Tesla FAQ

I've been thinking for a while about the need for a FAQ.

It's particularly frustrating to see the same objections to an EV raised over and over. It would be nice to have a FAQ that answers them all. Tesla's website pretty much has all the answers. . . but there's so much information, scattered over so many pages, that it's not effective to toss out as a rebuttal.

I've begun working on something, I'll post it when it's more complete.

Good thinking, gents.

The main questions I hear from newbies are:

#1: How long does it take to recharge?
(Of course the answer depends on the type of charger circuit, and how much charge is still left in the pack)

#2: What is the range?
(Of course the answer depends on how you drive it)

And yes, the darn wind turbine idea just won't go away.

Other things I hear:

#3: Why not solar panels on the body?
(Not enough surface area to make them practical... Besides they could end up being ugly)

#4: Why is the top speed only ~130MPH on such a high performance car?
(Various reasons including limited energy storage, and heat dissipation limitations of an air cooled motor).

#5: What parts does this share with a Lotus Elise?

#6: Why can't I buy one if I live outside the USA?

#7: How long does the battery pack last and how much does it cost to replace?

First Draft

Check it and let me know what you think. . .

http://zobeid.zapto.org/caviar/misc/Tesla_Roadster_FAQ.txt

tonybelding said:

Check it and let me know what you think. . .

http://zobeid.zapto.org/caviar/tesla/tesla_roadster_FAQ.txt

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...Excellent job, Tony!...

Great job, Tony. I read it through and have no objections to the answers.
It would be usefull if questions and answers were numberd though.
Then we could refer people directly to particual answer.

"Go read 2.1 in TeslaMotorsClub FAQ"

When I get time (I hope later today) I'll convert it to a HTML page with an index and anchor points for each question. Then you'll be able to post a URL pointing to a specific question.

Brent said:

2) I'm wondering whether electricity from coal is nearly as polluting as gasoline. Somehow I thought that electricity from even the worst sources was still about twice as clean as gasoline. I'm probably wrong about that.

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I'm not expert on this topic, but I'll tell you what I think I know.

It depends on how you measure pollution. If your big concern is global warming and carbon dioxide, then coal-produced electricity is producing slightly less CO2 emissions than gasoline.

If your big concern is carbon monoxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide and acid rain, soot and particulate matter, and all the other stuff we traditionally regard as air pollutants, then I think coal-produced electricity is actually more polluting than gasoline. I don't know how much more, though. I haven't seen a comparison by the numbers.

I figure most people these days are more concerned with global warming, so that's what I put into the FAQ. CO2 emissions are the only form of "air pollution" that Tesla addressed in their white papers on their website, so I'm just following their lead in that respect.

I, on the other hand, remain a global warming skeptic. I don't think CO2 emissions are a useful measure of anything. I think acid rain and the persistent cloud of haze hanging over the entire western US is more of a tangible problem.

3) You might add some language about how speed and wind resistance affect range. Jay Leno's article on the Roadster jokes that his 1900's Baker has about 100 mile range, while the Roadster only twice that far, despite 100 years of battery advancements. The answer to that is that the Baker only went 25 MPH, while the Roadster may be able to get its range at modern highway speeds.

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I'm not sure how much detail I want to get into, because range is a complicated subject and a FAQ is supposed to provide brief, concise answers.

I think the Baker actually would have gone 100 miles at more like 12 MPH, not 25 MPH. Maybe 25 MPH was its top speed, I dunno. That would make it very similar to a modern NEV.

If your big concern is carbon monoxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide and acid rain, soot and particulate matter, and all the other stuff we traditionally regard as air pollutants, then I think coal-produced electricity is actually more polluting than gasoline. I don't know how much more, though. I haven't seen a comparison by the numbers.
.

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This is what it is and was meant by pollution some time ago when all this craze about CO2 has not started yet. Would you think coal was more polluting than gasoline even where modern cleansing plants are used?

Anyway, FAQ should be short and concise. May it would be good to only point out that coal powerplants are "single" point pollutants where it is much easier to control its exhaust then with houndreds of millions of "small pollution sources" - ICE cars.

FAQ topic comment

... if the electricity comes from 'rooftop' solar panels ...

Ground or pole mounted solar electric systems are also an option for residential, agricultural and commercial applications. For instance, the code appears to be updated with ground mounted or pole mounted arrays, as example in 2008 NEC 690.5, ...

In addition, as eliquently stated in the above forum responses, GHG and atmospheric extinction are complicated discussions for some of us. But it appears, solar electric systems with electric cars together are a good thing.

WarpedOne said:

This post should be made sticky so we have it at hand when someone somewhere starts to spread this FUD again.

Thank you!

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Really it should be part of a FAQ. The idea was discussed here and we actually had one here. I "unstuck" it a couple weeks ago since it had gotten rather out of date. And the person who maintained it no longer actively contributes to the forum. Anyone willing to update and take it over, maybe as a wiki?

I am tinkering with an idea to voluntere for new maintainer.
I'd put that FAQ into a special thread of this forum with special rules:
- one FAQ per post
- FAQ posts are edited as need be by maintainer and/or moderators
- all nonFAQ posts in that thread would be deleted after being resolved

First step would be to transfer that old FAQ and then update it using members input.

What say you?

This forum seems to be growing organically as opposed to any kind of five year plan or "Intelligent Design".

Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Another way to go would be having someone suggest another "Evolved" forum to strive to.

I don't have much experience with blogging (big suprise) but LotusTalk seems comprehensive.

My vote is for a wiki.

FYI: We have a FAQ here: The Unofficial Tesla Roadster FAQ

It's a wiki. WarpedOne, since you volunteered. Could you start updating it for us?

I'll look into it tonight (in about 10 hours).

I held my promise and gave it a little nurturing. :biggrin:

Comments please!

It's a good start, but there are still some artefacts of the old one (e.g. use of Whitestar instead of Model S).