Finally! Now someone buy me one

[Onlypastrana199]

Tesla


Finally a comparable electric car  and the contract manufacturer is Lotus


Now someone please give me $100,000 to buy one 

[vtlion]

Wow... that is way cool.  Good to see that technology is advancing.

The only problem is that the green argument still doesn't work (at least not around here) f you consider that the power used to charge the car's battery most likely comes from a coal-fuelled power plant 

[vtlion]

For 100 G's they should throw in a free Waverly with it.  That thing is SOMKIN' 

[Onlypastrana199]

Yeah i know, thats sucky, luckily around here, most of our power is water generated or nucleaur...nucleaur kills things though because the release a lot of warm water into neighboring bodies of water, which has environmental consequences...i think the main arguement is self-sufficiency though, no longer having to depend on foreign oil sources

[roguegeek]

Been keeping an eye on that vehicle for a while. I think we're going to be getting one in the studio in a couple of months. Specs are quite amazing. An impressive piece of work for sure. I'll let ya guys know of my experience with it when I do get my hands on time.

[makenzie71]

Tesla was a badass...I wish I could find some literature linking him with Tesla Motors...:/

[roguegeek]

Wait, we weren't talking about this Tesla?

[Cannon Fodder]

A full charge is expected to take about three hours

Close but it's still not there.  If you figure a 650 mile trip and your getting 250 miles per charge you would end up stopping 3 times to charge, that's an extra 9 hours added to a 10 hour trip.....  Then looking at what a place would charge to stay and charge your car for 3 hours, then I'm guessing that no one will drive a 19 hour trip so figure a hotel room for a night, another $100, and double it because you have to go home, what would the trip cost?  I made the same drive in my F150 which is extremely efficient at 16 miles per gallon   cost me right at $300 round trip.


Until they can get LiIon or LiPo to take a charge at a very high rate, full charge in 5 to 10 min, without blowing up and get something like 300-400 miles per charge the electric car will only be viable for around town.

[makenzie71]

I don't think they intend this car for 650 mile trips than MArine Turbine did with the Y2K.  It's a stepping stone. 

[manofthefield]

Yeah i know, thats sucky, luckily around here, most of our power is water generated or nucleaur...nucleaur kills things though because the release a lot of warm water into neighboring bodies of water, which has environmental consequences...i think the main arguement is self-sufficiency though, no longer having to depend on foreign oil sources

There are definately environmental consequenses from hot water water released and I don't really know what they all are.

But when I worked at Point Beach Nuclear Plant for a semester, all the locals said the best fishing in the area was near the cooling water outlet(warm water) in Lake Michigan.  But that has since been put to a stop due to security concerns


Very cool car, I look forward to hearing more from Roguegeek 

[pantablo]

Been keeping an eye on that vehicle for a while. I think we're going to be getting one in the studio in a couple of months. Specs are quite amazing. An impressive piece of work for sure. I'll let ya guys know of my experience with it when I do get my hands on time.

you are SO going to tell me when you take that puppy out for a spin!

[CirclesCenter]

Been keeping an eye on that vehicle for a while. I think we're going to be getting one in the studio in a couple of months. Specs are quite amazing. An impressive piece of work for sure. I'll let ya guys know of my experience with it when I do get my hands on time.

Full magazine style write up is REQUIRED! OMFG! 

Yeah I want to know, spare me no detail, even the turn blinker's speed (lazy blinkers are always on faster cars.) Especially steering feel and throttle response. Oh yeah, brakes for sure I'm very curious about that.

[pantablo]

Been keeping an eye on that vehicle for a while. I think we're going to be getting one in the studio in a couple of months. Specs are quite amazing. An impressive piece of work for sure. I'll let ya guys know of my experience with it when I do get my hands on time.

you are SO going to tell me when you take that puppy out for a spin!

so that I can tag along...

[roguegeek]

hehe I'm still waiting on the Bugatti they promised us months ago. Maybe we can set it up so you'll, by coincidence of course, come by to consult us on the new offices we're building the day we happen to get it in.

[sanjay]

One of my friends works there, and I got to see the car a few months ago on my campus. They had it clothed in "plain" Lotus Elise skin, but the innards were all changed out.  No one got to see the new body panels till the press release a month ago.

So basically it sounds like a really fast golf cart.  A high pitched electric motor whine.  No engine or exhaust noise, which is kind of anticlimactic from such a fast car.  It was even brought up when we spoke to some of their marketing guys - who would shell out $80k for a sports car that didn't sound like one?  But they simply replied that people would buy it and the muscle car nuts would eventually be won over.  The other cool thing is that, since it's electric, you don't have to wait for torque or HP peak.  It's at its max at 0 rpm.  So the car really pulls off the line.

As for practicality, it's not meant to replace a long-range vehicle.  No one would own this as their primary vehicle.  It's basically meant for the rich (who can afford such an expensive car) who are environmentally conscious (and therefore own or have considered a Prius).  It's a two-seater, convertible sports car, with the practicality of an Elise, and is really meant for commuting and Sunday drives.

I think they're planning to add an option for solar charging panels, which you could fold up and take with you.  They won't work fast by any means, but it means the car will produce its own power.  They're also working on a 4-door car, but I haven't seen or heard anything about it. 

[Yankee Punker]

 I hope in some way maybe this will help bring down the cost of the Lotus Elise.  I'm sure I've mentioned before that its one of my next goals. So Sweet !

[Dr. Love]

The only trip I can think of taking with this car is through the Canadian prairies in the winter, where you could charge the car at most of your stays by using the winter plug-in (for block heaters) overnight... 

[vtlion]

This IMO is why the EV1 went nowhere.  Nobody is going to wait 3 hours to fuel up their car.

What would work is some kind of exchangeable battery.  You pull into a service station and trade the spent cell for a new charged one, just like a propane tank for your grill.  The problem with that is the expense and weight of the materials needed probably make it prohibitively costly.

Sooner or later, someone will figure it out.

[arcsecond]

I've heard rumors of a new battery technology on the horizon that'll allow full  recharging in minutes. Take this with a grain of salt as we all know how often technology rumors come true. Where's my jetpack damnit?! and my flying car?!

-James

[RVertigo]

I'm glad the electric car is back...  But, it really is nothing new.  Saturn had a production model 15 years ago.  It was bad-ass...  But, the recalled ALL of them.


I think they're doing it right this time...  Make the damn thing a status symbol...  Make all the rich fucks trade in their stupid goddamn H2s on one...  Make it cool to be rich and get 100s of miles per kW/Hour, rather than 8 MPG.


THEN they can move to the upper-middle class models... Volvos, Infinities, Acuras...  By the time it reaches the middle-class models, they'll actually be affordable.   


I can't friggen WAIT!!!