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A 45 min. fast charge sounds impressive. I would think that would require much more current than a typical household outlet is able to supply. Does anyone know

A 45 min. fast charge sounds impressive. I would think that would require much more current than a typical household outlet is able to supply. Does anyone know if the current Tesla roadster come with a charging station? And how is that connected to the household mains? [update: I found some forums mentioning that charging the current roadster in 3.5 hours requires the installation of a 240V/70A charging station in your garage/home] [update 2: Here's the High Power Connector: http://shop.teslamotors.com/products/high-power-connector http://shop.teslamotors.com/products/high-power-connector. It's connected directly to the breaker panel in the home]

ams6110 18y ago
The 45 minutes is for a partial charge. Still, 300 miles beats the heck outta the 40 promised by the Volt.
- josefresco 18y ago
  Volt will be out first, and Tesla could be gone before they are ever able to ship even 1 of these. 2.5 years from now when/if this thing actually surfaces we'll have lots of hybrid/electric choices.
  - spectre 18y ago
    Tesla's biggest problem will be mass production. (They have made about 300 cars) Large companies like Chevy can have significantly greater production capacity.
    - dkokelley 18y ago
      Has Tesla even considered outsourcing the manufacturing? I'm sure lots of people in Detroit would be more than grateful to be paid to make cars that are already sold. I wonder if capacity is not the problem, but that the Roadsters just take that long to actually make.
      - pingswept 18y ago
        They've not just considered outsourcing the manufacturing, they did it from the start. Lotus makes the cars in England. According to Wikipedia: "The car is assembled at the Lotus factory in Hethel, England, with drivetrain components and body components supplied to the factory by Tesla. . . Tesla Motors' plant in Taiwan manufactures the motors and the Energy Storage Systems (ESS) was initially manufactured in Thailand during development and then moved to San Carlos, California, after production started. Chassis are manufactured in Norway. SOTIRA, in St. Meloir & Pouancé, France, create the RTM carbon fiber body panels. The Roadster's brakes and airbags are made by Siemens in Germany and crash testing was conducted at Siemens as well" Confirmation of the Lotus relationship from Tesla here: http://www.teslamotors.com/blog2/?p=7 http://www.teslamotors.com/blog2/?p=7
        dkokelley 18y ago
        Good information. I thought Lotus just did the design and prototype. Does anyone know why it takes Tesla so long to produce a car? Does a specific part (ESS, for example) bottleneck the entire operation?
    - 2cool 18y ago
      Maybe, maybe not. While Tesla is an eco-exotic/luxury maker, and in general luxury companies do luxury cars which by definition are not for mass usage.To name a few: koenigseeg, aston martin, bentley, or italians like maserati or ferrari. It's hard to tell if they will ever build lower price car for mass usage lift off. Rather the way to go would be something that german Audi, BMW, Mercedes, or VW exhibit, a range of cars that have also a range of prices, but still in some sort they are considered to be almost luxury cars because of sustainable design in time, better quality (at least in most things inside or outside) and some additional level of innovation.
      - eru 18y ago
        VW is considered a (somewhat) luxury car? Interesting.
  - skyfaller 18y ago
    I'll believe that the Volt will come out first when I see it. As far as I'm concerned it's vaporware (designed to scare other people out of the market) until I can actually buy one from a local showroom.
derwiki 18y ago
Top Gear had a very un-inspiring review as well. It lasted 55 miles going around the track, and then required 16 hours to recharge. I suppose Tesla is counting on most of us -not- driving like Clarkson. [Tesla's response to the review: http://jalopnik.com/5112828/tesla-issues-response-to-top-gear-review http://jalopnik.com/5112828/tesla-issues-response-to-top-gea...]

ams6110 18y ago

The 45 minutes is for a partial charge. Still, 300 miles beats the heck outta the 40 promised by the Volt.

josefresco 18y ago
Volt will be out first, and Tesla could be gone before they are ever able to ship even 1 of these. 2.5 years from now when/if this thing actually surfaces we'll have lots of hybrid/electric choices.
- spectre 18y ago
  Tesla's biggest problem will be mass production. (They have made about 300 cars) Large companies like Chevy can have significantly greater production capacity.
  - dkokelley 18y ago
    Has Tesla even considered outsourcing the manufacturing? I'm sure lots of people in Detroit would be more than grateful to be paid to make cars that are already sold. I wonder if capacity is not the problem, but that the Roadsters just take that long to actually make.
    - pingswept 18y ago
      They've not just considered outsourcing the manufacturing, they did it from the start. Lotus makes the cars in England. According to Wikipedia: "The car is assembled at the Lotus factory in Hethel, England, with drivetrain components and body components supplied to the factory by Tesla. . . Tesla Motors' plant in Taiwan manufactures the motors and the Energy Storage Systems (ESS) was initially manufactured in Thailand during development and then moved to San Carlos, California, after production started. Chassis are manufactured in Norway. SOTIRA, in St. Meloir & Pouancé, France, create the RTM carbon fiber body panels. The Roadster's brakes and airbags are made by Siemens in Germany and crash testing was conducted at Siemens as well" Confirmation of the Lotus relationship from Tesla here: http://www.teslamotors.com/blog2/?p=7 http://www.teslamotors.com/blog2/?p=7
      - dkokelley 18y ago
        Good information. I thought Lotus just did the design and prototype. Does anyone know why it takes Tesla so long to produce a car? Does a specific part (ESS, for example) bottleneck the entire operation?
  - 2cool 18y ago
    Maybe, maybe not. While Tesla is an eco-exotic/luxury maker, and in general luxury companies do luxury cars which by definition are not for mass usage.To name a few: koenigseeg, aston martin, bentley, or italians like maserati or ferrari. It's hard to tell if they will ever build lower price car for mass usage lift off. Rather the way to go would be something that german Audi, BMW, Mercedes, or VW exhibit, a range of cars that have also a range of prices, but still in some sort they are considered to be almost luxury cars because of sustainable design in time, better quality (at least in most things inside or outside) and some additional level of innovation.
    - eru 18y ago
      VW is considered a (somewhat) luxury car? Interesting.
- skyfaller 18y ago
  I'll believe that the Volt will come out first when I see it. As far as I'm concerned it's vaporware (designed to scare other people out of the market) until I can actually buy one from a local showroom.

derwiki 18y ago

Top Gear had a very un-inspiring review as well. It lasted 55 miles going around the track, and then required 16 hours to recharge. I suppose Tesla is counting on most of us -not- driving like Clarkson. [Tesla's response to the review: http://jalopnik.com/5112828/tesla-issues-response-to-top-gear-review http://jalopnik.com/5112828/tesla-issues-response-to-top-gea...]