X1 feels like a roller coaster ride and can leave passengers wind-beaten and queasy. It accelerates from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3 seconds, making it one of the world's fastest production cars. Last year, Wright's X1 beat a Porsche and Ferrari in separate races.

"I wouldn't describe myself as a radical environmentalist," said Wright, who is still trying to raise his first round of funding. "I think my customers will buy my cars for performance. The energy efficiency is nice to have, but it's not the reason they will buy the car."




It always amazes me that it takes small groups like this to get stuff done.

[BigBadBrian]

Originally posted by Dr. Love
I was reading on MSN about hybrid cars that got 100+ mpg. I don't care if the car looks like a horrible piece of shit, if it were priced decently I'd get it.

Maybe....

But....

One has to wonder how much energy is being expended and paid for by your home hookup, not to mention being generated at your local power plant, to charge up a car that requires an array of batteries.

[FORD]

Maybe we'll eventually see a world where people wiill use electric cars for local commuting and biodiesel powered vehicles for road trips?

A car that goes 235 miles on a charge is great for a daily commute, but damn lousy for a vacation. At least the way I drive.


And if you set up a solar or wind turbine station to power the car, that much better.

[Nickdfresh]

Um, hybrid cars don't require a "home-hookup" because the small gasoline engine and breaking system are basically generators...

More food for thought: biodiesel hybrids.

[knuckleboner]

Originally posted by BigBadBrian
Maybe....

But....

One has to wonder how much energy is being expended and paid for by your home hookup, not to mention being generated at your local power plant, to charge up a car that requires an array of batteries.

nick is correct on the hybrids, but not the 100mph+ hybrids. those are currently modifications to existing hybrids, but they ARE home plug-ins.


that said, i believe i've read somewhere that the additional pollution, etc. generated from a power plant charging a hybrid is less than the pollution, etc. generated from an equivalent internal combustion gas engine.