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Tesla Says It Is Testing an Electric Car Prototype for Toyota

19 points by donohoe 16y ago

adamilardi 16y ago
Does anyone know how much the first electric car GM put out cost to build?
- stan_rogers 16y ago
  If you mean the EV1, it worked out to somewhere between $80K-100K per vehicle due to the small number of vehicles produced. Keep in mind that there was no way to buy an EV1 (it was lease-only) and that only 1117 of them were ever produced despite a never-empty waiting list. Seems GM never found a battery pack that priced in at anywhere near the same level as a stamped gas tank, so the margins were lower than they had hoped for...
gsiener 16y ago
Has this had any effect on their stock yet?
- dgritsko 16y ago
  Up 0.49 as of 1:11 EDT. [edit] Now it's up 1.27 as of 3:03. http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NASDAQ:TSLA http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NASDAQ:TSLA
protomyth 16y ago
So, to go along with this, has anyone been successful at building a charger for an electric car that could be used to replace a gas pump (safe in weather, 80 - 100% charge in under 8 minutes)?
- aaronblohowiak 16y ago
  Yes. You simply swap the battery out for one that is already charged. The model works where the person owns the car but effectively leases the battery, so your fee at the station includes the battery "rental" and the delta in its charge. http://www.betterplace.com/ http://www.betterplace.com/
  - protomyth 16y ago
    I can swap the batteries in under the amount of time it would take me to fill a tank of gas (around 8 minutes avg)?
    - Groxx 16y ago
      If it's made to be swapped out? Yes. Grab handle & pull. Drop in replacement.
      - hugh3 16y ago
        Problem: the batteries on a Tesla Roadster weigh about 400 lb. Have fun lifting that! If you want a battery that one man (or more to the point, one woman) can lift, you'll have to settle for a drastically reduced range. Alternatively, you could have twenty easily-removed 20 lb batteries to swap out. It'd still be a bit of a workout, and beyond the capabilities of your average grandmother.
        Groxx 16y ago
        True, I wasn't considering the added amount of batteries in electric cars. But at that point you bring in the machinery, maybe loading from the bottom of the car, for precisely the for-people-who-can't reason. Someone would win a lawsuit, and they couldn't allow the average person to do it any more.
        alabut 16y ago
        They're not meant to be replaced by hand - it's an automated process that swaps the batteries after you pull the car into the proper position, sort of like pulling into a car wash.
- neurotech1 16y ago
  Super Capacitor based technology shows some promise. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_double-layer_capacitor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_double-layer_capacitor
  - protomyth 16y ago
    Yeah, if they can get the energy density up and the tech right, that is probably the solution. I really think switching our current liquid-baed fuel infrastructure over are going to be painful. Taxing electric cars is going to be a real pain, especially if some of the big payment, low-income hostile methods are used (high registration fees, odometer checks at registration renewal).

19 points by donohoe 16y ago

adamilardi 16y ago

Does anyone know how much the first electric car GM put out cost to build?

stan_rogers 16y ago
If you mean the EV1, it worked out to somewhere between $80K-100K per vehicle due to the small number of vehicles produced. Keep in mind that there was no way to buy an EV1 (it was lease-only) and that only 1117 of them were ever produced despite a never-empty waiting list. Seems GM never found a battery pack that priced in at anywhere near the same level as a stamped gas tank, so the margins were lower than they had hoped for...

gsiener 16y ago

Has this had any effect on their stock yet?

dgritsko 16y ago
Up 0.49 as of 1:11 EDT. [edit] Now it's up 1.27 as of 3:03. http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NASDAQ:TSLA http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NASDAQ:TSLA

protomyth 16y ago

So, to go along with this, has anyone been successful at building a charger for an electric car that could be used to replace a gas pump (safe in weather, 80 - 100% charge in under 8 minutes)?

aaronblohowiak 16y ago
Yes. You simply swap the battery out for one that is already charged. The model works where the person owns the car but effectively leases the battery, so your fee at the station includes the battery "rental" and the delta in its charge. http://www.betterplace.com/ http://www.betterplace.com/
- protomyth 16y ago
  I can swap the batteries in under the amount of time it would take me to fill a tank of gas (around 8 minutes avg)?
  - Groxx 16y ago
    If it's made to be swapped out? Yes. Grab handle & pull. Drop in replacement.
    - hugh3 16y ago
      Problem: the batteries on a Tesla Roadster weigh about 400 lb. Have fun lifting that! If you want a battery that one man (or more to the point, one woman) can lift, you'll have to settle for a drastically reduced range. Alternatively, you could have twenty easily-removed 20 lb batteries to swap out. It'd still be a bit of a workout, and beyond the capabilities of your average grandmother.
      - Groxx 16y ago
        True, I wasn't considering the added amount of batteries in electric cars. But at that point you bring in the machinery, maybe loading from the bottom of the car, for precisely the for-people-who-can't reason. Someone would win a lawsuit, and they couldn't allow the average person to do it any more.
      - alabut 16y ago
        They're not meant to be replaced by hand - it's an automated process that swaps the batteries after you pull the car into the proper position, sort of like pulling into a car wash.
neurotech1 16y ago
Super Capacitor based technology shows some promise. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_double-layer_capacitor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_double-layer_capacitor
- protomyth 16y ago
  Yeah, if they can get the energy density up and the tech right, that is probably the solution. I really think switching our current liquid-baed fuel infrastructure over are going to be painful. Taxing electric cars is going to be a real pain, especially if some of the big payment, low-income hostile methods are used (high registration fees, odometer checks at registration renewal).