Tesla reviewed in Autocar
Discussion
And gets a good review 
It's not as urgent as an Elise (weight and power delivery) but how many IC cars came before the Elise?
Bloody good effort, I reckon
http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarReviews/FirstDrives/Te...
It's not as urgent as an Elise (weight and power delivery) but how many IC cars came before the Elise?
Bloody good effort, I reckon

http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarReviews/FirstDrives/Te...
Edited by kevin ritson on Wednesday 27th February 12:23
"If the Roadster’s electrical systems prove reliable and durable, the world will probably beat a path to Tesla’s door. And why shouldn't they for the world's first genuine, carbon-neutral sports car?"
I'm keen where I can to support initiatives like this, because, whatever your view on global warming etc, the price of fossil fuels is opnly going to keep climbing, so the sooner electric/hydrogen powered cars become econimically viable, the better I say (all the more petrol for our toys).
But I think the "first genuine, carbon neutral sports car" is stretching the point a bit.... would it charge in 4 hours from one of those wind turbines you can get from B&Q.... I think not. So it'll be mainly gas/coal powered then... hmmmmm
No problem with the car... the journalist maybe has rose tinted specs on tho
I'm keen where I can to support initiatives like this, because, whatever your view on global warming etc, the price of fossil fuels is opnly going to keep climbing, so the sooner electric/hydrogen powered cars become econimically viable, the better I say (all the more petrol for our toys).
But I think the "first genuine, carbon neutral sports car" is stretching the point a bit.... would it charge in 4 hours from one of those wind turbines you can get from B&Q.... I think not. So it'll be mainly gas/coal powered then... hmmmmm
No problem with the car... the journalist maybe has rose tinted specs on tho
Edited by subaqua on Wednesday 27th February 12:41
Saw a Tesla (at least I think it was a Tesla) going round the track at Hethel last week, I quite like the less fussy styling compared to an S2 or the Europa.
ETA: I would have one if the support was there for it, but I would still want to keep the S1 for weekends
subaqua said:
"If the Roadster’s electrical systems prove reliable and durable, the world will probably beat a path to Tesla’s door. And why shouldn't they for the world's first genuine, carbon-neutral sports car?"
I'm keen where I can to support initiatives like this, because, whatever your view on global warming etc, the price of fossil fuels is opnly going to keep climbing, so the sooner electric/hydrogen powered cars become econimically viable, the better I say (all the more petrol for our toys).
But I think the "first genuine, carbon neutral sports car" is stretching the point a bit.... would it charge in 4 hours from one of those wind turbines you can get from B&Q.... I think not. So it'll be mainly gas/coal powered then... hmmmmm
Probably less carbon neutral than the biofuel Exige they made (saw that as well, static at the time, but very nice)I'm keen where I can to support initiatives like this, because, whatever your view on global warming etc, the price of fossil fuels is opnly going to keep climbing, so the sooner electric/hydrogen powered cars become econimically viable, the better I say (all the more petrol for our toys).
But I think the "first genuine, carbon neutral sports car" is stretching the point a bit.... would it charge in 4 hours from one of those wind turbines you can get from B&Q.... I think not. So it'll be mainly gas/coal powered then... hmmmmm
ETA: I would have one if the support was there for it, but I would still want to keep the S1 for weekends
Edited by ludo on Wednesday 27th February 13:01
But the emphasis moves firmly on the electricity suppliers to clean up their act. Personally, if it goes on sale in the UK, the price was dropped by £20K and there was an infrastructure in place for battery-swapping, I'd have one. Whilst you lose the noise, instant torque has to be fun.
Bravo to Tesla and Lotus - we won't need to drive a Prius in the future
Bravo to Tesla and Lotus - we won't need to drive a Prius in the future
Depends, when it comes to wind turbines, there's an awful lot of crap spouted about the CO2 impact, with lots of, "It takes over 20 years, more than the working life of the turbine" - which isn't true, it's 3-4 years for it to become neutral.
No idea how much of a CO2 impact manufacturing Li batteries has, I'm sure there will be a study somewhere, seen as they are the same as used in phones - just arranged/managed/cooled very cleverly.
No idea how much of a CO2 impact manufacturing Li batteries has, I'm sure there will be a study somewhere, seen as they are the same as used in phones - just arranged/managed/cooled very cleverly.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=23&t=502086
Lotus would be making a good move by getting into this market, whatever the arguements for or against carbon-neutrality and how it's achieved if electricity prices remain stable-ish over the next 5-10 years and petrol / oil prices soar then this will be a market segment to be already in.
I think it looks fab, nicely smoothed out although they obviously lacked inspiration for the rear top.
What with bio-fueled Exiges, underwater, supercharged and electric Elises god only knows what's next.
Lotus would be making a good move by getting into this market, whatever the arguements for or against carbon-neutrality and how it's achieved if electricity prices remain stable-ish over the next 5-10 years and petrol / oil prices soar then this will be a market segment to be already in.
I think it looks fab, nicely smoothed out although they obviously lacked inspiration for the rear top.
What with bio-fueled Exiges, underwater, supercharged and electric Elises god only knows what's next.
LivinLaVidaLotus said:
Depends, when it comes to wind turbines, there's an awful lot of crap spouted about the CO2 impact, with lots of, "It takes over 20 years, more than the working life of the turbine" - which isn't true, it's 3-4 years for it to become neutral.
fancy backing that up with some real numbers?just for starters, work out the CO2 cost for the concrete under one turbine - I think you might be in for a supprise!
I would drive one. Looks great and with a little "tweaking" it could be a handler too. More fun than a milf float and with the price of petrol going skyrocket, it seems a good proposition.
A silent electric car would be good for sneaking into the garage after a late night hoon and keeping under Mrs Gooby's radar.
A silent electric car would be good for sneaking into the garage after a late night hoon and keeping under Mrs Gooby's radar.
Scuffers said:
LivinLaVidaLotus said:
Depends, when it comes to wind turbines, there's an awful lot of crap spouted about the CO2 impact, with lots of, "It takes over 20 years, more than the working life of the turbine" - which isn't true, it's 3-4 years for it to become neutral.
fancy backing that up with some real numbers?just for starters, work out the CO2 cost for the concrete under one turbine - I think you might be in for a supprise!
Turbine takes about 500-1000 tons of concrete & aggregate on land for the foundation pad.
1 ton of concrete produced is roughly 150kg of CO2.
1000 * 150 = 150,000KG CO2
24.1% is the average loading of an on-shore wind turbine (DTI figures 2004).
If it's a 2.5MW turbine, then it's producing:
0.241 * 2.5MW = 602.5KW
1kw of electricity in the UK is roughly 0.527KG of CO2
So, an hours turbine spinning at 24.1% efficiency gives us 602.5kWh of electricity, which if produced by "normal" means would be:
602.5 * 0.527 = 317.52KG of CO2
So lets work it out for our concrete:
150,000 / 317.52 = 472.41 hours
= 19.68 days, operating at 24.1% efficiency
Of course that doesn't take in to account the cost of fabricating the turbine, or the transport etc. and transmission losses - but we are certainly not talking about it never covering it's CO2 emissions from construction within it's own lifetime. Also as concrete ages, it re-calcifies, absorbing some of the CO2 back in, that was emitted during the calcification process of the cement production.
1 ton of concrete produced is roughly 150kg of CO2.
1000 * 150 = 150,000KG CO2
24.1% is the average loading of an on-shore wind turbine (DTI figures 2004).
If it's a 2.5MW turbine, then it's producing:
0.241 * 2.5MW = 602.5KW
1kw of electricity in the UK is roughly 0.527KG of CO2
So, an hours turbine spinning at 24.1% efficiency gives us 602.5kWh of electricity, which if produced by "normal" means would be:
602.5 * 0.527 = 317.52KG of CO2
So lets work it out for our concrete:
150,000 / 317.52 = 472.41 hours
= 19.68 days, operating at 24.1% efficiency
Of course that doesn't take in to account the cost of fabricating the turbine, or the transport etc. and transmission losses - but we are certainly not talking about it never covering it's CO2 emissions from construction within it's own lifetime. Also as concrete ages, it re-calcifies, absorbing some of the CO2 back in, that was emitted during the calcification process of the cement production.
Edited by LivinLaVidaLotus on Wednesday 27th February 15:19
Scuffers said:
LivinLaVidaLotus said:
Depends, when it comes to wind turbines, there's an awful lot of crap spouted about the CO2 impact, with lots of, "It takes over 20 years, more than the working life of the turbine" - which isn't true, it's 3-4 years for it to become neutral.
fancy backing that up with some real numbers?just for starters, work out the CO2 cost for the concrete under one turbine - I think you might be in for a supprise!
There are other reasons to be anti-wind turbine, but payback really isn't one of them.
Gassing Station | Elise/Exige/Europa/340R | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff






ks, lol.