Mark David
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ED Online ID #19842 |
September 30, 2008
Getting to take a test ride in a Tesla Roadster is a thrill enough, but getting Bob Pease out for a spin as well—talk about an experience! Our Analog and Power Editor Don Tuite just so happens to be married to Vicky Tuite, senior test engineer at Tesla Motors. Talk about lucky. She recently had the keys to a brilliant orange Tesla with the enviable mission of running down the batteries for some low-charge tests the next day. And guess who got to ride shotgun.
In some kind of Electronic Design harmonic convergence, this Tesla test ride coincided with an evening out celebrating with our star columnist Bob Pease for his recent writer’s award in an ASBPE (American Society of Business Press Editors) contest. So we got Bob to temporarily trade in his 1970 Volkswagen bug and take a ride in the all electric roadster that is the biggest story in the automotive industry. Hit the play button below to see the video...
In another stroke of good fortune, shortly after the ride I got to sit down with Tesla’s CTO, J.B. Straubel, who was recognized at MIT’s annual Emerging Technologies Conference as the Innovator of the Year. After sitting in the cockpit of that fine piece of orange-glazed innovation, it was great to get an update from Straubel on the current Tesla engineering milestones and the roadmap for the future. We’ll be posting a video of my chat with Straubel on the site next week. So stay tuned for the nuts ‘n’ bolts of that conversation.
But back to the test spin—let me say, wow, what a ride! I’m not referring to Vicky’s driving, who proved to be a great chauffer, as she took every safe opportunity to put the pedal to the metal. If the Tesla’s mission is to prove that a cruise in an electric car can offer a little more pep than a golf-cart inspired journey—one where the biggest thrill is watching the gauge to consider the next battery charge or watching ducks waddle past you on the golf course—then there is no question: mission accomplished with flying neon colors. Launching onto the freeway in 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds and peak torque delivered at zero 0 mph, reminded me a bit of the takeoff on the Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point. And while there is, of course, no growling or pavement-hungry revving of ye old internal combustion, there is definitely a new and unique thrill of power. I struggle to define the sound—it’s not exactly a whine, a hum or a buzz—but the thrill of the ride combines the immediate power of the electric engine (peak torque is delivered from a standing start) with the feeling that a ride in the Tesla is literally a launch into a new era of transportation. Flying down a California highway at night, passing a Prius as if it was standing still, the Tesla is the dream car at the dawn of the new millennium.
We took the Tesla over to the company’s headquarters, and while Vicky couldn’t allow us to bring our video camera inside (this was not an official PR sanctioned visit), we did get to go in and have a look around and see some of the inner workings of the car. Seeing the 6831-cell battery in production and then seeing how it is fit into the car behind the two-seat cabin is an engineering coupe in and of itself. We walked in during the swing shift where workers were epoxying together the batteries. Most of the components of the Tesla come from outside partners—an electric braking system from Siemens, body by Lotus—but the engineering solutions around the battery and power electronics modules are Tesla’s home-engineered secret sauce.
One of the biggest test engineering challenges, according to Vicky, is being able to accurately gauge and display the remaining battery life. Just as in a gasoline-powered car that tracks miles per gallon in real time, as driving conditions vary, the rate of battery discharge changes constantly. Add to that recharge during regenerative braking, and Vicky and her team have their work cut out for them.
But in the meantime, Tesla is not a concept car. The first couple dozen are now on the road, with technology celebrities like the founders of Google getting first deliveries. The production and delivery pace is set to pick up with the announcement that a new factory will soon be built in San Jose. Vicky says Tesla’s follow up car will be a coupe, with a sticker price expected to be somewhere in the $60k range.
But for the moment, the Roadster is capturing the hearts and minds of car lovers—in the valley, where a Tesla sighting is still an exciting moment—and around the globe where everyone wants to learn more about the car and how it works. The Tesla Roadster is not only a dream sports car, but also symbolizes the day when stories of high gas prices are a thing of the past us “geezers” suffered through.
I am Dave Freeman system engineering manager in TI’s Power business. I enjoy all areas of power from battery to line powered conversion. This was quite the treat for those that got the chance of a night time ride in an electrified thrill mobile. I was surprised to see how easily Bob brought his knee to his chest when getting in the car.
I certainly can see how accurately estimating the remaining range would be tough given you have two energy sources, one from the battery and the other the kinetic energy of the car that can be both a sink and a source. Predicting when a driver is going to break is tough enough for us experienced drivers. It seems that the car would just have to treat the energy harvested from braking as a rebate on the energy used. Maybe the onboard navigation system could have an algorithm to rationalize any prediction of future braking recovery. The range prediction needs to have a tolerance band and let the driver pick from the far, fast, or thrilling range estimates.
As far as a “coal” powered car, it does not have to be. You can always choose to buy your power from a “green power” provider. Unlike gasoline powered vehicles that pretty much determines the CO2 production, you do have a choice. As far as the cost, there are not many options for a four wheeled vehicle that take you from 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds regardless of the fuel.
Dave -October 08, 2008 (Article Rating: )
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Rating Only -October 08, 2008 (Article Rating: )
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Rating Only -October 02, 2008 (Article Rating: )
I find it distressing that there is so much excitement about a coal powered car - yes it is. And if electric vehicles become popular, where will the Lithium come from, or how much damage do we do extracting Nickel from the earth ? These are real issues, if we can just get past the gee-whiz nonsense.
lws -October 01, 2008 (Article Rating: )
I was hoping for some on-the-road footage. Let's watch the speedometer wrap up! Does it handle well? Is there a reserve battery for when the main cells croak? (like the old motorcycle reserve tank...) Otherwise, it's going to be embarrasing sitting on the on-ramp shoulder with $60k of paperweight.
Paul -October 01, 2008 (Article Rating: )
This is exciting, but you can buy a lot of gas for the difference between a $60K car and a 25K car. Price it so we can afford it and you will sell a million or two.
Ken -October 01, 2008
This is exciting, but you can buy a lot of gas for the difference between a $60K car and a 25K car. Price it so we can afford it and you will sell a million or two.
Ken -October 01, 2008
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