More details on Model S from Elon Musk

[Doug_G]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqi_QnBlgGs

[tdelta1000]

WOW!!! Great info and thanks for the link. I think the Model S could move along a little fast but Tesla is taking its time.

[AnOutsider]

Interesting... not all what we'd want to hear of course, but good to hear something nontheless. Didn't we hear ages ago that Model S design was like 80-85% done?

[roblab]

Interesting... not all what we'd want to hear of course, but good to hear something nontheless. Didn't we hear ages ago that Model S design was like 80-85% done?

I used to work in construction. It was interesting to me that "half way done" was when the sheetrock was hung. The owner thought it should be ready next week, but there were weeks and weeks to go.

[tdelta1000]

I used to work in construction. It was interesting to me that "half way done" was when the sheetrock was hung. The owner thought it should be ready next week, but there were weeks and weeks to go.

Roblab, after viewing several pics of the new factory I think the major items of concern were the press line, the paint shop and maybe the new robots which puts your comment into perspective.

[AnOutsider]

I used to work in construction. It was interesting to me that "half way done" was when the sheetrock was hung. The owner thought it should be ready next week, but there were weeks and weeks to go.

haha, I knwo of that first hand! Had a house built, and once the sheetrock was up, it felt like "well heck, just slap some paint on the walls and we're in... right?!?!"

[PopSmith]

I love watching these.

Musk talks about how it's better to say "The car has an # kWh battery" vs "It will go this far" because it's an easier metric to gauge. He also mentions that the 2012 RAV4 EV will have a specifically-designed pack/motor. The current pack/motor is just a Tesla retro-fit.

[dsm363]

I think they should classify the battery pack as Elon Musk said but also provide a range on the sticker (example for the Roadster: max range: 244 miles, standard charge range 200 miles (range 160-200 with normal driving)) or something like that.

[AnOutsider]

The general public is never going to go for something so technical. ## MPG is an easy to understand term. Start telling people "Your new car has a ## gallon tank" they're going to stand there dumbfounded. They're not going to want to try to figure out how many miles that equates to, especially when there's so many variables involved (two cars with the same size tank can get very different mileage on that same tank).

That's not a slight on the average consumer either, it's just common sense IMO. If you asked me how far I am from New York City, I'd tell you 2 hours... telling you 125 miles, you'd PROBABLY be able to figure out how long that trip would be, but what about traffic? Are 50 of the miles on a 35mph road etc? 2 hours is a DIRECT answer to the question.

Basically, you should give people as close to the info as they want. They don't want to have to make calculations. So we say ## MPG and in-car displays shows ### miles to give people a good idea, at a glance, of what to expect.

So, just as no one is going to want to hear "you have a ## gallon gas tank", they're not going to want to hear "you have a ##kwh battery pack" -- what does that equate to in mileage? Sure to the technically savvy it MAY make more sense to talk density, but if the end game is mileage, then why not just talk mileage? After all, 2 packs with a similar density in 2 very different cars can produce very different end results right?

K.I.S.S.

[dsm363]

I agree but still think listing the size of the battery in kWh somewhere on the sticker wouldn't be a bad idea. You have to start somewhere trying to educate the general public but the main information listed on the car's window sticker should be a conservative range of mileage.