Tesla Roadster gets reviewed

I love the idea of being able to charge/fill up my car right at home without having to make trips out just to fill up

It would still take longer, a lot longer, because there's a limited charging speed for any electric car running from the mains. Great thing is that in the UK the speed can be double what it would be in the US, because we have double the mains voltage (if the amps are the same, I'm not sure).

Anyway I still don't really know what people see in electric cars, we all know that they still make disease, just not outside your house.
 
I think the electric car will be the way forward for the majority of people since the technology is already there to make decent commuter car. I can also see a Hydrogen Internal Combustion engine being plausible, but until the technology is there to store and produce hydrogen cleanly and effectively the electric car will win because it can already be made. How the electricity is made to charge the cars is a separate argument, but with the advances already being made in power generation this will become less of an issue. My main concern about electric cars would be how do we dispose of the battery once its useful lifecycle is up.

I think I said this in another thread, but I like the idea of the community trying to wean itself off oil because we need it to produce other valuable things like plastics. Also, I don't want to be funding a middle-easter oil baron's uncontrollable spending habits. Conserving resources surely can't be a bad thing, especially when you consider the hip-pocket side of it.

The reason I believe the Tesla's a brilliant idea is because it makes people think electric cars can be cool and desirable, not ugly and cramped like a G-wiz. It gets people thinking about alternatives rather than just moaning about how expensive their cars are to fill up and demand tax cuts. Necessity is the mother of all inventions, and eventually people will be forced to look at other ways of powering the car when petroleum gets too expensive so we can continue to enjoy the comfort and convenience of a car.

I'm sure we will eventually become used to the electric car. After all, I don't recall people complaining about electric trains because they didn't hear the noise of a steam or diesel engine...
 
Pfft, Electric powered cars - call them what they are (in Australia at least) - coal powered cars. When Electricity-Fairies bring me my electricity without a significant environment impact then, and only then, will I accept these things are good for the environment.
 
Pfft, Electric powered cars - call them what they are (in Australia at least) - coal powered cars. When Electricity-Fairies bring me my electricity without a significant environment impact then, and only then, will I accept these things are good for the environment.

I don't really get why you Australians haven't build any grand solar plants. You have the space, the sun, the knowledge and the money so what's wrong?

For reference:

sahara-energy.jpg
 
I don't really get why you Australians haven't build any grand solar plants. You have the space, the sun, the knowledge and the money so what's wrong?

Too many solar-panel eating snakes and spiders. :p
 
Its probably because the government spends too much time arguing like little kids in parliament and not enough time thinking about how to actually solve problems.
 
Pfft, Electric powered cars - call them what they are (in Australia at least) - coal powered cars. When Electricity-Fairies bring me my electricity without a significant environment impact then, and only then, will I accept these things are good for the environment.

100000% agree.
 
Solar panels are expensive and consist of fairly environmentally toxic chemicals. The cleanest form of power today (as in toxic chemicals and use of space) is thermo power, the second cleanest is nuclear.
 
It's the kind of car that celebrities buy to compensate for their Ferrari...

Too bad it will probably never put into production, because I'd really like to see the pictures of one going up in flames with George Clooney behind the wheel (who already pre-ordered one)...

The bottom line will be: They tried and failed but at least brought some movement into the scene.
 
I reckon this is the first electric car that's cool to be seen in.
 
It already is in production: http://www.teslamotors.com/media/press_room.php?id=841

... and I don't see how they failed, this definitely is the best electric car yet.

Yeaah, I agree with you. It's the best electric car yet and I would buy one if I had money for it!!! They already started to sell Roadster's at Europe (250 units for the road) but let's say that
# Price: 99,000 Euro (excluding VAT)*
# A 50,000 Euro refundable reservation fee is required to secure your position (see in http://www.teslamotors.com/buy/resyourcar.php) isn't quite a fee that anyone can afford! Perhaps peopple from Monaco can afford it!... Not me! But it's the price to pay for new technology!

And for me Tesla just failed in one thing!!!... Well, try to live in a 8th floor and have no garage!!! I think it isn't a normal thing to put an electrical extension till the street from the 8th floor to get the car charged in 3.5 hours (I suppose it's this the value that they tell to be needed to charge the batteries). Oh well, we can't have everything, right!!!... :cry:
But I loved the sentence from them:
"How Long Does Your Cell Phone Take to Charge?

If you're like most people, you can't answer this question. You plug in your phone every night, and it's fully charged in the morning. You never think about how long it took so long as the charge lasts throughout the next day. Once you get into the habit, that"s the way you'll feel about your Tesla Roadster; every morning you'll wake up to a fully charged car, ready for whatever is on the day's agenda."

Because of that my Nokia battery is viced!

Though a great car to play with, I think!!! ;)
 
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Well, since the cars are made by Lotus, I except a review of Jeremy Clarkson and a round on the Top Gear test track by the Stig :D
 
Nice to see them getting closer to delivery. I know someone who has had an order in for quite a while and still aren't sure when they are getting their car, although they are assured it will be one of, if not the, first one in Australia.

I just want to know who is going to service them? In Australia I figure there will be one or two service dealerships probably one in Sydney and one in Perth, like they do with Rolls Royce. Which means a LONG trip to be serviced or have something repaired.
 
They're selling them down here in Australia :blink:
 
Well, since the cars are made by Lotus, I except a review of Jeremy Clarkson and a round on the Top Gear test track by the Stig :D

I have been hoping for that since I learned about the tesla. :lol:


Personally, I like it. No it's not perfect but I dare anyone here to come up with a single car that is. It's the first model, as technology advances they'll sort out bugs in it, make it cheaper etc. Until then I know I read something about them making a cheaper 0-60 in 9 seconds model for regular people. Give it a little time, I think it's got excellent potential especially since it will still work on wind/solar/nuclear powered electricity so what ever way we go for power it still works. Just because we use fossil fuels for power plants NOW doesn't mean we have to and will forever.

I don't necessarily want one though, I would however get great joy from doing a massive conversion on my bug and making it run on that system :lol:
And then I would make it go faster....
 
I have to say it looks nice but that's because it's basically an Electric Lotus.

I really don't like the idea of electric cars for only one reason, you can't hear them, they don't sound nice. I want to hear the engine, the pistons going at it and electric cars obviously don't have that. It might be worthwhile if there was some sort of an engine sound coming out a speaker or something and then you could select any engine noise you want, that would make it more interesting. :yes:
 
I have to say it looks nice but that's because it's basically an Electric Lotus.

I really don't like the idea of electric cars for only one reason, you can't hear them, they don't sound nice. I want to hear the engine, the pistons going at it and electric cars obviously don't have that. It might be worthwhile if there was some sort of an engine sound coming out a speaker or something and then you could select any engine noise you want, that would make it more interesting. :yes:

They should just make the whirling noise louder, a fake noise is lame.
I'll miss the sound too, even my crappy slow engine roars and it never fails to make me grin.
They should make electric cars make noises that sounds like death rays powering up vvvvwwwwwwweeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzz
 
They should just make the whirling noise louder, a fake noise is lame.
I'll miss the sound too, even my crappy slow engine roars and it never fails to make me grin.
They should make electric cars make noises that sounds like death rays powering up vvvvwwwwwwweeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzz

Simple solution to that is to put a rodent under the accelerator pedal. Though actually that could be a pretty sweet engineering project, invent a new type of noisy electric motor.
 
Simple solution to that is to put a rodent under the accelerator pedal. Though actually that could be a pretty sweet engineering project, invent a new type of noisy electric motor.
it should be faster too
I want my electric bug to go like a 911 :lol:
*is deranged*
 
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