Does a Tesla need to refuel for 6 hours during endourance races? :D

  • Thread starter Thread starter Greisen
  • 95 comments
  • 8,384 views
when you run out of juice in a tesla, you have a engine limit up to 50mph (unlimited), so you can finish the race, but -_-.....
 
Also, charging batteries is an inherently inefficient energy transfer mechanism, apparently.
 
Bonzo
How's that? The first electric cars couldn't go very far, the Tesla can go 300-something miles, and in the future, who knows? If more people embraced them, companies would build more for them. Like anything, demand is what allows new products. With fuel prices the way they are, it'd be nice just to plug in.

What harm do they do at all?
Click to expand...

With the oil companies runing everything, I think its best to say that long-lasting batterys are a LONG way in the future.
 
EliteDreamer
Why not have the option to swicth out the battery with a new one? Or is that difficult and time consuming?
Click to expand...

Depending if this is true or not, the Tesla uses about 90,000 Laptop Batteries.
 
Toronado
This isn't quite accurate. After 100,000 miles in the 1st and 2nd generation Prius (possibly the 3rd and current generations as well, though their lifespan may be different), you had to replace the batteries, but the car would be fine after you did.
Click to expand...

The problem is the batteries are what is most harmful for the environment, then the pollution from the power plant where the electricity comes from. The rest of the car is not that bad from an environmental perspective in comparison to the batteries.
 
mrluckypants
Citroen GT Concept is electric. Not to be confused with the V8 powered road and race cars.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but not the same kind of electric. Concept by GT is hydrogen powered (so it should be able to be refueled, even though you can't in GT5).

jmb27
The problem is the batteries are what is most harmful for the environment, then the pollution from the power plant where the electricity comes from. The rest of the car is not that bad from an environmental perspective in comparison to the batteries.
Click to expand...
You aren't telling me anything I don't know. I merely commented on the assertion that the entire car had to be disposed of after 100,000 miles, which is untrue.
 
Neocodex
The carbon footprint of an electric car is much higher then that of a petroleum burning one.

The batteries are extremely resource heavy to produce. The vehicles weight more and last only a fraction as long as regular cars. 1st generation Prius had a lifespan of something like 100,000 miles, and when the car is done, a huge amount of energy is required to destroy it.

A regular honda civic, after its lifespan of several decades is up, basically gets squashed into a metal brick and recycled. An electric car has to be taken apart, and its toxic batteries removed before its crushed.

reality is, you have to get your energy from somewhere. Gas burning vehicle engines are considerably efficient because they make the power they need on the spot.
For an electric car in the US, your energy has to be sent along transmission lines...these lines, over distance "leak" energy. That energy comes from powerplants, and in the US, the majority is from coal burning plants.

Sure electric is the way to go, right now the technology is not there.

Same with recycling. Should know that it takes more carbon to recycle paper then it does to plant and harvest new trees.
Click to expand...

Agreed! I learned it in business school....that the Prius (when it came out anyway) left a bigger carbon footprint than a Hummer. As mentioned it is due to the batteries being destroyed...whereas a Hummer is pretty much all steel when scrapping it.
 
[/QUOTE]You aren't telling me anything I don't know. I merely commented on the assertion that the entire car had to be disposed of after 100,000 miles, which is untrue.[/QUOTE]

Point taken, it just sounded like you missed the entire point of the battery argument.
 
Parnelli Bone
Nickel Metal Hydride batteries (Prius) or Ion Lithium batteries (Tesla) can be recycled.
Click to expand...

I guess this is OT, but that claim is in serious dispute. To say the least.

And 'can' != will. I saw a neighbor throwing out those fluorescent bulbs, and I've thrown away AAs occasionally, only to remember that's a no-no when it's too late.

I've had to go to a lot of salvages for car parts for my old BMW, and frankly... this is a looming concern.

Anyway, that's not really the topic. Tesla is a damn fun car, though it's no Elise. It runs out of power and cannot be refueled for this kind of event.
 
It can only last about 2 and 3/4 lap of nurburgring nordschleife. The car is total crap!
 
mrluckypants
Finally, someone who has realized that electric and hybrid cars aren't the world savers they're supposed to be. Internal Combustion Forever!
Click to expand...

What??? You don't want to pay $35k USD for this? You MUST be an idiot!

6a00d83451b3c669e201310ffb9f42970c-800wi
 
The Nissan Leaf is not as outrageous as you think. It all depends how you plan on using it.

If you have a second car (petrol powered) for longer trips, and you work less than 50 miles from home, the Leaf actually makes sense.

Why you ask?

Lets say you work 50 miles away - that's 100 miles driven per day.
Let say in a gas car you'd get around 25 MPG. That's 4 gallons of gas per day.
4 Gallons per day = 20 Gallons per week = 1040 gallons per year
1040 Gallons * $3.75 per gallon = $3,900 in gas per year
That means after less than 9 years, you will have saved $35,000 in fuel by driving the Leaf to work every day.

So, as long as you keep the car for 9 years and use it to drive to work, it will completely pay for itself and then some.
 
iamsupernasty
The Nissan Leaf is not as outrageous as you think. It all depends how you plan on using it.

If you have a second car (petrol powered) for longer trips, and you work less than 50 miles from home, the Leaf actually makes sense.

Why you ask?

Lets say you work 50 miles away - that's 100 miles driven per day.
Let say in a gas car you'd get around 25 MPG. That's 4 gallons of gas per day.
4 Gallons per day = 20 Gallons per week = 1040 gallons per year
1040 Gallons * $3.75 per gallon = $3,900 in gas per year
That means after less than 9 years, you will have saved $35,000 in fuel by driving the Leaf to work every day.

So, as long as you keep the car for 9 years and use it to drive to work, it will completely pay for itself and then some.
Click to expand...

I've noticed your figures didn't include utility bills, or the cost of replacing the battery, which will most certainly need to be done through the course of 9 years.
 
All cars whether electric or gas will have utility bills, so I left those off because it's negligible.

I guess the determining factor would be the lifespan of the battery.

If the battery lasted 9 years, you'd be good to go. If it lasted only 4 years, that would be a big problem.
 
iamsupernasty
The Nissan Leaf is not as outrageous as you think. It all depends how you plan on using it.

If you have a second car (petrol powered) for longer trips, and you work less than 50 miles from home, the Leaf actually makes sense.

Why you ask?

Lets say you work 50 miles away - that's 100 miles driven per day.
Let say in a gas car you'd get around 25 MPG. That's 4 gallons of gas per day.
4 Gallons per day = 20 Gallons per week = 1040 gallons per year
1040 Gallons * $3.75 per gallon = $3,900 in gas per year
That means after less than 9 years, you will have saved $35,000 in fuel by driving the Leaf to work every day.

So, as long as you keep the car for 9 years and use it to drive to work, it will completely pay for itself and then some.
Click to expand...

They don't have that range, any distance over 20 miles away and you are asking for trouble. The car is currently under long term test by motoring journalists, and they emphatically can't recommend it even when they fitted the special phase power point at home and at their offices. Their time is stressed due to battery management. That's even driving in warm weather, in winter with the heating on full...

Also why compare to a gas car of 25mpg? Why not a gas car of 50mpg.
but most of all, your calculations:
328,500 miles from a battery pack over 9 years?
you might need 4 battery packs to achieve that at a cost of maybe $100,000.
You might need a recon engine to get to 328,500mile in your gas car but that would only be about $1000.
:scared:
 
The electric cars will NOT save the world! The hybrids use petrol and from where the energy comes from?! The hydrogen cars will I think.
 
iamsupernasty
All cars whether electric or gas will have utility bills, so I left those off because it's negligible.

I guess the determining factor would be the lifespan of the battery.

If the battery lasted 9 years, you'd be good to go. If it lasted only 4 years, that would be a big problem.
Click to expand...

I have never plugged any of my Gasoline or Diesel power vehicles into any power source. I use bottled distilled water for coolant (mixed with anti-freeze) and windshield washer fluid. I have never run a natural gas line or hooked up cable to any of my vehicles. What utilities are you talking about that my IC vehicles are going to use?

An electric car will have to be recharged and it will draw power and that will cost me money.

Also, that second electric car is going to cost me more for insurance, registration, and taxes.

I have nothing against electric cars, but currently they are only status symbols to be used by those rich enough to afford them and an alternative vehicle to show how much they care about the environment while driving to the airport to get on their private jet.
 
Hydrogen Fuel Cell cars are the future. They are the closest thing to the cars of today in terms of convenience. And that will be the deciding factor.
 
iamsupernasty
The Nissan Leaf is not as outrageous as you think. It all depends how you plan on using it.

If you have a second car (petrol powered) for longer trips, and you work less than 50 miles from home, the Leaf actually makes sense.

Why you ask?

Lets say you work 50 miles away - that's 100 miles driven per day.
Let say in a gas car you'd get around 25 MPG. That's 4 gallons of gas per day.
4 Gallons per day = 20 Gallons per week = 1040 gallons per year
1040 Gallons * $3.75 per gallon = $3,900 in gas per year
That means after less than 9 years, you will have saved $35,000 in fuel by driving the Leaf to work every day.

So, as long as you keep the car for 9 years and use it to drive to work, it will completely pay for itself and then some.
Click to expand...

The car itself isn't outrageous...paying $35k for some dinky ****box is...and who is going to keep that car for close to 9 years? You also left out maintenance costs. What if you're out of warranty and the batteries need to be replaced? I'm sure that will be cheap.
 
big_davey_b
Hydrogen Fuel Cell cars are the future. They are the closest thing to the cars of today in terms of convenience. And that will be the deciding factor.
Click to expand...

I agree, but I won't buy one until there is a hydrogen refilling station in all the cities I would drive a car to (San Francisco, Santa Ynez, Los Angeles, San Diego, and of course, Las Vegas). I would keep my Jeep, just in case.
 
too me the tesla is like a lotus elise that found out its father was a toyota and his mother was a nissan micro and thus created the tesla.
 
Batteries like the ones used in the tesla are only good for around 1000 charge cycles, so if you charge it everyday then thats around 2&1/2 years and you would need new batteries ;)
 
Leaf makes no sense. Sorry. If you just get a used Civic hatchback for $6000, like the one in good condition in my neighbor's driveway, you can save tons of money over a Leaf over the next 9 years. Plus, if you need to go more than 20 miles from home, you can. If you believe it's a 50 mile range vehicle, I differ, given need for heat or cold air, and batteries simply aging.

I don't mind the Leaf being out there... it's good for car companies to offer a diversity of options, and push new tech, and Nissan is one of the best examples.

Plus, if you had some kind of personal power generators on your property, a Leaf could be a path to more self sufficiency.

But for saving money? It's just not a good idea.

Oh yeah, and I saw a company do a mpg based on the power bill spike... the Leaf got 60-70 mpg if you just think about money. Compared to a Prius, it makes zero sense, then, and that's before you completely modify your life so that it fits within the radius of the Leaf.

A car has one purpose... getting you where you wanna go on the road. The Leaf can't do that.
 
Last edited:
Perhaps my calculations were slightly flawed :)
 
One word people: nano-batteries!
Not so distant future.
 
big_davey_b
Hydrogen Fuel Cell cars are the future. They are the closest thing to the cars of today in terms of convenience. And that will be the deciding factor.
Click to expand...

I'm also thinking that. I don't get the hype about electric cars nowadays. The range of electric cars is very bad and the electricity comes from nuclear powerplants, so that is not an option. However, I think we have to step away more and more from oil since we are running out. :scared:
I think a hydrogen car works the same way as a combustion engine does. So would a hydrogen muscle car sound the same as a combustion muscle car? I think so, the only difference is the fuel.
Maybe that somebody can correct this? I don't know much about cars but I am just a car fanatic.:dopey:
 
blootmens
I'm also thinking that. I don't get the hype about electric cars nowadays. The range of electric cars is very bad and the electricity comes from nuclear powerplants, so that is not an option. However, I think we have to step away more and more from oil since we are running out. :scared:
I think a hydrogen car works the same way as a combustion engine does. So would a hydrogen muscle car sound the same as a combustion muscle car? I think so, the only difference is the fuel.
Maybe that somebody can correct this? I don't know much about cars but I am just a car fanatic.:dopey:
Click to expand...

For the most part, they do sound the same. I was in a 7 series that could switch from petrol to the hydrogen fuel cell without even shutting off the engine. Some demo in Manhattan. It was a great car.

The primary problem with hydrogen is having stations to refuel, but it's actually not that big of a problem. Anywhere that has access to natural gas can use one of Honda's sweet converters. In fact, if you put that in your house, it will generate power for your house from natural gas (which where I live would be much cheaper than buying power, and at any rate, is a great backup).

Hydrogen costs electricity to produce, though. It would be more expensive per mile than a Leaf. But some power production methods scale out to be cheap, such as nuclear power. A few of those, and suddenly the cost is not very high, the fuel supply is practically endless, and your car has all the range you need.

I agree Hydrogen is the future.
 
Hey thanks for the explanation. I have always wondered this. And another advantage is that there comes nothing but water vapor out of the exhaust 👍
 
Last edited:
Back