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Tag Archives: Tesla

Chrysler’s Super Secret Electric Trio

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

After the big splash last week with GM’s Volt announcement, Chrysler has decided to release information on their previously secret electric car program. Chrysler announced plans today to introduce a full line of electric vehicles by late 2010, including cars, trucks and SUV’s.

Chrysler Chairman Robert Nardelli introduced three new cars; an extended-range electric Chrysler EV Minivan, an extended-range electric Jeep EV , and a fully electric sports car dubbed the Dodge EV. Like GM, Chrysler is dealing with a technology that isn’t quite ready for prime-time. Chrysler is currently working with “four or five” out of the dozen lithium-ion battery companies to have something ready by 2010. Chrysler is launching a new joint venture with General Electric (Chrysler CEO Nardelli former employer) aimed at developing even more advanced battery systems

Chrysler, which was acquired a year ago by private-equity group Cerberus Capital Management LP, has been searching for partners to help it keep in the race to launch high-tech cars that cut fuel consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions.

Dodge Electric Vehicle
The planned Dodge EV will be a rear-wheel-drive sports car that seats two and has a 268 horsepower electric motor that creates a stout 480 lb-ft of torque. Performance is zero to 60 in fewer than five seconds and a 13 second quarter mile time. All of this comes with a driving range of 150-200 miles on an eight hour charge. Do these numbers sound familiar? They should, the EV is built on a Lotus Europa platform, and sports almost the same technology as the Tesla Roadster.

Jeep Electric Vehicle
The Jeep Wrangler EV will have an engine capable of producing 268 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. The estimated range is 40 miles electric; 400 miles total with gasoline assist.

Chrysler Town & Country EV
“The Chrysler EV combines the electric-drive components of an Electric Vehicle with an integrated small-displacement engine and generator to produce additional electricity to power the electric-drive system when needed. This provides all of the positive attributes of an Electric Vehicle and extends the driving range to be equivalent to today’s gasoline-powered vehicles – without compromises.”

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Rainbow of Tesla Roadsters – Pot of Gold at end?

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

It looks as if Tesla is starting to really ramp up production.  Here is a rainbow of Tesla Roadsters lined up outside their facility.  Tesla has stated from the beginning that their intention was to make their first model a flagship car with high performance and a similarly high price, while still being a better deal than similarly performing sports cars. The Roadster is meant to set the tone for the brand, and with a reasonable profit margin, generate the capital to fund future development of more modest automobiles.

It’s a reasonable strategy. Most of the technology we use in our everyday lives started as something few could afford. The wealthy pay the premiums that generate the revenue to pay for manufacturing capabilities that bring prices down, and eventually the technology trickles down to more affordable designs. 

Hopefully other manufacturers will jump in and start producing economy PHEVs that build on the high tech systems used in the Tesla.

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Tesla’s ex-CEO Shares New Car Experience – “Electrifying”

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Former Tesla CEO, Martin Eberhard, recently shared his views on the first thousand miles of driving his custom-painted Tesla.  Apparently he is a fan, although he is very honest about his dislikes of the car.  These include such mundane things as his hatred of the overly complex navigation system, to more serious issues regarding stiff suspension, limited visibility, and lack of creature comforts.

On the positive side, he talk about all the attention his hundred thounsand dollar electric car is getting, and how much fun it is to zip around in traffic.  His longest trip was over 125 miles, and he still felt that he had the ability to travel another 30 miles. 

You can read more here.


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So Sad… First Tesla Wreck in the Wild

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Ouch, that does not look good.  Apparantly customer #6 drove his car into the back of a Mercedes while fighting traffic in San Francisco.  As expected, folks are already blaming the lack of “noise” generated by the car as being a factor.  Huh?  This was not a pedestrian getting hit, this was just your classic rear-end collision, almost always caused by aggressive tailgating.

While the damage does not look too bad, as most Lotus owners can tell you, this is not an inexpensive vehicle to repair.  Both front and rear “clams” will need to be replaced at a cost of approximately $10,000.  In addition, the suspension is very fragile, and often even low speed accidents will require replacement of some suspension pieces.  Heaven-forbid if a suspension mount is damaged, because the aluminum chassis is “non-repairable”, and has to be swapped out if bent or damaged in any way.


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Wireless Power Part II – Was Nikola Tesla Right?

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

A couple weeks ago, I posted that a small company named PowerMat had created a mat that delivered power wirelessly to small appliances like cell phone, shavers, etc.  Because the device and the mat still needed to be in contact, I claimed that this was not true wireless power delivery, and declared myself the winner in a bet between myself and friend who we know as Tim.   He had claimed that we would soon have wireless power delivery, while I felt that sending power will-nilly through the air was a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Well today, I came across a few new articles.  Ok, I did not come across them, Tim sent them to me after realizing that I had claimed victory.  Apparently some researchers at MIT lit a 60-watt light bulb by transferring energy through the air from the power delivery base to a device attached to the bulb.  The researchers have dubbed their invention, “WiTricity”.

Essentially they have extended induction’s reach by projecting a magnetic field from a length of coiled wire that has two ends almost touching, which forms a gap.   This gap forces electrons to travel back and forth through the coil, creating a magnetic field that oscillates at a specific frequency. The device attached to the light bulb has a similar gap with the exact same frequency, thereby allowing it to “pickup” the energy.

Backing my claim, theoretical physicist Douglas Stone of Yale University commented, “The big showstopper for this, would be if people, entities or devices that are not supposed to absorb the radiation do absorb it.”  In layman’s terms, that means if you got in the way of a couple hundred watts, you would feel like you stepped into a microwave oven.

Tim also cited several articles, including Pinpoint microwave resolution could lead to wireless power transfer and a Biography of Nikola Tesla which you can read at your leisure.  So what do you think, is Tim right and we will soon have wireless power delivery, or am I right and we should just stick to wires?

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Tesla Roadster spotted in Chicago

Saturday, July 12, 2008

It looks like the Tesla Roadster is finally starting to make an appearance.  As most people know, the Tesla has suffered from delay after delay, frustrating those who have been so excited to start seeing them out on the road.  Initially they had issues with their transmission, but it looks like they now have that behind them. 

This Roadster was spotted in the Chicago area.

Tesla Roadster in Chicago


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