4 ms·

The Tesla Model S is one of Time's Best Inventions of the Year

55 points by mickgiles 14y ago

gilgoomesh 14y ago
Not exactly. It's one of Time's 4 best inventions of the year in the $22,000 - $750,000 price range.
therealarmen 14y ago
Current title is a bit of a stretch. It hasn't been named the "Best invention of the year" -- it's number 19 out of 26 on a 2012 Best Inventions list. Not to mention it's presented in a wonderfully agonizing slideshow format, gotta maximize those pageviews!
- hop 14y ago
  Beating every other invention of 2012: indoor fog machine cloud.
  - polemic 14y ago
    I stopped at the "Motion Activated Screwdriver" (#3). Some things just don't need inventing. --- Note to self: 1. add WiFi. 2. put it on Kickstarter. 3. profit.
moistgorilla 14y ago
Regardless if it is really the "best" invention of the year, I'm glad the media seems to be giving it a ton of attention. I can't wait till there is a tesla model in my price range.
nextstep 14y ago
How long until this old media dinosaur rolls over and dies? Fuck this stupid slideshow.
andrewljohnson 14y ago
Why is Tesla more important than other electric cars? It's an honest question... no disrespect intended. Nissan and Smart Car also made electric cars.
- manaskarekar 14y ago
  Sorry to put it like a fanboy, but primarily because Elon Musk and his teams have a history of getting hard things done.
- jlgreco 14y ago
  See the spider-graph halfway down this page: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/alternative/1208_2012_tesla_model_s_test_and_range_verification/viewall.html?ti=v2 http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/alternative/1208_2012_te... Alternatively, maybe you could sum it up by saying that it is because the Model S isn't a good electric car, but rather a good car.
- Firehed 14y ago
  I get the impression that Tesla is trying to improve more than just the drivetrain and create truly modern vehicles. While I haven't been in (let alone driven) one, I've heard a few tidbits that suggest it, unlike the few other all-electric options, is really trying to be a so-called vehicle of the future. The bits where it's fast and have the supercharger (and now its associated charging network) are certainly nice perks, but it's stuff like this that show they're rethinking a lot of things from the ground up: "As you approach, the Tesla key commands the door handle to unlock, waiting for a simple tap to present itself. With it in your pocket, Model S turns on as you buckle in to the driver’s seat." (http://www.teslamotors.com/models/features#/styling http://www.teslamotors.com/models/features#/styling) From an industry standpoint, catering to the luxury market (as compared the Volt, for example, which seems relatively pedestrian other than the fact that it's also all-electric), it probably affords them a higher R+D budget to push the tech faster. And by having no gas vehicles for sale, they don't have the problem of making all of their other cars seem less desirable by having an EV option. They're changing up the sales model as well from what I hear, and lord knows the car sales industry could use a kick in a more humane direction. Would it be top of my list if I had a spare $90,000 lying around? No. But if money were no object in my life, it would certainly be a pretty nice purchase.
subsystem 14y ago
In my opinion open source ecology, also on the list, is much more interesting. It's basically the industrial revolution open sourced. Not that the Tesla Model S isn't, but it's well known and a consumer product. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIsHKrP-66s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIsHKrP-66s http://opensourceecology.org/ http://opensourceecology.org/
grainawi 14y ago
Well deserved for Tesla. They built the Model S from the ground up specifically to be an electric car. This means every engineering decision was made with the idea of optimizing the E.V. experience. For instance, you know that notable 265 mile range that is one of its biggest selling points? Well that requires huge and extremely heavy batteries. But instead of this added weight being a disadvantage for the Model S, Tesla made use of it as it best could for an automobile -- it drastically lowered the center of gravity. This, in turn, gives it the excellent cornering ability that the car buffs are all talking about. Regardless of what field you're in, this is a great example of turning your disadvantages into advantages. Great engineering.
kilburn 14y ago
From the website: "[...] the ability to zip for 265 miles (426 km) on one charge —that's the equivalent of 89 m.p.g. (2.6 L/100 km)" I have a hard time figuring out how on earth did they calculate that. My (european) Ford Focus is not a very efficient car by our standars, yet it runs some ~700km on a single tank. Oh, it consumes between 7-8 L/100km by the way. Can anyone tell me how they came up with those numbers above?

55 points by mickgiles 14y ago

Not exactly. It's one of Time's 4 best inventions of the year in the $22,000 - $750,000 price range.

Current title is a bit of a stretch. It hasn't been named the "Best invention of the year" -- it's number 19 out of 26 on a 2012 Best Inventions list. Not to mention it's presented in a wonderfully agonizing slideshow format, gotta maximize those pageviews!

hop 14y ago
Beating every other invention of 2012: indoor fog machine cloud.
- polemic 14y ago
  I stopped at the "Motion Activated Screwdriver" (#3). Some things just don't need inventing. --- Note to self: 1. add WiFi. 2. put it on Kickstarter. 3. profit.

moistgorilla 14y ago

Regardless if it is really the "best" invention of the year, I'm glad the media seems to be giving it a ton of attention. I can't wait till there is a tesla model in my price range.

nextstep 14y ago

How long until this old media dinosaur rolls over and dies? Fuck this stupid slideshow.

andrewljohnson 14y ago

Why is Tesla more important than other electric cars? It's an honest question... no disrespect intended. Nissan and Smart Car also made electric cars.

manaskarekar 14y ago
Sorry to put it like a fanboy, but primarily because Elon Musk and his teams have a history of getting hard things done.
jlgreco 14y ago
See the spider-graph halfway down this page: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/alternative/1208_2012_tesla_model_s_test_and_range_verification/viewall.html?ti=v2 http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/alternative/1208_2012_te... Alternatively, maybe you could sum it up by saying that it is because the Model S isn't a good electric car, but rather a good car.
Firehed 14y ago
I get the impression that Tesla is trying to improve more than just the drivetrain and create truly modern vehicles. While I haven't been in (let alone driven) one, I've heard a few tidbits that suggest it, unlike the few other all-electric options, is really trying to be a so-called vehicle of the future. The bits where it's fast and have the supercharger (and now its associated charging network) are certainly nice perks, but it's stuff like this that show they're rethinking a lot of things from the ground up: "As you approach, the Tesla key commands the door handle to unlock, waiting for a simple tap to present itself. With it in your pocket, Model S turns on as you buckle in to the driver’s seat." (http://www.teslamotors.com/models/features#/styling http://www.teslamotors.com/models/features#/styling) From an industry standpoint, catering to the luxury market (as compared the Volt, for example, which seems relatively pedestrian other than the fact that it's also all-electric), it probably affords them a higher R+D budget to push the tech faster. And by having no gas vehicles for sale, they don't have the problem of making all of their other cars seem less desirable by having an EV option. They're changing up the sales model as well from what I hear, and lord knows the car sales industry could use a kick in a more humane direction. Would it be top of my list if I had a spare $90,000 lying around? No. But if money were no object in my life, it would certainly be a pretty nice purchase.

subsystem 14y ago

In my opinion open source ecology, also on the list, is much more interesting. It's basically the industrial revolution open sourced. Not that the Tesla Model S isn't, but it's well known and a consumer product. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIsHKrP-66s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIsHKrP-66s http://opensourceecology.org/ http://opensourceecology.org/

grainawi 14y ago

Well deserved for Tesla. They built the Model S from the ground up specifically to be an electric car. This means every engineering decision was made with the idea of optimizing the E.V. experience. For instance, you know that notable 265 mile range that is one of its biggest selling points? Well that requires huge and extremely heavy batteries. But instead of this added weight being a disadvantage for the Model S, Tesla made use of it as it best could for an automobile -- it drastically lowered the center of gravity. This, in turn, gives it the excellent cornering ability that the car buffs are all talking about. Regardless of what field you're in, this is a great example of turning your disadvantages into advantages. Great engineering.

kilburn 14y ago

From the website: "[...] the ability to zip for 265 miles (426 km) on one charge —that's the equivalent of 89 m.p.g. (2.6 L/100 km)" I have a hard time figuring out how on earth did they calculate that. My (european) Ford Focus is not a very efficient car by our standars, yet it runs some ~700km on a single tank. Oh, it consumes between 7-8 L/100km by the way. Can anyone tell me how they came up with those numbers above?