Tesla Roadster (first generation)

Tesla Roadster
Tesla Roadster
	Tesla Roadster
Overview
Manufacturer	Tesla Motors
Production	2007-present
Designer	Tesla Motors, with help from Lotus Engineering and others
Body and chassis
Body style	2 seat convertible
Platform	Unique; Lotus technology
Powertrain
Engine	3-phase AC induction
Dimensions
Length	3946 mm
Width	1873 mm (incl. mirrors)
Height	1127 mm
Curb weight	~1140 kg

Template:Future automobile

The Tesla Roadster is the first fully electric automobile to be produced by electric car firm Tesla Motors. Tesla claims prototypes have been able to accelerate from 0-60 mph (100 km/h) in about 4 seconds, and reach a top speed of 130 mph (210 km/h). Additionally, the car will be able to travel 250 miles (400 km) on a single charge of its lithium ion batteries. While the Roadster does not actually use gasoline, an equivalent fuel efficiency of 135 mpg (57 km/l, or 1.75 l/100 km) is reported^[1].

The car was officially unveiled on July 19 2006 in Santa Monica, California, at a 350-person invite-only event held in Barker Hangar at Santa Monica Airport. According to the official press release, in addition to Governor Schwarzenegger,

celebrities in attendance included actor Ed Begley Jr., producer Richard Donner, businessman Michael Eisner, PayPal founder (and Tesla Motors Chairman) Elon Musk, Participant Productions' Founder and CEO Jeff Skoll (also of eBay fame), and actor Bradley Whitford, who starred in The West Wing.^[2]

Tesla Motors' "Signature One Hundred" first set of fully equipped cars sold out by late August 2006, and the second hundred sold out by October. By January 2007, a total of 270 cars had been reserved; delivery is now estimated to begin in the fall of 2007.^[2]

The Roadster was developed in collaboration with Lotus Cars and AC Propulsion. Roadster propulsion technology is principally matured from that seen in the tzero, Venturi Fetish, and Wrightspeed X1. Lotus supplied the basic chassis technology from its Lotus Elise. Tesla engineers designed a new chassis with this technology, lengthening it, lowering the door sills, and adjusting its strength to match the weight of the Tesla Roadster. Besides the chassis, the Roadster appears to share a number of components with the Elise, such as the windshield and windows, some dashboard parts, and suspension components. The styling was penned by Barney Hatt at Lotus' design studio with significant input from Tesla. The car will be assembled at the Lotus factory in Hethel, England, with all drivetrain components and body components supplied to the factory by Tesla.

Moniker

File:Tesla roadster real.jpg

A Tesla Roadster (rear view), on display at its launch at Santa Monica Airport on the evening of Wednesday 19 July 2006.^[1]

The Tesla Roadster is named after Nikola Tesla, a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer and scientist. The principal visionary and inventor of alternating current, Tesla's designs and ideas changed the world, providing a stable means of delivering electricity over enormous distances; his fight with Edison over this issue went on for years with Tesla and Westinghouse ultimately triumphing. The Tesla Roadster's powerplant is basically a Tesla three-phase electric motor.

Pricing

Final pricing for the 2008 Tesla Roadster base model is US$92,000. As of November 2006, over two hundred of the initial flagship 2007 models sold out in under four months, the majority of which came fully loaded with all Tesla Roadster optional equipment at a cost of around $100,000. Tesla Motors is currently accepting reservation orders for their 2008 models with several payment options used to determine the 2008 delivery date of the vehicle.

Service

Service Centers for the Roadster will be found in the following U.S. Metropolitan Areas:

Los Angeles
San Francisco
New York
Miami
Chicago

A Roadster purchased within the USA but not near one of those cities will include an additional $8,000 out-of-service-area fee on the price of the vehicle plus additional transportation fees paid when the vehicle is serviced. Furthermore, there are no "independent" mechanics who are authorized or certified to perform maintenance to the drive train or electrical systems of the Roadster.^[3]

There are no service centers outside of the USA presently.

Tesla Motors says that in time this may change if increased demand merits additional service centers.

Specifications

Motor

Type: 3-phase, 4-pole electric motor
Max net power: 248 hp (185 kW)
Max rpm: 13,500
Efficiency: 90% average, 80% at peak power

Transmission

Type: Two-speed sequential manual

Performance

Acceleration time, 0-60 mph (0-100 km/h): approximately 4.0 s
Top speed: 130 mph (210 km/h)
Range: 250 miles (400 km) on the EPA highway cycle
CO₂ emission equivalent: 89 - 178 g/km
Fuel efficiency: 200 watt-hours per mile - the electrical equivalent of about 135 miles per gallon ^[4]

Battery

Type: lithium ion, 6,831 cells
Weight: about 990 lbs. (450 kg)
Full-charge time: 3-1/2 hours
Capacity: about 56 kWh

Fuel efficiency

Because the Roadster does not actually use gasoline, equivalent petroleum fuel efficiency (mpg, l/100 km) can be calculated in several ways.

A number similar to the typical Monroney stickers' "station-to-wheel" fuel efficiency can be calculated based on Tesla Motor's reported^[5] motive efficiency of 110 Wh/km, charging efficiency of 86% and the DOE's energy content for a U.S. gallon of gasoline of 33705 Wh/gal:

{\frac {33705{\begin{matrix}{\frac {\mathrm {Wh} }{\mathrm {gal} }}\end{matrix}}}{110{\begin{matrix}{\frac {\mathrm {Wh} }{\mathrm {km} }}\end{matrix}}\times {\begin{matrix}{\frac {1.6\mathrm {km} }{\mathrm {mi} }}\end{matrix}}}}\times 86\%=165\mathrm {mpg} \;(1.43{\begin{matrix}{\frac {l}{100\mathrm {km} }}\end{matrix}})

Press reports^[1]^[6] state the Tesla Roadster's fuel efficiency about 20% more conservatively at
135 mpg (1.74 l/100 km).

For CAFE regulatory purposes, the DOE's full petroleum-equivalency equation^[7] combines primary energy efficiency for the USA electric grid and the crude oil to gas station path with a "fuel content factor" to quantify conservation and scarcity of fuels in the USA. This combination yields a factor of 82,049 Wh/gal in the above equation and a regulatory fuel efficiency of
401mpg (0.59 l/100km)

Using the value of 12,307 Wh/gal^[7] (to compare the full-cycle energy-equivalency of gasoline with USA watt-hours - e.g. remove the "fuel content factor" of 1/_0.15) in the equation above leads to a fuel efficiency value of
60 mpg (3.91 l/100 km)

For non-fossil-fuel-generated electricity, such as hydro, solar, wind or nuclear, the fossil-fuel equivalent fuel efficiency can be considerably higher, as the only fuel used is during manufacture/maintenance.

For comparison, an internal combustion engine produces 7000 to 9000 Wh of output energy for each gallon of gasoline input. The state of tune and seasonal variations in gasoline formulation account for the output range.

References

^ ^a ^b Tesla Motors. "Tesla Motors Corporate Backgrounder" (html). Retrieved 2006-12-05. ...the Tesla Roadster is capable of 135 mpg equivalent... {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help) Cite error: The named reference "Tesla Motors Press Room" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
^ Tesla Announces Four Door Coupe for 2009
^ "Tesla Motors FAQs" (HTML). Tesla Motors. 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2006-12-20. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ Neil, Dan (July 20 2006). "A roadster that's electric". Marketplace Public Radio. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |accesdate= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
^ Martin Eberhard, Marc Tarpenning (2000-09-18). "The 21st Century Electric Car" (PDF). Tesla Motors. Retrieved 2006-09-22. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ Edmunds.com Inside Line (July 21 2006). "Tesla Roadster: Lotus Helps Create Sporty 135 MPG Electric Car" (html). Retrieved 2006-12-05. ...achieves the equivalent of 135 mpg. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ ^a ^b "Federal Register Vol. 64 No. 113" (PDF). United States Department of Energy. 2000-07-12. Retrieved 2006-09-22. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

External links

www.teslamotors.com - Official Tesla Motors website
Tesla Motors' list of media articles written about their product
CNET News image gallery
"Tesla Motors Unveils All-Electric Roadster Tonight"
"Tesla Roadster unveiled in Santa Monica" (article at www.autobloggreen.com)
Wired News: "Battery-Fueled Car Will Smoke You" - First public review of the car.
AutomoBlog article
Netscape article with pictures and video by AutoblogGreen
AutoBlogGreen exclusive interview with Elon Musk
‘Battery Life’, Lucire, online edition, January 21, 2007
BBC News Video

[Tesla_Motors_Press_Room-1] Tesla Motors. "Tesla Motors Corporate Backgrounder" (html). Retrieved 2006-12-05. ...the Tesla Roadster is capable of 135 mpg equivalent... {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help) Cite error: The named reference "Tesla Motors Press Room" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).

[2] Tesla Announces Four Door Coupe for 2009

[3] "Tesla Motors FAQs" (HTML). Tesla Motors. 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2006-12-20. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

[Marketplace_Public_Radio-4] Neil, Dan (July 20 2006). "A roadster that's electric". Marketplace Public Radio. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |accesdate= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

[The_21st_Century_Electric_Car-5] Martin Eberhard, Marc Tarpenning (2000-09-18). "The 21st Century Electric Car" (PDF). Tesla Motors. Retrieved 2006-09-22. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

[Edmunds_Inside_Line-6] Edmunds.com Inside Line (July 21 2006). "Tesla Roadster: Lotus Helps Create Sporty 135 MPG Electric Car" (html). Retrieved 2006-12-05. ...achieves the equivalent of 135 mpg. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[petroleum-equivalency-7] "Federal Register Vol. 64 No. 113" (PDF). United States Department of Energy. 2000-07-12. Retrieved 2006-09-22. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

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