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Tesla Motors Selects BorgWarner for Production of New Gearbox for Tesla Roadster

Laurent

Cool. It's nice to see that they expect production to pick up fairly soon:

"Tesla Motors starts production of 10 new Roadsters each week. Customers typically take delivery four to six weeks after production begins. The company expects production starts to ramp up to at least 20 vehicles per week within a few months and 40 per week by early 2009."

Joseph

I think it is to note that although Borg Warner is supplying the gearbox, it was Ricardo (who also produces [or designed?] the gearbox for the Bugatti Veyron) that helped design it for Tesla.

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SAN CARLOS, Calif. - (Business Wire) Tesla Motors Inc. has selected BorgWarner Inc. for the production of a single-speed gearbox for the Tesla Roadster and is initiating a ramped-up production rate. So far, 27 customers have taken delivery of Roadsters.
Tesla engineers developed the specifications for the new gearbox and provided them to BorgWarner. The new gearbox is an integral part of an enhanced powertrain with significant performance and efficiency improvements. The new powertrain delivers about 30% higher motor torque on a single gear ratio, and it achieves a 10% higher EPA combined range.

“Last December, when the two-speed transmission designed by a previous supplier proved not to be durable, we announced we would modify our approach,” said JB Straubel, Chief Technology Officer of Tesla Motors. “By using a more powerful inverter and an enhanced motor design, we were able to implement a single-speed gearbox and still achieve our original performance goals. In fact, the new setup is superior in almost every way.”

The new gearbox is designed for the higher peak torque levels of the new Roadster powertrain, which has increased from 286 Newton-meters (211 foot-pounds) to 380 Newton-meters (280 foot-pounds). The new powertrain achieves an EPA combined range of 244 miles on a single charge, up from Tesla’s previously announced EPA range of 221 miles.

Production of Tesla Roadsters began in March, and the first vehicles were built with an interim transmission design. Customers who own Roadsters with the interim transmission can have their powertrain upgraded free of charge.

Tesla Motors starts production of 10 new Roadsters each week. Customers typically take delivery four to six weeks after production begins. The company expects production starts to ramp up to at least 20 vehicles per week within a few months and 40 per week by early 2009.

“Successfully implementing the new gearbox in less than a year was an incredible technical challenge and huge accomplishment for Tesla’s engineers,” said Ze’ev Drori, Chief Executive Officer of Tesla Motors. “Now that we have a final powertrain design, in a matter of months there will be hundreds of Tesla Roadsters across the country. We’re heralding nothing less than a new era of the automobile.”

About Tesla Motors

Tesla Motors develops and manufactures electric vehicles with exceptional design, performance and efficiency, while conforming to all U.S. safety, environmental and durability standards. The Tesla Roadster is the only highway-capable production electric car of any kind for sale in the United States. With a 0 to 60 mph acceleration of 3.9 seconds, a 14,000 rpm redline, and the fastest top gear acceleration of any production car tested by Car & Driver magazine in 2007, the Tesla Roadster is unique in providing super car performance, zero emissions and extraordinary efficiency. For more information, visit Tesla Motors.

Tesla Motors Inc.
Rachel Konrad, +1-650-701-2664
rachel@teslamotors.com

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Stewart W

Does this mean the transmission is in production and that 10 cars per week start receiving this new transmission immediately..?
This article is very vague IMHO...
I believe an update directly from Tesla is in order..and should be forthcoming. Lets hope all is GO!

TEG

graham

Yes, I was surprised by this announcement - I thought Ricardo was producing it for Tesla. I guess they were just used to help design it.

mt2

BorgWarner, huh? During the discussion of what went wrong with the previous suppliers it was brought out that the big boys wouldn't play with a little start-up like Tesla. Even now that Tesla is producing Roadsters, we're still talking small potatoes to BorgWarner.

But it was also revealed that drive train 1.5 came from development of of the WhiteStar. So... IMHO, this bodes well for the Model S. The implication, as I see it, is that BorgWarner won a contract to do all the Gearboxes for Tesla, meaning they see the Model S as a reasonable risk investment.

Pure speculation on my part, but it was the first impression I got from the article.

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graham

Is this the first we have heard the 244 mile range? Does this mean that this is the new official EPA number for the Roadster?

Edit: Ah, Malcolm noticed this too :-)

Whoa! 244 not 221.

graham

some (slightly) new details:

Tesla shifts gears | Up to Speed | Los Angeles Times
So 1.5 is slated for the third week in September (which is next week) and Elon already has 1.5. I wonder how many per week they will be producing? I think the last number we heard was 5 per week. With 1.5 in place, I expect that to go up quickly.