Tesla Roadster
September 15, 2006 by Admin
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Tesla Roadster is an electric sports car based on the Lotus Elise which was developed by ex-lotus engineers and built by the Henthel company.
The creators or designers claimed that the car could go from 0-96 km/h in about 4 second with a range of 400 km. Funding for the project came from big names in the technology world, including Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The price is expected to cost between $85,000 and $120,000. Destined for the US market, deliveries of the Tesla Roadster are expected to begin next summer.
A 3-phase, 4-pole AC induction motor coupled with the Power Electronics Module (PEM) which provides multiple functionality of inverting direct current to 3-phase alternating current, the charging system, and the regenerative braking system is used to drive a two speed transmission which draws its power from lithium-ion batteries.
The Tesla Roadster delivers sports car performance without using any gasoline,” said CEO Martin Eberhard. “This is what we hoped to achieve when we started the company three years ago, to build a car with zero emissions that people would love to drive.
The batteries are charged by a combination of regenerative braking and mains power and it takes 3.5 hour to fully recharge. The batteries are mounted between the rear axle, which contains the motor and the seats.
The body design of the Tesla Roadster has been headed by Lotus’s Principal Designer, Barney Hatt, at the Lotus Design Studio in England using the Elise’s extruded aluminium chassis. It uses double wishbone suspension all around and the Elise’s unassisted steering rack.
Two more models are already planned by Tesla, a sporty 4-door sedan which cost 1/2 the price of the roadster and a third car, which is cheaper.
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Tagged: automobile, automotive, electric-cars, Hybrid, lotus-elise, News-update, Other Categories, Sports Car, Tesla
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