Magazine reviews! - Page 3

doug · 05-12-2009, 09:11 AM

Yeah, the author is slightly confused. The 2010 Roadster Sport motor is not liquid cooled. There has been talk, however, of the next generation Roadster which would include a liquid cooled motor and perhaps the battery pack under the floor. That wouldn't be for a while though. The Model S would have to be a success first. So at least a few years out.

TEG · 06-04-2009, 05:38 PM

Tesla has provided links to loads of recent articles, many European, on their Media Coverage page:
Tesla Motors - Media Coverage

Quote:

Bora Magazine
June 3, 2009
Download the PDF here

The Car Connection
Rex Roy, June 3, 2009
Read the blog here

Whipnotic
June 3, 2009
Watch the video here

Monvolant
Éric LeFrançois, June 3, 2009
Read the French story here

France2.fr
June 3, 2009
Watch the video here

AEI
Lindsay Brooke, May 27, 2009
Read the article here

Autoweek.nl
Mike Daly, May 27, 2009
Read the Dutch coverage here

FAZ.net
Von Niklas Maak, May 26, 2009
Read the German article here

Le Monde.fr
Jeff Segal, May 21, 2009
Read the French article here

...etc...

vfx · 07-18-2009, 08:23 AM

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/fashion/19tesla.html

vfx · 07-24-2009, 09:08 AM

ABG does a roundup.

At Witz' End - scoping out magazine coverage of electric vehicles — Autoblog Green

malcolm · 07-28-2009, 06:14 AM

Tesla Roadster | Car Review | evo

Quote:

The driving bit is painless. In fact it’s rather better than that. As I head home to Cambridge after the Autodrome shoot, I’m blown away first by the fact that it all just works so beautifully, then by the sheer pace of the thing and finally by the fact that it gels so well with the Lotus chassis. It might not be quite as delicate and balletically agile as an Elise, but it’s pretty damn close, and the steering’s wonderfully organic in feel – a digital engine in an analogue chassis.

But something’s nagging away at me, and it’s the tiny touch-screen display tucked away in the bottom left-hand corner of the facia. When I left Bedford it promised an ‘ideal range’ of 91 miles – more than ample for the 40-mile drive home. But with around five miles still to go it’s down to just 20 miles and warning me that the battery’s low so it’s going into reduced power mode. Hmm. When I eventually park up, it’s down to 13 miles, so that’s 78 miles worth of juice spent in around half the distance. And okay, I was driving in a spirited fashion, but hey, it’s a sports car.

vfx · 07-28-2009, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by malcolm

Tesla Roadster | Car Review | evo

Did he have it in P mode?

And those charge times seem wrong, no?

TEG · 07-28-2009, 11:38 AM

Quote:

...But with around five miles still to go it’s down to just 20 miles and warning me that the battery’s low so it’s going into reduced power mode. ...

FYI, when I was riding with James from Seattle to Portland he had it in standard mode and right when we got to 25 miles range left it popped up the "running low, performance will be limited" warning. He then switched it to range mode and the range added 25 miles more (so ~50 miles left to go).

Also comparing standard to range mode it seems standard offered 200kW max power, with range offering 150kW. So it seems that the firmware is designed to use rounded milestones (e.g.: 50kW jumps and 25mile differences). This was with Roadster Sport, so the standard model might be different.

stopcrazypp · 02-02-2010, 01:17 PM

Teslaâ€™s 244-mile Range: What Up With Dat? - Car and Driver Blog

Another range discussion. The car went 140 miles, but the driver ended up having to charge overnight at a hotel to get about 40 miles extra using 110V. Don't know if it is standard mode or range mode. It looks like the area is quite cold (there's snow).

The driver ended up disappointed:

Quote:

I was never so happy to get out of a $130K car in my life. Getting into an Audi A3 TDI after nearly 24 hours and 181 miles felt like what I can only imagine a tethered parolee feels when the electronic leash is removed from their ankle.

There were less issues with range in older tests:
Tesla Roadster Sport: It’s Not What You Got, It’s What You Give - Car and Driver Blog
2010 Tesla Roadster Sport - Short Take Road Test - Auto Reviews - Car and Driver

meloccom · 02-04-2010, 04:53 PM

The article now has lots of comments from Roadster owners including VFX, indicating that the tester need to RTFM.
Looks like he had the roadster in standard mode for charging and driving so didn't fully charge the battery before setting out.
I suppose you will always get stupid articles like this when any new technology is not fully understood.

bobw · 02-05-2010, 01:33 PM

Tesla Motors has a blog posting about the What Up with Dat? article.

Tesla Motors looked at the car's trip log. It seems he left town at 85% SOC, drove between 70 and 80 mph, with bursts above 80 mph. The car had snow tires.

Joy. Will people be down on K.C. Colwell for shading the story, or will they condemn Tesla (Big Brother) Motors?