First Tesla electric sedans hit the road

[Leafable]

Well, not "just as much"...

 

Some say less than petrol/diesel:

http://www.sierraclub.org/electric-vehicles/myths.aspx

 

Some say MORE than petrol engines (especially in China where they still burn coal to get electricity):

http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/14/why-...least-in-china/

 

I just need to install some solar panels on my roof and truly become zero emissions!!!

 

Nguyenht I love to thank you for the excellent effort. Our children will thank you for the wonderful thought of the future.

 

I love to follow your example as well unfortunately we are not as loaded as you. May be across the border are more doable. Well at least the government there not against electric car.

[5936]

What is the planned/desired output of your planned solar planel to be able to charge your EV?

You may also get the solar battery charge management system as an additional safeguard to protect batteries and circuits.

 

My solar battery project to charge battery for car camera was stuck.. too lazy to start it. So my solar panel is still collecting dust in store room. hopefully one day , I will restart the project.

[Nguyenht]

What is the planned/desired output of your planned solar planel to be able to charge your EV?

You may also get the solar battery charge management system as an additional safeguard to protect batteries and circuits.

 

My solar battery project to charge battery for car camera was stuck.. too lazy to start it. So my solar panel is still collecting dust in store room. hopefully one day , I will restart the project.

 

I drive about 60km a day. That drains roughly 1/3 of the battery capacity which is 50kWh or 18 kWh per day. So I would need to draw about 20kWh per day (and store it) to keep the tesla grid-free. I would need a 4kW solar panel system. Ummm... That seems like I need a larger roof.

[Adrianli]

I drive about 60km a day. That drains roughly 1/3 of the battery capacity which is 50kWh or 18 kWh per day. So I would need to draw about 20kWh per day (and store it) to keep the tesla grid-free. I would need a 4kW solar panel system. Ummm... That seems like I need a larger roof.

 

But wouldnt constant charging deplete the battery's life??? From my understanding, batteries have a certain amount of recharging capacity.

 

 

For e.g, when I went for the electric stacker course, the instructors say the battery is good for 500 charging only. So do not recharge the battery(trickle charge) unless it is below 1/4 of its capacity.

 

 

If u use 1/3 of the capacity per day, then dont recharge it. Wait till 2/3 or 3/4 then recharge. So ur solar panel can store the power(2days of solar) in another battery first and then use that battery to recharge ur car.

[Vid]

Great car!! How much did you pay to get the car? How long does it take to charge it from empty?

[Zanter]

While other countries promote green cars n even green bikes, our govt kills them.....

 

Govt promotes making money.....for themselves .

 

 

[Nguyenht]

But wouldnt constant charging deplete the battery's life??? From my understanding, batteries have a certain amount of recharging capacity.

 

If u use 1/3 of the capacity per day, then dont recharge it. Wait till 2/3 or 3/4 then recharge. So ur solar panel can store the power(2days of solar) in another battery first and then use that battery to recharge ur car.

 

Tesla is designed to be plugged in all the time, even on "full" charge. There is an on-board computer that manages the 6,000 batteries and keeps the batteries from depleting. I assume it discharges and charges the batteries accordingly. The battery is supposed to last for 8 years without significant loss in capacity.

 

Actually, when I charge in "Standard" mode which is recommended, it only charges up to 95% capacity and never "tops up" unless I tell it to.

[Nguyenht]

Great car!! How much did you pay to get the car? How long does it take to charge it from empty?

 

Car was from Tesla dealer and was the demo unit so it's considered "used". Paid a lot, but far from the $600K that FSG wanted for the two units they have sitting in the showroom. :-)

 

I just changed to 32A @ 240V charging and that should be about 8 hours to charge from empty. It's about 3 or so hours right now when I charge on daily basis at night.

[Nguyenht]

Govt promotes making money.....for themselves .

 

LTA is concerned primarily about 2 things: pollution and traffic. COE takes care of both. Keeping cars less than 10 years old decreases pollution overall. limiting the number of COEs available lets them control the amount of cars on the road and hence control traffic volume.

 

So being green is not an LTA mandate. Getting vehicles to be more efficient (better km/litres) is not a top priority. Vehicle efficiency is a by-product of forcing old cars off the road and getting new cars on.

 

LTA is a stat board and not a strategic organization. We need EDB and A*STAR to focus on this.

[Adrianli]

Tesla Motors refers to the Roadster's battery pack as the Energy Storage System or ESS. The ESS contains 6,831 lithium ion cells arranged into 11 "sheets" connected in series; each sheet contains 9 "bricks" connected in series; each "brick" contains 69 cells connected in parallel (11S 9S 69P). The cells are of the 18650 form-factor commonly found in laptop batteries.

 

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Roadster

 

 

 

 

Disadvantages

 

Cell life

 

-Charging forms deposits inside the electrolyte that inhibit ion transport. Over time, the cell's capacity diminishes. The increase in internal resistance reduces the cell's ability to deliver current. This problem is more pronounced in high-current applications. The decrease means that older batteries do not charge as much as new ones (charging time required decreases proportionally).

 

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion_battery

[Zanter]

I can see your mind is thinking how you can get a brink of these cells & use it in your rc boat yeah?

[Adrianli]

I can see your mind is thinking how you can get a brink of these cells & use it in your rc boat yeah?

 

I have 11 of these Saphion 18650 cells, been using them since 2006 for R/C purpose. Google "Saphion".

 

I have another two 18650 cells used for my high powered LED torch light.

 

 

 

Edited January 11, 2013 by Adrianli

[Vid]

Car was from Tesla dealer and was the demo unit so it's considered "used". Paid a lot, but far from the $600K that FSG wanted for the two units they have sitting in the showroom. :-)

 

I just changed to 32A @ 240V charging and that should be about 8 hours to charge from empty. It's about 3 or so hours right now when I charge on daily basis at night.

 

You've got a good deal!

[5936]

4Kw size solar charging system will be much bigger.

 

you need the whole garage roof to put the panel.

[5936]

4Kw size solar charging system will be much bigger.

 

you need the whole garage roof to put the panel.

[Observer]

That's me. I live in Seletar Hills area. :-)

 

 

nice hope to see you around often as well...i live there also

[Taipan49]

LTA is concerned primarily about 2 things: pollution and traffic. COE takes care of both. Keeping cars less than 10 years old decreases pollution overall. limiting the number of COEs available lets them control the amount of cars on the road and hence control traffic volume.

 

So being green is not an LTA mandate. Getting vehicles to be more efficient (better km/litres) is not a top priority. Vehicle efficiency is a by-product of forcing old cars off the road and getting new cars on.

 

LTA is a stat board and not a strategic organization. We need EDB and A*STAR to focus on this.

 

Out of interest, the car makes less noise (or even minimal noise restricted to tires) than standard cars, so have you noticed any incidences with pedestrians who get surprised by the car "creeping up" on them? I notice that a lot of people in neighbourhood areas walk on the streets and don't really look at all and rely on their ears to hear cars, so for electric cars this could be a concern. Even hybrids too. Already talk overseas that electric/hybrid cars must make noise at all times when driving.

[Mllcg]

Out of interest, the car makes less noise (or even minimal noise restricted to tires) than standard cars, so have you noticed any incidences with pedestrians who get surprised by the car "creeping up" on them? I notice that a lot of people in neighbourhood areas walk on the streets and don't really look at all and rely on their ears to hear cars, so for electric cars this could be a concern. Even hybrids too. Already talk overseas that electric/hybrid cars must make noise at all times when driving.

 

in singapore, people prefer quieter cars..

 

no noise even better ..

 

noise=illegal mod unless proven otherwise