Mark David
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ED Online ID #19879 |
October 7, 2008
My daughter Anna helped solve my quandary about how to describe the Tesla Roadster’s sound. “Sounds like a spaceship,” she said when I showed her the test drive video from last week's post.
You can hear the sound of the motor just before Bob Pease gets his beard blown back: the music in the video cuts out and you can hear that “spaceship” sound as the Roadster flies out of the parking lot.
I thought Anna’s reaction was the perfect description, not only because it nails Tesla’s unique, powerful sound, but also because riding in the Tesla, you really do feel you have entered a new age: The Jetsonian era of transportation—even if we are still on the ground. Going from 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds, and continuing to provide high power up to 13,000 rpm, the Tesla Roadster offers a transport experience hard to equal without leaving terra firma.
After the test drive, I had a serendipitous interview with Tesla’s CTO, J.B. Straubel, during MIT’s annual Emerging Technology conference. In the video interview, Straubel shares info about the upcoming Tesla sedan and the new factory slated to be built in San Jose.
He also offers some insight as to what’s going on under the roadster’s hood—or as it turns out in the Roadster’s anatomy—the trunk:
Tesla’s challenges in building a battery with 6381 individual cells and two interconnects per cell;
the three-phase induction motor, a motor-type invented by Nikolai Tesla and optimized by engineers at this namesake company;
a power electronics module that controls the precise voltage timing as well as the motor torque, charging, and regenerative braking. Straubel notes the benefits of using Insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) and a digital control system.
Straubel also shares his views on the outlook for new battery technologies and improvements there. Currently the roadster can travel about 220 miles on a charge. Drivers can plug the Roadster into its at-home High Power Connector unit and be fully charged in about 3.5 hours—that’s starting with a completely discharged battery. After a 100-mile trip, the car can be completely recharged in less than two hours. For charging while on the road, the car has a mobile connector that allows charging from most standard electrical outlets.
Finally, I asked Straubel about the engineering atmosphere at Tesla and what sorts of engineers they are looking to hire as they expand. Straubel says the company is looking for the best and brightest in numerous engineering disciplines. What an exciting place to work, as the company is positioned to “lead the charge” in the transportation revolution.
Rob asked: I wonder what effects are upon say, the radio/audio system or your cell phone, from the massive radiated field from the IGBT switching in the drive or the rotating flux fields of the motor.
It is interesting that with the introduction of old technology in a new application (car) suddenly people start to think of new problems. There is no essential difference between the Tesla motor or the train motor or the elevator motor or any of the hundreds of other applications where electric motors are already deployed and you never hear anybody concerned about this century-old technology, because it is perfectly safe. I can give you a technical answer why it is safe, but I mostly wonder why you are asking about the effects of the Tesla drivetrain. What makes you say that it creates a massive field while you have nothing to base this assumption on? Sounds like FUD to me. Tesla is an innovative and nearly perfected century-old technology.
Cor van de Water -October 23, 2008
Cool. I wonder what effects are upon say, the radio/audio system or your cell phone, from the massive radiated field from the IGBT switching in the drive or the rotating flux fields of the motor - both in motoring mode and regen? maybe some good shielding techniques in the motor or drive bay?
Rob -October 13, 2008
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