dpeilow

malcolm

First the Dodge EV and now this.

The trouble with both vehicles is that they just distract potential Roadster customers with promises of jam tomorrow.

Crucially we have no details on gearboxes. Both companies are boasting about more torque, but have they any idea what that will do to the transmission? It's not the maximum that's the problem - it's the fact that an e-motor can change rotational forces very swiftly.

Marrying single speed to expected performance will delay the product. Alternatively using a conventional box will require them to modify the acceleration profile to protect the gearbox from motor torque transients.

Who knows, maybe they'll have to keep the flywheel.

Of course, unlike Tesla, both Porsche and Chrysler can bend gearbox manufacturers to their will, but to be honest I feel that until electrical energy storage improves significantly then the creation of a bomb-proof EV gearbox is just a heavy, expensive and uneccessary development. Why drive faster? You just hit empty sooner.

Tesla - Hurry up and build Model S to get away from these people.

Cobos

I do agree with you Malcolm but what might happen is one of the big ones like Chrysler og Porsche decides they NEED a gearbox for their high-performance EV and somehow manages to solve the problem. And then after someone has shown how you build a gearbox for the Roadster, and especially if it's one of their contractors we might see a Tesla car with such a gearbox. Might give the Tesla the option of a high max speed.

Of course another possible result might be that one of those big manufacturers fail to create a proper gearbox and they need to eat humble pie just like Tesla did. I bet that would be a very nice boost to Tesla's morale :)

Cobos

TEG

The "gearbox" isn't the real issue. It is still all about batteries... Price, longevity, reliability, and availability.

Cobos

Sure the viability of an EV is closely tied to the battery. But Tesla has had no problems with the battery and lots of issues with the gearbox. Hence why I think it's fun to see what other carmakers can do with that problem. The battery is usually not something the carmakers can do anything about anyway. I.e. they are dependant on the battery research and battery producers.

Cobos

doug

Ruf Electric Porsche: RUF Electric Porsche 911 Concept Finally Revealed

Kardax

More likely, I think, is that it'll introduce the idea of electric sports cars to more people. It won't take them long to learn about the Tesla Roadster, which is actually available (sorta).

-Ryan

TEG

It could well end up being the other way around for other manufacturers.
Tesla put a disproportionate amount of engineering effort on the battery pack, thinking it was the high risk item. The "2 speed" gearbox wasn't typical of what other manufacturers are doing (typically direct drive is much easier).

Tesla patented the way that they did the battery pack, so other companies may opt to experiment with other types of battery arrangements even though we know the "Tesla way" works.

graham

I am curious about the "125 MPH top end" of this car on the Autobahn. Will it be similar to the Tesla where it can only reach that speed for a short time? Will it have enough juice at high speeds to get from one exit to another?

Seems more important for a German car to get this right. Especially since most of the press Tesla received in Germany was negative-ish because of those issues - did they get it right with the Porsche?

True, but part of the "Tesla way" was out of necessity more than being the best way. In this past decade there has been a healthy market for consumer Li-ion batteries, but not one for large-format ones. Tesla has the upper hand today since they have spent an inordinate amount of time making consumer batteries work in a car. As more battery companies get into the game, large-format batteries have the potential to be better. Hopefully Tesla will also continue experimenting as well.

WarpedOne

I'd bet on that.

Trouble is motor heat. You can only aircool the stator, cooling the rotory is very very hard. At 120mph the car is burning around 80kW, with 80% efficiency that means 20kW of heat. Some of it in stator, most of it in rotor. If it gets to hot it can deform and even seize up.

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