Tesla

September 29, 2008

German Supertuner RUF Working On Plug-In Electric Version of Porsche Cayman

The speedmeisters at German tuning haus RUF are developing a plug-in electric version of the Porsche Cayman, and Americans may see it as soon as next month.

So says a German-language article in Auto Motor und Sport. According to the magazine, the car will feature a 150-kilowatt motor producing 201 horsepower and 479 pound feet of torque. Its lithium-ion battery will have a range of 155-186 miles.

RUF claims the car will have a top speed of 125 miles per hour. There's no word on what the electric Cayman will look like, but it's a safe bet RUF will base it on the 3400 K (pictured). That super-Cayman produces 400 horsepower and 324 pound feet of torque and does 0 to 62 mph in 4.4 seconds.

By comparison, the plug-in electric Tesla Roadster reaches 60 mph from a standstill in 3.9 seconds. The Roadster costs $109,000. There's no word yet on what the RUF EV will sell for.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); Scott Doggett September 29, 2008, 9:08 AM
Categories:: RUF, Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla, Fuel Economy, Batteries

September 17, 2008

Electric Carmaker Tesla To Build New Factory, Headquarters in Silicon Valley

Tesla Motors, which recently abandoned plans for a factory in New Mexico after California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger offered the electric vehicle maker a hefty incentive package to settle in his state, has picked a 90-acre location in the heart of Silicon Valley for its new factory and headquarters campus.

The site, in the City of San Jose, will keep the company -- now headquartered in nearby San Carlos -- close to where its engineers and top executives live.

The San Jose Mercury News, which broke the story this morning, quoted San Jose's mayor as saying Tesla hadn't even been looking at his city until he and other officials put together a proposal and took it to the automaker.

Tesla has just begun production of its first car is its two-seat electric roadster (above). The company plans to add a four-door family sedan to its lineup after it completes its new factory -- as early as late 2010.

To lure Tesla, San Jose officials offered a 40-year lease on the city-owned property and said they'd provide the first 10 years rent-free, the Mercury News reported.

Tesla will pay $1.5 million in annual rent during the second 10 years of the lease, and will see its rent increase 2 percent a year for the final two decades.

The city also would seek ways, once tax revenue from the factory starts flowing in, to rebate the fees the company will pay to develop the property.

To lure Tesla away from its New Mexico plan, the governor's office struck a deal in which the state will purchase up to $100 million in factory equipment for the company, then lease it to Tesla in an arrangement that will save the company about $8 million in sales taxes.

California also will provide Tesla up to $1 million in state job-training funds.

The new auto assembly plant and headquarters complex is expected to provide more than 1,000 jobs to the city -- an annual payroll in excess of $100 million.

Tesla plans to pay for the plant from proceeds of a $150 million loan guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Energy plus $100 million it plans to raise in a new round of funding.

John O'Dell, Senior Editor

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (1); John O'Dell September 17, 2008, 2:16 PM
Categories:: Plug-ins and Electric, Tax Incentives, Tesla
Technorati Tags:: Electric Car

September 9, 2008

Tesla Pins Down New Transmission, Promises "Hundreds" of Roadsters Soon

By John O'Dell, Senior Editor

Electric vehicle pioneer Tesla Motors, which has delivered the first 27 of its $100,000-plus electric roadsters with an admittedly jury-rigged transmission, said it finally has nailed down specifications for a new gearbox.

The new single-speed transmission, to be manufactured by BorgWarner, is a central part of an enhanced system Tesla has dubbed "powertrain 1.5."

It includes an improved electric motor design, the new Tesla transmission and a more powerful inverter and, the EV maker says, delivers 30 percent more motor torque and a 10 percent improvement in range on the EPA's combined city and highway cycle.

"Last December, when the two-speed transmission designed by a previous supplier proved not to be durable, we announced we would modify our approach," said JB Straubel, Tesla's chief technology officer.

The company also decided at that time to begin shipping cars with an interim transmission in order to avoid a lengthy delay that would disrupt cash flow and potentially anger some buyers who'd been waiting months for their cars after two earlier production postponements.

The new gearbox is designed for the higher peak torque levels of the new Roadster powertrain. Torque has been boosted to 280 pound-feet (380 Newton-meters) from 211 pound-feet (286 Newton-meters).

Cars equipped with the new powertrain will achieve an EPA combined range of 244 miles on a single charge of the their lithium-ion battery packs, up from 221 miles with the original powertrain.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); John O'Dell September 9, 2008, 2:25 PM
Categories:: Batteries, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla
Technorati Tags:: Borg Warner

September 4, 2008

Smart Says Cobasys Hampering Work on ForTwo EV Fitted With Li-Ion Batteries

In early June we reported that General Motors won't sell as many hybrid cars as it had hoped this year due to 9,000 defective batteries supplied by Cobasys.

Now the Michigan-based battery maker is being blamed for holding up the release of electric Smart ForTwos fitted with advanced lithium-ion battery packs.

Smart had hoped to bring to market ForTwos packing lithium-ion batteries by the end of 2009.

But Klaus Badenhausen, the automaker's chief engineer, told Edmunds.com's Inside Line today that problems it is having with Cobasys have stymied Smart's lithium-ion battery plans.

As we've reported, Cobasys' parent companies are in a dispute over who should assume costs incurred by their troublesome child.

Indeed, GM wasn't the only automaker to be burned by Cobasys. Early last month, Mercedes-Benz sued Cobasys and its parent companies, claiming the battery maker wasn't delivering the battery packs it agreed to build for Mercedes' ML450 Hybrid.

As a result the German automaker might have to delay the launch of its planned hybrid SUV.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); Scott Doggett September 4, 2008, 4:39 PM
Categories:: Batteries, Daimler, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Plug-ins and Electric, Smart, Tesla

Tesla Sedan to be EV, Not Plug-in Hybrid, Says Company Exec

There's been some grumbling and rumbling among the green group this week after automobile.com posted an item maintaining that electric car maker Tesla Motors had confirmed that its next model will be a plug-in gas-electric hybrid rather than a pure EV.

Relax, says says Tesla marketing veep Darryl Siry. The report was wrong.

The next Tesla, like the company's iconic Roadster, won't have anything to do with an internal combustion engine.

Tesla's long-awaited family-sized sedan -- formerly called the White Star but now dubbed the " Model S" -- will be a battery-electric vehicle, Siry said in a brief interview with Green Car Advisor.

The sedan - we suspect there will be a new, catchier name coming soon - is the Tesla electric vehicle that will be assembled in California under a tax-break deal announced earlier this year by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

No production date has been revealed, although there's lots of speculation that Tesla is aiming at late 2010.

If "several" is closer to two than to three, Siry might have confirmed that today, telling us that that the Model S is "several years away" from hitting the streets.

He said that the company is shooting for an "entry level" price tag of around $60,000 but added that Tesla plans several trim levels that will be priced higher.

"And the $60,000 is our goal," he said, leaving lots of wiggle room. "Actual pricing will be announced much closer to production, and we're still several years away."

John O'Dell,Senior Editor

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); John O'Dell September 4, 2008, 12:04 PM
Categories:: Fuels & Technologies, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla
Technorati Tags:: Tesla Electric Vehicle

August 29, 2008

Daimler Taps Tesla Motors to Provide Batteries for Test Fleet of Electric Smart Cars

The Financial Times Germany reported today that Daimler has picked U.S. electric carmaker Tesla Motors to provide batteries for a 150-car test fleet of battery-powered Smart cars.

The Smart EVs, which will be made in England and sent to Berlin and other cities for testing, will contain lithium-ion batteries capable of propelling the cars 90 miles between charges.

The article also reports that Daimler has teamed with RWE, a major German utility, to install 500 charging stations throughout the German capital. Daimler will eventually expand the test fleet to 1,000 cars, the newspaper said.

Daimler did not immediately return calls seeking confirmation. Tesla's Darryl Siry declined to comment on the story at this time, but Tesla is no stranger to electric Smart cars.

We reported back in March that the company had a battery-powered Smart at its facility and speculated then that Tesla might have been angling for a conversion deal with the San Fransicsco-area Smart dealer.

Daimler chief executive Dieter Zetsche told another German newspaper recently that Mercedes-Benz will release an all-electric version of its Smart car in 2010.

Zetsche declined to discuss vehicle price, in part because Daimler has not decided yet whether or not to manufacture the electric motors itself.

Daimler currently has a first-generation fleet of 100 all-electric Smart cars being tested in London.

Scott Doggett, Contributor

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); Scott Doggett August 29, 2008, 11:39 AM
Categories:: Batteries, Daimler, Energy Companies, Fuel Economy, Mercedes-Benz, Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla
Technorati Tags:: Daimler

August 11, 2008

Business Is Brisk at Nation's First Rental Car Company That Loans Only Hybrids

With established rent-a-car companies reporting that they are having trouble meeting customer demand for fuel-efficient vehicles, a Southern California company has begun renting nothing but hybrid vehicles.

Business has been brisk at Eqocar in Burbank since it opened its doors three months ago, General Manager Nick Hamed told Green Car Advisor today. Hamed said Eqocar, which rents only hybrid vehicles, is in talks to open four more rental-car centers, all in California.

Eventually, the company would like to expand nationwide, Hamed said.

Eqocar has a fleet of 45 hybrids, which include the Toyota Prius, Camry and Highlander hybrids, Ford Escape Hybrid, Lexus LS600h L, GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe hybrids, and the Nissan Altima hybrid. Daily rates range from $59 for the Prius to $650 for the LS600h L.

There are plans to add the extended-range plug-in electric Chevrolet Volt, hybrid versions of the Smart Fortwo, Chrysler Aspen, Cadillac Escalade, and Porsche Cayenne and Panamera, as well as the Tesla and Fisker plug-in sports cars and the bubbled-faced three-wheel Aptera to the rental fleet, Hamed said.

The Aptera is reminiscent of vehicles appearing in The Jetsons, a futuristic cartoon series produced during 1962 and '63.

Scott Doggett, Contributor

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); Scott Doggett August 11, 2008, 2:42 PM
Categories:: Aptera, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Daimler, Emissions, Fisker, Ford, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Lexus, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Porsche, Smart, Tesla, Toyota
Technorati Tags:: Camry Hybrid

August 4, 2008

Mazda Marvel Joins Tesla as Design Chief; Ex-Ford Money Man Named CFO

By Scott Doggett, Contributor

Tesla Motors could not have made a bolder statement today with its choice for design director without employing canon fire.

With his blownback blonde hair and sunwashed face, Franz von Holzhausen, director of Mazda's North American Design Center in Irvine until he submitted his resignation last week, can easily be mistaken for a native-California surfer instead of the born-and-bred product of Simsbury, Connecticut, a well-to-do town of 23,000 known for Eggstock, an annual environmental awareness festival.

At Mazda, von Holzhausen oversaw the design and development of all concept and production vehicles for Mazda North America since his appointment in February 2005. Most recently, he spearheaded the design of Nagare (the gold car pictured below) and Furai (above) and played an integral role in the creation of the three concepts Ryuga (the grinning red car), Hakaze (the yellow crossover) and Taiki (the blue-silver manta ray).

Early in his career at Mazda, von Holzhausen earned recognition for his acclaimed work on the Kabura concept car (the manned red sports car, lower left). Sometimes, pictures say more than words. We'll let the images shown here address von Holzhausen's talents as a futuristic automotive designer with one foot planted firmly on the road.

"It's going to be an exciting adventure," von Holzhausen said about his move to Tesla, located in San Carlos, California, 500 miles up the 101 Freeway from Irvine. "I'm looking forward to working at a new startup company that doesn't have the confines of a large OEM."

Prior to joining Mazda, von Holzhausen served as General Motors' design manager, responsible for designing and managing the concept and production design process for the Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky, Chevy SS and other GM programs. He began his career at Volkswagen, where he served as assistant chief designer in VW's Design Center California.

He studied industrial design at Syracuse University and graduated from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, in 1992 with a bachelors' degree in transportation design.

Tesla also announced today the appointment of Deepak Ahuja, a seasoned auto industry finance executive with 15 years experience at Ford Motor Company, as chief financial officer.

Deepak (right) was previously the controller for Ford's small cars product development program, a strategic initiative to bring several fuel-efficient cars to Ford's lineup in the United States. Before that, he was CFO for Ford of Southern Africa, a $3 billion subsidiary where he oversaw the finance, legal and IT functions.

And before that, Deepak served as CFO for Auto Alliance International, a joint venture between Ford and Mazda with over $4 billion in revenue.

In a statement, Tesla CEO Ze'ev Drori said "Deepak's experience as CFO of multi-billion dollar business units with global sourcing and manufacturing operations makes him the ideal person to lead our finance organization through the company's next period of rapid growth."

In the same statement, Deepak described the opportunity to work at Tesla as "very exciting."

Deepak holds bachelors and masters degrees in materials engineering from Banaras Hindu University and Northwestern University, respectively and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); Scott Doggett August 4, 2008, 7:17 PM
Categories:: Auto Shows, Emissions, Ford, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Mazda, Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla
Technorati Tags:: EV

After Driving 1,000 Miles, Deposed Tesla Co-Founder Rips Into His Roadster

At right, Martin Eberhard and his ride.

After driving a thousand miles in his new Roadster, deposed Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard basically rips his all-electric Roadster a new exhaust pipe on his blog today.

After gushing about how much he enjoyed accelerating and cornering in the $100,000 plug-in sports car, Eberhard seems to hold nothing back as he reveals the Roadster's dirty little secrets.

Among them:

The rear suspension is "mighty harsh on sharp bumps," and the "right sort of pothole causes a very loud clunk that shakes the frame of the car";
"You really appreciate how small the Roadster is when you are surrounded by SUVs and trucks";
Putting the soft top on "is a tad tricky," although he thinks it'll be less troublesome with "a little more practice";
"The JVC radio-CD player-nav system-vegematic thingy is horrible. The thing runs some Microsoft operating system (really!), and it behaves just like you might expect";
The side visibility "takes some getting used to," but Eberhard has ordered some aftermarket mirrors that "should solve the problem";
And -- drum roll please -- the actual driving range "seems to be about 125 miles on the 'normal charge' setting and perhaps 160 miles on the 'max range' setting."

That's quite a bit less than the 200-mile range Tesla has advertised since November of last year, when the automaker downgraded the range capability of the Roadster from 250 miles. Bt then, who's counting?

Scott Doggett, Contributor

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (4); Scott Doggett August 4, 2008, 4:25 PM
Categories:: Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla
Technorati Tags:: Fuel Economy

July 24, 2008

England's Latest Electric Lightning Debuts, Wows Onlookers at British Motor Show

The English Electric Lightning was a British supersonic fighter aircraft of the Cold War era that, to this day, remains the only all-British Mach 2 fighter aircraft in existence.

It's worth chewing the fat over in a pub where locals prefer their beer warm, and no doubt at such a place a couple of venerable RAF pilots are discussing its great speed and natural metal exterior this very minute.

But it's an Electric Lightning of a different sort that's all the rage in Britain right now.

Making its world debut at the British Motor Show in London this week is the Electric Lightning GTS all-electric high-performance sports car, pictured here along with the equally stunning fighter aircraft.

Similar to the all-electric Tesla Roadster that is now available, the Electric Lightning is expected to enter production and the marketplace next year. It's price? Approximately $240,000 to $300,000 - or more than twice the $109,000 its American rival goes for.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); Scott Doggett July 24, 2008, 10:03 AM
Categories:: Emissions, Fuel Economy, Lightning, Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla

July 22, 2008

Japan Inc. Reportedly Working on Uniform Lithium-Ion Battery Standard

Lithium Ion battery packs being tested in U.S. at Argonne National Laboratory.

We don't think this is one of those signs and portents that mark the impending end of the world, but it does seem a near miracle: Several Japanese automakers, battery developers and power companies reportedly have agreed to work together to establish a global standard for lithium-ion batteries.

If you can remember back to the late 1990s and early 2000s and the days of the EV1, Nissan Altra, Toyota RAV4 EV and other first-generation electric vehicles built in extremely limited numbers to meet California's then-new Zero Emissions Vehicles mandate, you'll also remember that there were several types of batteries in use and two competing charging systems required.

That added more complexity and cost to an already complex and costly new-vehicle development program and helped hasten the demise of hopes for a vast fleet of readily available, affordable and easy-to-charge EVs.

A global standard, which means - among other things - that all battery systems would be designed to use the use the same recharging system, is one of the things needed if there is to be any chance of bringing back the battery-electric vehicle in a meaningful way.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); John O'Dell July 22, 2008, 9:53 AM
Categories:: Batteries, Chrysler, Fisker, Ford, General Motors, MINI, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Smart, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota
Technorati Tags:: Electric Vehicles

July 21, 2008

Mitsubishi to Present iMiEV Plug-in EV at Confab Tuesday, But Here It Is a Day Early

Mitsubishi is slated to give a presentation at the 2008 Plug-in conference in Northern California Tuesday on why it has decided to enter the electric-vehicle market with its iMiEV.

We got our hands on a version of their PowerPoint presentation and, well, we're making it available, in the more common PDF format, to you a day early: Mitsubishi 2008 Plug-in Presentation.pdf.

The slide show starts off with some facts you likely know, such as EVs have: the most efficient well-to-wheel energy use, the lowest carbon-dioxide emissions, and the lowest per-mile fuel cost.

But then it rather quickly gets into information that you likely don't know or forgot, such as Mitsubishi began building EVs in 1971 and has built them nearly every calendar year since.

Of course the heart of the presentation isn't a ride down memory lane, but rather an introduction to Mitsubishi's iMiEV, from how it works to dimensions and specifications to details regarding the iMiEV's prototype battery pack.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); Scott Doggett July 21, 2008, 5:46 PM
Categories:: Batteries, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Mitsubishi, Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla

Coulomb Technologies to Test Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles

By Scott Doggett, Contributor

In the first of an anticipated flood of announcements from the national plug-in hybrid confab that starts tomorrow in San Jose, California, Coulomb Technologies announced today that it has developed a smart charging infrastructure for plug-in vehicles and will begin testing it in San Jose later this year.

The company, located in Campbell, six miles southwest of San Jose, said its charging stations will be able to serve extended-range electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles, and battery-electric vehicles such as like the Tesla Roadster, which undergoes final assembly in nearby San Carlos.

Coulomb CEO Richard Lowenthal told Green Car Advisor today that his company will be installing five charging stations in San Jose as part of a trial to be used by the few people who are driving EVs now. He said the company is awaiting safety approvals, which he expects to have in November or December.

As for how rapidly Coulomb could deploy the stations should the trial prove successful, Lowenthal said Coulomb "designed these products to be installed with the same skills it takes to install a street light, so anybody who could put light poles in concrete and hook up electricity could install them."

Because Coulombs' network technology is wireless, as soon as a charging station is powered up, it appears on the network and users' GPS-enabled devices and navigational systems.

Working with the city of San Jose, Coulomb came up with the innovation of connecting the charging stations to streetlight poles and drawing power from wires within the poles, eliminating the need to sink wires into the concrete. Installing the stations this way is "very easy," Lowenthal said.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); Scott Doggett July 21, 2008, 12:05 PM
Categories:: Alternative Fuels, Batteries, Chevrolet, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla

July 18, 2008

Corporate Average Fuel Economy Figure for Tesla Motors: 244.0 Miles Per Gallon

By Scott Doggett, Contributor

The Automotive News reported today that Tesla Motors, the fledgling California electric-car maker, received a 2008 corporate average fuel economy rating of 244.0 miles per gallon.

Indeed, here's their entire article on the matter:

"The latest government fuel economy report says 2008-model cars and trucks sold in the United States will average 26.8 mpg, up only slightly from 26.6 mpg in 2007.

"But one eye-popping number appears in the report: Tesla Motors, the upstart maker of an electric sports car, gets a 2008 corporate average fuel economy rating of 244 mpg. The federal CAFE standard for cars is 27.5 mpg.

"The figures show government may have more work to do to compare fairly the energy and environmental impact of electric vehicles with those that use gasoline. But Tesla's CAFE number is more than a curiosity. It could mean cash.

"Tesla Vice President Darryl Siry told Automotive News today the company is eager to sell its CAFE credits when trading begins. 'It's all upside for us,' he said."

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (2); Scott Doggett July 18, 2008, 4:43 PM
Categories:: Chrysler, Emissions, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Honda, Legislation, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota

July 17, 2008

First International Plug-In Hybrid Convention to Be Held in California July 21-24

The first-ever international conference dedicated exclusively to plug-in electric hybrid technology will be held in California's Silicon Valley next week.

"Plug-In 2008: A Short Drive to Tomorrow" takes place July 21-24 in San Jose. The event is open to anyone and on-site registration is available.

Admission isn't cheap, with full access to the conference starting at $250 for students with ID, but everyone who's anyone in the PHEV world will be there. Among the attendees:

Senior representatives from the automakers, high-tech component manufacturers, electric utilities, state and federal government.
Exhibitors who will showcase the latest innovations associated with PHEVs and supporting electricity infrastructure.
Scientists who will share current technical research on PHEVs in areas including batteries, powertrains and vehicle to home technology.
Analysts who will discuss the business case for PHEVs, including potential adoption scenarios, customer segments and profit potential.
Policymakers who will explain how regulations impact PHEVs and the electricity grid, and how future rules may accelerate PHEV adoption.
Clean-tech entrepreneurs who will outline their ideas to expand the PHEV market with new technologies for vehicles and communication systems.

For more, check out the agenda.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); Scott Doggett July 17, 2008, 7:55 AM
Categories:: Batteries, Chevrolet, Daimler, Emissions, Fisker, Ford, Fuel Economy, Fuels & Technologies, General Motors, Honda, Legislation, MINI, Manufacturers, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Smart, Tesla, Toyota

July 16, 2008

Tesla's Elon Musk Gunning for Sub-$30,000 Electric Car in Less Than 4 Years

Elon Musk.jpg Elon Musk, chairman of Tesla Motors, the only company in the United States currently producing an all-electric automobile, gives Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria an earful in the magazine's July 21 issue. Here are a few excerpts from the must-read interview:

"As a rough rule of thumb, when you increase the production quantity by a factor of 10, you can reduce the price by a factor of two. In the early 20th century, cars were initially something for wealthy people. It took quite some time for the cost to be optimized and become accessible to a broader population. It's the same thing here -- we'll see the traditional technology learning curve. We're trying to push it as fast as we possibly can, and we think we could either directly or in partnership with a major auto company actually get to a car that is under $30,000 in four years."

"We spent a lot of time last year looking at plug-in hybrids and ultimately concluded that it would not be a very good car. You're forced to compromise. Because you need both a gasoline-powered engine and a big battery, neither can be very good, and the engine will be a weak engine. It's just not where the future lies. We'll be able to offer a car with a 305-mile range roughly three years from now."

"I'm very familiar with the 'long tailpipe' criticism [that holds that electric vehicles aren't so clean, because the juice they require is often coal-fired]. I have another company, SolarCity, which is the largest provider of solar power to homes and businesses in California. The solution is to get a SolarCity solar panel on your roof and then have an electric car. It takes actually only a small solar-panel setup -- of about 10 by 15 feet -- to generate 200 to 400 miles a week of electricity for your car."

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); Scott Doggett July 16, 2008, 8:23 AM
Categories:: Emissions, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla

July 10, 2008

Tesla's Wild Ride Makes for One Wild Read in Current Issue of Fortune Magazine

So you think it would be a blast to make sports cars, especially sexy roadsters that can go zero to sixty in under four seconds and do it with the stealthy silence of a cat on the prowl.

That was supposed to be a question, but it's hard not to like the sound of that sentence, particularly the sub-4-secs 0-60 part. Ah, how purrfectly sweet that life must be.

A piece in Fortune will snap you outta that daydream in a gnat's heartbeat. It's on the making of Tesla Motors' Roadster and here's a taste of what you can expect:

[Founder Martin] Eberhard had cut a deal with Lotus for production of the Roadsters that included penalties if production didn't begin on schedule. It didn't. In October, Lotus hit Tesla with a bill for $4 million. That was just the start of the company's cash-flow problems. "We had bought 80% of the parts for hundreds of cars, but since we didn't have the remaining 20% of the parts (including a working transmission), we couldn't ship [the cars] and get paid for it," said [CEO Elon] Musk.

There's maybe 5,000 juicy words in all and the way they're arranged will leave your slack-jawed, drooling and sweaty.

Don't like looong stories? More a visual type? Then take a click at these Roadster picks. And dream on.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (1); Scott Doggett July 10, 2008, 9:38 PM
Categories:: Emissions, Fuel Economy, Opinion, Plug-ins and Electric, Profiles, Tesla

July 7, 2008

32 Hours Needed To Charge a Tesla Roadster Using Common Electrical Outlet

By Scott Doggett, Contributor

A Connecticut newspaper reported Saturday that it "could take up to 32 hours" to charge a Tesla Roadster using a standard 110-volt outlet.

The news has since taken the blogosphere by storm, but according to Darryl Siry, Telsa Motors' vice president of marketing, it shouldn't have.

In a conversation with Green Car Advisor today, Siry not only confirmed the report in Greenwich Time, but said the amount of time needed to charge a Roadster's lithium-ion battery pack using the same outlet you might plug a toaster into would actually exceed 32 hours.

Here's the deal. The all-electric Roadster is fitted with a 53-kilowatt-hour battery pack. To figure out how long it would take to charge it, you multiply volts by amps and divide 53,000 by that sum.

To get the number of hours required to charge a Roadster battery pack using a standard 15-amp 110-volt outlet, you multiply 15 by 110, which gives you 1,650. Next, divide 53,000 by 1,650 and you've got the number of hours needed to charge the battery pack: 32.12.

It's for this reason, Siry said, that the very first thing you do after buying a zero-emissions Roadster is hire an electrician to install a 70-amp 220-volt outlet in your garage.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); Scott Doggett July 7, 2008, 12:41 PM
Categories:: Batteries, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla

July 1, 2008

Mercedes Plans Electric A-Class for 2010; Tesla Said to Supply Batteries

Above, a gas-powered A-Class Mercedes. Daimler says an electric version of the small family car is planned.

By Scott Doggett, Contributor

Mercedes-Benz is planning to launch an electric version of the A-class small family car in 2010, according to press reports.

The four-door hatchback will have lithium-ion batteries and be produced at an initial rate of between 500 and 1,000 cars year, the German weekly Automobilwoche reported Monday. Production should climb quickly, however.

In an interview with German business daily, WirtschaftsWoche, Thomas Weber, a Mercedes-Benz board member responsible for research and vehicle development, let it be known that the company is building what was originally meant to be the fuel cell-powered A-Class model as an all-electric model.

In the Automobilwoche report, an unidentified senior manager at Mercedes-Benz said that the A-class is an ideal candidate because its "sandwich" construction means the basic layout of the vehicle does not have to be changed much. The car was developed to accommodate a fuel cell and therefore has a double floor that can fit the cell, the manager said. This space can instead be used for the lithium-ion batteries.

In a separate article, Automobilwoche reported that U.S. electric-car maker Tesla Motors is expected to supply the lithium-ion batteries. The magazine didn't reveal the sources for its story and Tesla spokeswoman Colette Niazmand wouldn't comment on the subject when Green Car Advisor inquired today.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (1); Scott Doggett July 1, 2008, 10:22 AM
Categories:: Batteries, Daimler, Emissions, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Hydrogen, Mercedes-Benz, Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla

June 30, 2008

EV Maker Tesla to Open Sedan Manufacturing Plant in San Francisco

A view of the road from the Tesla Roadster, the carmaker's first-generation EV.

By Scott Doggett, Contributor

Electric roadster-maker Tesla Motors will build a manufacturing plant for its upcoming electric sedan in the San Francisco Bay Area, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced today at the company's Northern California headquarters.

Tesla had planned to build its second-generation plug-in electric vehicle, variously called WhiteStar and Model S, in New Mexico.

But, Schwarenegger told reporters, his administration increased the tax incentives it could offer Tesla and the fledgling automaker decided to build its manufacturing plant in the Bay Area. The exact location has yet to be determined.

The 2008 Tesla Roadster, the first modern production electric sports car, is built in England under contract by Lotus. Final assembly of the $100,000 roadster takes place at a plant adjacent to Tesla's headquarters in San Carlos.

The sedan "will be a $60,000 car and that's before any tax credits or other incentives are counted," Tesla Chairman Elon Musk said. "We have some projects in the works that could actually deliver a purely electric car for under $30,000, maybe a lot sooner than anyone thinks...probably four years at the most."

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (1); Scott Doggett June 30, 2008, 12:57 PM
Categories:: Emissions, Fuel Economy, Legislation, Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla

June 13, 2008

Tesla-Fisker Dispute Headed for Arbitration

Ya gotta read the fine print.

That's the message a judge sent Tesla Motors Co. this week when he agreed with Fisker Automotive that the dispute between the electric-car companies should be decided in arbitration.

Tesla sued Fisker Automotive, CEO Henrik Fisker, a related design business and another executive April 14 in San Mateo Superior Court, alleging theft of trade secrets and poor design work – allegations Fisker denied two weeks later...

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); Scott Doggett June 13, 2008, 3:20 PM
Categories:: Courts, Fisker, Fuel Economy, Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla

Nissan Exec Expects Fourfold Rise in EV Range by 2015

By Scott Doggett, Contributor

The head of research and development for Nissan Motor Co. predicts advances in lithium-ion battery technology will boost the range of electric vehicles to 248 miles by 2015.

Mitsuhiko Yamashita, Nissan's executive vice president for research and development, said advances in lithium-ion battery technology will dramatically boost the operating range of electric vehicles, potentially broadening their appeal, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

The breakthrough will come with fourth-generation lithium-ion batteries that will be ready by 2015, he said. The current generation of lithium-ion batteries have a much smaller range, confining the use of electric vehicles to mainly urban commute distances of under 60 miles.

We presume Yamashita was confining his remarks to battery packs that are little enough to fit in small vehicles such as Nissan's all-electric Cube concept, pictured above, and priced low enough to keep the cost of the vehicles within the reach of most consumers. Nissan is currently testing lithium-ion batteries in the vehicle.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); Scott Doggett June 13, 2008, 12:15 PM
Categories:: Batteries, Chevrolet, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Hybrid, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla

June 12, 2008

Tesla Chairman Says EV Maker Has Deal With Daimler

By Scott Doggett, Contributor

Fledgling electric sports car maker Tesla Motors "has inked a technology deal" with giant German automaker Daimler, Fox Business Network reports on its Website, citing an interview with Tesla Chairman Elon Musk.

"Has inked a technology deal" is a bit much, unless Musk, in a videotaped interview with FBN reporter Liz Claman posted Wednesday, said something to her off-camera. Here's their on-camera exchange as regards the purported deal:

Claman: "Have you been approached for your technologies … by a General Motors or Ford or Daimler?"

Musk: "Yes. Absolutely. In fact we have a deal right now with Daimler. It's still a bit in the early stages, but we're in discussions with Daimler. It's still at the early stages, but we're in discussions with Daimler and we have a small deal that could perhaps lead to a very big deal."

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); Scott Doggett June 12, 2008, 5:38 PM
Categories:: Batteries, Daimler, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla