Autoblog

umm most track cars are trailered home anyway, you know cause they're not street legal, and I'd assume most tracks might have a convenience outlet somewhere that you could plug into if you happened to not watch the guage let alone notice your continuously going slower, plus 55 mi is like 220 1/4mi :D

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For the size of that battery, that's pretty unacceptable. Then again, unlike George Clooney, I actually would in fact bat an eyelash at spending $100K on a two-seater toaster. I realize the car was beat on by the TG crew, but 55 miles for a battery that size requiring that amount of cooling? I dunno...

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Because you are saving the planet. Somehow.

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@ imirk,

I didn't say 'drag strip'. Plenty of people take street-legal cars to 'track days' to drive aggressively.

It takes 16 hours to recharge. A 'convenience plug' would be a bit of an oxymoron.

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Short memories...

Series 11, episode 1: Ferrari 599. One gallon of fuel, choked after 1.7 miles.

Proper gallons are 4.25 liters. That gives it an equivalent range of 39 miles. Just in case you're having trouble with your "math", that's 29% worse than the Tesla. Ferrari 599s also cost more than Teslas.

Now run along children. This is a Web site for grown-ups.

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Senile adults maybe.

If a Ferrari runs out of fuel, its 5 minutes to refill it with premium. Something you can do anytime, anywhere.

How long did they say the Tesla took to recharge?

You can't track this car more than 10 miles from your home without spending the night in an Elise-sized vehicle. Or bringing along your petrol-powered camper.

Try plugging that into your calculator and sticking it where the environmenatally-friendly solar power doesn't shine. :D

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The difference is that you can buy gasoline on the go. You can't charge your Tesla if you aren't home. Tesla fails.

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I get 120-180 miles driving aggressive--but not absurd like they did. That's on an 80% charge, so add 20% to that.

Clearly batteries are not going to work right now if you want to drive at 120 MPH for a sustained period of time. If you want top speed for a sustained period buy a Corvette/Ferrari/Lambo.

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I completely disagree. The Tesla is expressly presented and marketed as an electric sports car. The fact of the matter is that when it is driven like a sports car it sacrifices range. This is simple physics and does not take many of us who understand such things by surprise. The same thing happens in gas powered cars.

I'm not a backwater moron clinging to his gas-guzzling SUV. I'd like to see alternatives. Unfortunately battery-electrics just aren't there. I'm not convinced that they ever will be. I find it more likely that we will see electric cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells or super-capacitors.

I like the Tesla, I really do. But I don't pretend it is anything more than a neat science project. I certainly don't want to have to pay to replace a lithium battery pack with over six thousand cells in five years. They only take so many charge/discharge cycles and towards the end their range will be drastically reduced.

Personally I'd much rather have a normal Elise with it's normal Toyota I4 converted to burning pure hydrogen. It's no less pie-in-the sky than a Tesla and still makes all the noises associated with internal combustion.

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Ummm wrong. It's a sports car. All sports cars are build to preform at least adequately on a track, not completely fail

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Read Tesla's site, they call it a sports car.

Either way, I dont know of too many cars in the 100k range that are not high end luxury or performance. Their problem is being on the cutting edge of electric technology as a small company, so they have to take these jabs in stride because they are both accurate and unavoidable at this point in development. You still have to give attention to all aspects of the car in comparison to what we are used to or expect. I think that the car seemed to handle so poorly shows how much work this car still needs.

Kudos to the Top Gear grow, it was great to watch as he repeatedly goes from excitement to disappointment.

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I agree!...but wouldn't it be fun to downsize the battery to lighten the car, crank up the regen braking, install coilovers and sway bars, jack the car to even out the load, align the caster, camber and toe, and set it up to run 20 minute sessions at Sears Point.
It would be goodbye Lotus on the first lap!

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The Tesla reduces performance to protect itself. So it won't be fun at Sears Point. And you cannot crank up the regenerative braking. The engine cannot turn more speed into electricity during braking than it can electricity into speed during acceleration. And since you go 60-0 in a LOT less than the 5 seconds you go 0-60, that means well over half your braking on the track has to be done by friction brakes, not regen braking.

I'm not sure why people spend their time apologizing for Tesla. It's a good car, but it also shows the limitations of electric cars. ICE cars are VERY well developed right now, electric cars just can't match them in many ways.

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The Tesla is a sports car. What's the point of having a sports car if you have to drive it like a Prius?

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"Ummm wrong. It's a sports car. All sports cars are build to preform at least adequately on a track, not completely fail"

Odd, I never realized being faster on the track than a 911 GT3, the ol' M3 CSL and STI/EVO twins qualified as completely fail. Man the 911 GT3 and M3 CSL must suck by your standards. It may not be R8 quick, but it's a fast car. Though I will admit it's reliability was surprising - then again, most sports cars aren't reliable either :D.

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@why not...:
Increasing the regen braking will increase the braking power of the car! Most electric street cars use reduced regen braking because of the roughness and needs of controllability for the average street driver. Basic to reduced lap time in a track car is that you try to either accelerate or brake all the time. The general rule is you brake before the turn, steer with the throttle and steering wheel around the turn then roll on the throttle as soon as possible exiting the turn, then nail the accelerator going straight. So, you are always either on the brakes or the accelerator on the track.

My point is the car has a great potental for the track and with some modifications it will run a course quite nicely

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Yes, Lad, I realize that.

However, unless your car does 0-60 in the same time it does 60-0, it means that it cannot capture nearly all the power during braking. It must use a lot of fraction braking when braking at max effort. And since you usually brake at max effort, that means a lot of lost power on the track.

Regen braking is not all that useful on the track, in the Tesla or any other car. It's better than nothing, but you're not going to get back nearly what you put in, unlike on the road where you use gentler braking.

There is no reason regen braking cannot be well modulated, if it isn't controlled well, it's the fault of the motor controller.

zamafir:
The Cobalt SS was faster around the track than an EVO. How much am I supposed to pay for this performance?

Regardless. In a multi lap race the Tesla gets pasted because it switched to reduced power after a few hot laps. And that's before you consider that it'll be low on battery after 15-20 laps. This thing cannot keep up with a reasonably priced ICE car on the track.

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