6 ms·

I really wonder how the top-speed is on those cars in their various configurations. For me this is the deal breaker on all other "affordable" solutions thus far

I really wonder how the top-speed is on those cars in their various configurations. For me this is the deal breaker on all other "affordable" solutions thus far.

jjallen 9y ago
The top-speed is really a prime concern for choosing your car? Interesting. Do you live in a no-speed-limit jurisdiction, such as Germany?
- narrowtux 9y ago
  I do live in Germany, and it is a concern for me. The VW e-up costs 22k EUR and has a top speed of 130 km/h, the BMW i3 full electric version w/o range extender costs about 35k EUR and has a top speed of 150 km/h. This performance would be fine if I bought a car under 10k EUR but not for this price.
  - chaostheory 9y ago
    Just adding more data: The 2017 Volt (Opel Ampera-e) has a top speed of about 160 km/h / 100 mph for 35k EUR, $33k USD Pretty sure the Model 3 can acheive this, if not be faster, since this is just the norm and not 'fast'.
    - chaostheory 9y ago
      Forgot to add - I do 80-85 mph 128-136 kmh 5 days a week on my Volt
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - cmrdporcupine 9y ago
      Same here, I do bursts of 120-130kmh highway driving every day and occasionally go higher. But I usually switch into Hold mode (turns on the combustion engine) so I don't waste too much battery. To be honest, the extra torque of an electric engine makes slow speeds seem faster. When I was in my diesel VW I found myself at 140-150km/h quite often by accident. In the Volt I'm comfortable going slower because it "feels" faster somehow.
    - BoorishBears 9y ago
      My 2017 is speed limited to 101 mph. It gets to that speed pretty uneventfully, but I've heard the low rolling resistance tires are only rated for 100 mph so GM limited it to 100. I'm curious if a dealer could remove the limit if you changed the tires, but I don't think anyone has bothered
  - johansch 9y ago
    A car that can only drive at 130 km/h would be turn-off in many regions where the legal speed limit is lesser. There is such a thing as overtaking other cars safely (e.g. overtaking a car that drives 100 km/h on a 120 km/h road in Sweden).
    - jjallen 9y ago
      Yeah I guess I assumed that basically every modern car can go at least 120km/h
  - illumin8 9y ago
    I have an i3. The top speed is fine; I can do 90mph here in the US, but you probably don't want to. Driving an EV you start to realize how much energy it takes to maintain high speeds, due to wind resistance. I can drive a full 100 miles on a charge at 75mph, but if I tried to drive the same distance at 90mph, I'd probably only get 60 miles. Wind resistance makes a huge difference to EVs.
- Roritharr 9y ago
  Yes, I live in Germany. I have the same discussion roughly every month on HN[1]. No I'm not a reckless driver, I'm a family father that tries his best to drive safely. Just going 120km/h on the Autobahn in Germany is often times not the safest way. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14423002 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14423002
  - morsch 9y ago
    You conjure a scenario where you're behind an unsafe driver who's going 130 km/h on the center lane, and you want to overtake him to get some distance from the source of danger. Can't do this if your car is only capable of driving at up to 130-140 km/h, true. The obvious -- and also the safest, in any car -- solution: just slow down. Switch to the right lane which invariably runs at around 80 to 90 km/h. Your nemesis will distance themselves at >30 km/h. Maybe stay on the right lane at <100 km/h in general, overtaking trucks only when necessary, giving you ample room for acceleration in case you need it. It's a lot more energy efficient, anway. And presumably safer, too.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
jacquesm 9y ago
I don't think any car I've ever owned has spent more than a minute or two at its top rated speed. Even acceleration is only important up to a minimum to get along in traffic. Even in Germany where cars are allowed to go pretty quick in some areas hardly any of them go at or near their rated top speed.
- narrowtux 9y ago
  True, because it takes long to actually get to that speed. But imagine if you'd like to drive 160 km/h on the highway all the time, you probably need a car that has a rated top speed of at least 180 km/h.
  - maxxxxx 9y ago
    Most of the (gas engine) cars sold today can go 180.
    - jacquesm 9y ago
      Most of the high end cars will go 225 or 249 (legal limit enforced by the engine firmware, also related to what the tires the car is sold standard with can handle). A small car doing 180 will not live long.
      - stcredzero 9y ago
        I once had my little Honda CRX almost up to 110 mph on an empty highway one late night in Nevada. (I might've made it with a tailwind!) Pretty exciting. Not something I'd want to do for an extended period of time. Car journalist David E. Davis claimed he had fun driving the same car on the Autobahn, however.
        jacquesm 9y ago
        CRX is a car that is quite frequently modded the crap out of because the engine is capable of substantially more HP than it puts out standard, you'll also find these engines in many other custom builds (super popular in souped up classic minis for instance). They'll definitely go fast (even in the standard setup) but I'd really hate to have anything unexpected happen at those speeds. Even in a larger and more stable car that would be taking your chances but in a CRX you'd be in little pieces all over the road, just a deer would make you really wish you were somewhere else. I've driven a little Daihatsu Copen (660 CC, 63 HP, a bit over 800 Kg), which was a ton of fun to drive and would go quite fast (on the GPS about 175), it's mere inches off the ground so it feels much faster still. But I always realized that I'm playing the lottery when doing that. Coming back from Poland to NL one night through Germany I came upon a bunch kids in their CRX's going flat out on the autobahn, I could keep up with them easily because of the better handling of the Copen but on the straights they definitely had the advantage. Wicked fast for such small cars. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daihatsu_Copen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daihatsu_Copen
mikeash 9y ago
We should find out at the end of the month, but I'd be surprised if it was much lower than the 130MPH top speed of the slowest Model S. (Ignoring the 40, which was an outlier in many ways.)

I really wonder how the top-speed is on those cars in their various configurations. For me this is the deal breaker on all other "affordable" solutions thus far.

jjallen 9y ago

The top-speed is really a prime concern for choosing your car? Interesting. Do you live in a no-speed-limit jurisdiction, such as Germany?

narrowtux 9y ago
I do live in Germany, and it is a concern for me. The VW e-up costs 22k EUR and has a top speed of 130 km/h, the BMW i3 full electric version w/o range extender costs about 35k EUR and has a top speed of 150 km/h. This performance would be fine if I bought a car under 10k EUR but not for this price.
- chaostheory 9y ago
  Just adding more data: The 2017 Volt (Opel Ampera-e) has a top speed of about 160 km/h / 100 mph for 35k EUR, $33k USD Pretty sure the Model 3 can acheive this, if not be faster, since this is just the norm and not 'fast'.
  - chaostheory 9y ago
    Forgot to add - I do 80-85 mph 128-136 kmh 5 days a week on my Volt
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - cmrdporcupine 9y ago
    Same here, I do bursts of 120-130kmh highway driving every day and occasionally go higher. But I usually switch into Hold mode (turns on the combustion engine) so I don't waste too much battery. To be honest, the extra torque of an electric engine makes slow speeds seem faster. When I was in my diesel VW I found myself at 140-150km/h quite often by accident. In the Volt I'm comfortable going slower because it "feels" faster somehow.
  - BoorishBears 9y ago
    My 2017 is speed limited to 101 mph. It gets to that speed pretty uneventfully, but I've heard the low rolling resistance tires are only rated for 100 mph so GM limited it to 100. I'm curious if a dealer could remove the limit if you changed the tires, but I don't think anyone has bothered
- johansch 9y ago
  A car that can only drive at 130 km/h would be turn-off in many regions where the legal speed limit is lesser. There is such a thing as overtaking other cars safely (e.g. overtaking a car that drives 100 km/h on a 120 km/h road in Sweden).
  - jjallen 9y ago
    Yeah I guess I assumed that basically every modern car can go at least 120km/h
- illumin8 9y ago
  I have an i3. The top speed is fine; I can do 90mph here in the US, but you probably don't want to. Driving an EV you start to realize how much energy it takes to maintain high speeds, due to wind resistance. I can drive a full 100 miles on a charge at 75mph, but if I tried to drive the same distance at 90mph, I'd probably only get 60 miles. Wind resistance makes a huge difference to EVs.
Roritharr 9y ago
Yes, I live in Germany. I have the same discussion roughly every month on HN[1]. No I'm not a reckless driver, I'm a family father that tries his best to drive safely. Just going 120km/h on the Autobahn in Germany is often times not the safest way. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14423002 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14423002
- morsch 9y ago
  You conjure a scenario where you're behind an unsafe driver who's going 130 km/h on the center lane, and you want to overtake him to get some distance from the source of danger. Can't do this if your car is only capable of driving at up to 130-140 km/h, true. The obvious -- and also the safest, in any car -- solution: just slow down. Switch to the right lane which invariably runs at around 80 to 90 km/h. Your nemesis will distance themselves at >30 km/h. Maybe stay on the right lane at <100 km/h in general, overtaking trucks only when necessary, giving you ample room for acceleration in case you need it. It's a lot more energy efficient, anway. And presumably safer, too.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]

jacquesm 9y ago

I don't think any car I've ever owned has spent more than a minute or two at its top rated speed. Even acceleration is only important up to a minimum to get along in traffic. Even in Germany where cars are allowed to go pretty quick in some areas hardly any of them go at or near their rated top speed.

narrowtux 9y ago
True, because it takes long to actually get to that speed. But imagine if you'd like to drive 160 km/h on the highway all the time, you probably need a car that has a rated top speed of at least 180 km/h.
- maxxxxx 9y ago
  Most of the (gas engine) cars sold today can go 180.
  - jacquesm 9y ago
    Most of the high end cars will go 225 or 249 (legal limit enforced by the engine firmware, also related to what the tires the car is sold standard with can handle). A small car doing 180 will not live long.
    - stcredzero 9y ago
      I once had my little Honda CRX almost up to 110 mph on an empty highway one late night in Nevada. (I might've made it with a tailwind!) Pretty exciting. Not something I'd want to do for an extended period of time. Car journalist David E. Davis claimed he had fun driving the same car on the Autobahn, however.
      - jacquesm 9y ago
        CRX is a car that is quite frequently modded the crap out of because the engine is capable of substantially more HP than it puts out standard, you'll also find these engines in many other custom builds (super popular in souped up classic minis for instance). They'll definitely go fast (even in the standard setup) but I'd really hate to have anything unexpected happen at those speeds. Even in a larger and more stable car that would be taking your chances but in a CRX you'd be in little pieces all over the road, just a deer would make you really wish you were somewhere else. I've driven a little Daihatsu Copen (660 CC, 63 HP, a bit over 800 Kg), which was a ton of fun to drive and would go quite fast (on the GPS about 175), it's mere inches off the ground so it feels much faster still. But I always realized that I'm playing the lottery when doing that. Coming back from Poland to NL one night through Germany I came upon a bunch kids in their CRX's going flat out on the autobahn, I could keep up with them easily because of the better handling of the Copen but on the straights they definitely had the advantage. Wicked fast for such small cars. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daihatsu_Copen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daihatsu_Copen

mikeash 9y ago

We should find out at the end of the month, but I'd be surprised if it was much lower than the 130MPH top speed of the slowest Model S. (Ignoring the 40, which was an outlier in many ways.)