William3

Chris H.

It looks like the driver was taking photographs while driving on the autobahn at 105 mph... what a brain trust! I wonder if this was the same guy that DS was talking about on ABG, in this post?

Tesla Roadsters reportedly experience glitches during Euro test drives - AutoblogGreen

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Don't forget about the real world...

Joseph

"Siry expects customers to change the battery pack after four years on average. The cost: $22,000 at current prices"

Ouch.

I've heard from some good sources that the battery pack doesn't last quite as long as Tesla says. (Tesla says 70% capacity after five years and 50k miles) I assume this is because laptop batteries are not designed to last a very long time, which is becaue laptops are usually replaced after four years!

But, there is something very positive to remember. This is only first-gen technology. HP output between a 70s V8 and a modern inline four is about the same. We just have to wait for the competition to pick up pace.

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DaveD

That's interesting. Would you care to share who these "good sources" are? Don't take this as hostile, but this is how rumours get started - from "good sources". In the Age of the Internet, full and open disclosure is usually a good policy to follow in matters such as this.

Joseph

It was a certain someone who talked to a certain someone important at Tesla. A VP or something like that.

Now that Siry said (or at least Car and Driver said he said) that he expects the batteries to last four years, that means that Tesla's numbers posted on their website are probably a bit exagerrated. It's not a huge deal. Companies exagerrate. That certain someone said that the batteries would last around four years, instead of the numbers Tesla puts on their FAQ, and it just so happened that this certain someone was (or at least appears to be) right.

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"Success is 99% failure" - Soichiro Honda

Cobos

I still don't see any actual exageration. They've said 5 years shelf life, and about 100 000 miles = about 80% capacity. Better battery management than what most laptop users do should be able to keep it at around this point. The fact that DS assumes most drivers will drive quite a lot in their car and hence us up that 100k miles part after X number of years (4 in this case) isn't lying. Add to this that Tesla probably in about 3-4 years time will offer a significantly better/cheaper battery then now and for their rich clientele buying the Roadster it makes a lot of sense.

Cobos

malcolm

Only $22000?

That's £12,000. If the 100,000 mile figure is true then this compares very competitivly with total petrol costs in the UK.

vfx

I keep asking.

If the first car and battery pack was introduced in June of 2006 then why are cars coming out now or being delivered in 1st Q 2009 incresing in original statered mileage?

We keep hearing 8% better and X amount cheaper.

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Kevin Harney

Well, weren't the first quotes on the battery pack in the $30K range and now down to $20K and falling - isn't this in line with the thoughts here ? Am I mistaken on my recollections ? We do not know if the range has increased since inception in 2005 or not because there has only been 1 test for official miles per "gallon" right ? Perhaps the first EP did not get 224 miles to the charge ...

vfx

Fair enough observation but the early number that was "settled" on (was longest out there) was 20K. Now it's 22K.

Granted I don't think the 2k jump is as much a "battery" issue as a "dollar" issue...


"vfx"

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The world loves to be deceived.