Comments on: Tesla Says Model S May Go 400+ Miles On a Charge

By: duude

duude — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:18:03 +0000

Too many what ifs to get a maybe in my opinion. Clearly, it won’t be reaching the headline range unless they can find a 400 mile downhill course.

By: Van

Van — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:43:56 +0000

At 40 MPH constant speed, the “S” gets 5 miles/kwh, at 55 MPH it gets 4 miles/kwh, and at 70 MPH, it gets 3 miles/kwh. I would have expected the penalty for going from 55 to 70 in energy consumption to be nearly twice as much as from 40 to 55, so I am missing something.

By: Van

Van — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:37:12 +0000

Not specifically stated but it appears the mileage above 25-30 decreases due to the drag force (air resistance) requiring more and more energy to push the air aside. Judging totally by looks, the "S" appears to have a low Cd, and therefore the rate of increase in energy consumption as speed increases remains fairly constant. A brick like box design would probably have more of an exponential increase in energy consumption. Alternately, factors other than drag might be making a significant contribution, i.e. rolling resistance, and that might just go up linearly.

Maybe some could shed some light on the shape of the curves?

By: Tony Tan

Tony Tan — Fri, 11 May 2012 02:10:55 +0000

Try to bring the prices down, otherwise other fuels will grab the market.

Chinese produced 11,900 CNG powered vehicles in Dec-2011.
http://www.ngvglobal.com/chinas-ngv-production-figures-indicate-strong-market-segment-0509

Meanwhile there is big news about Butanol from waste sources becoming a new auto fuel.

We should remember that a century ago, Electrics lost the market to petro fuels because of range and price. Unless EV makers concentrate on price reduction, the history will repeat.

By: Max Reid

Max Reid — Fri, 11 May 2012 00:12:26 +0000

If someone gives me this car, then I will drive at exactly the speed limit to get a higher range and also this will allow other overtaking drivers to take a look at the car.

If it attains 300 mile range. That's very good. So far, all the EVs in the hybrid market dashboard has low sales. I will atleast Tesla publishes its sales figure and its decent.

All those who buy high end Hybrids like LS600h, ML450, X7 can buy this car and save a lot of money.

By: MrEnergyCzar

MrEnergyCzar — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:54:31 +0000

That will certainly all but eliminate range anxiety.... looks like 25 mph is the ideal speed for max range...

MrEnergyCzar

By: Van

Van — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:25:55 +0000

Obviously we need the second generation battery to make EV's available to other than upper market folks. The average new car price of about $28,000 is not broached with any EV. And the $35,000 jobs only have about half the battery capacity necessary, i.e 24 vice 42 KWh.

If we assume the $28,000 price range difference is driven solely by the battery (85-55) then the battery cost is around $900 per kwh.

The goal, from years ago was a battery cost of less than $300 per kwh, and that still looks like the true barrier to shifting off fossil fuel burning polluters.