Ha HA!
Ha HA!
I wonder what the cost of a Volt battery replacement is as well as the charging station. Correct me if I am wrong; but I think the Prius battery costs $4500 to replace. Battery is good for 100K miles. I don’t think it is part of any extended warranty.
Just a thought ... how about a warning light informing the driver that the battery is critically low; and then the battery disengaging while it still has a charge, and is capable of being re-charged.
It’s not rocket science, it’s not even very hard to do. In fact, it’s pretty basic.
But, what do I know ... perhaps they should consult with President Wiley E. Coyote (Super Genius).
Without getting into a lengthy discussion like on a previous thread the 100+ year old Edison Battery used in the first electric cars has a life span of 100 years, can be fully discharged or highly overcharged without damage and with a top off of some distilled water away you go.
Unfortunately after a new method to increase energy density was developed Exide purchased the patent for that process and then shut down production. You can still buy the older technology though. Seems Exide did not want any competition from a 100+ year lifespan battery.
Too bad for Tesla it is a nice looking car and the motor is very well designed but like all electric vehicles the batteries suck and Super Caps are not the answer.
Battery protection apparently didn’t make it into the controller code. Maybe none of their engineers had never driven a car before? I mean, who would not know that it’s human nature to drive a vehicle in a low fuel situation until the last iota of oomph is expended?
Didn’t this company get tens of millions in the Stimulus?? Something like a half million for every car they ever sold?
Hey Leo:
bookmark
Maybe Government motors can take over Tesla and throw a few billion dollars at the problem and put a battery condition gauge/monitor on it.
Now THAT’S a serious design issue...
The irony is that this $120k car could be protected with $50 worth of electronics to physically prevent that $40k battery from going fully discharged while it is not running.
What are the subsystems that parasitically are always "on?" What sort of current draw are we talking about? If the LiIon battery self-discharges without parasitic draws, how long can it just sit? No explanation. Crummy reporting.
Fundamentally, anyone who can afford to buy this beast (and get a taxpayer-funded "green" rebate) can afford the $40k to replace the battery due to neglect. Perhaps prospective owners should pass an IQ test before being allowed to buy one. How difficult is it to understand that 100 ft. extension cords should not be used? or that it should not be stored for weeks without specific precautions? Has Tesla even devised a way to allow long term storage of a fully charged battery (zero current draw)?
I will state the obvious. People who are drawn to the status aspect of this car are for the most part dumb as tree stumps, when it comes to science or technical knowledge, so we can all enjoy an application of cosmic justice, or Schadenfreude.
I will look forward for more thorough technical analyses of the fundamental problem, and the obvious beartrap created and technical design neglect that the Tesla designers and engineers exercised.
I’m thinking maybe Al Gore finally *did* invent something! :)
I truly hope Tesla resolves this issue and can bring the cost down. It is a neat vehicle albeit not with all the ease and range of gasoline.
Last summer I was riding my GoldWing on an expressway and saw this red sports car gaining on me real fast. It was a Tesla. When he blew by me the only thing I could hear was my bike (and unless you ride a GoldWing you don’t know how quiet they can be).
It was just like wooooooosh and he was gone. Nice looking car but like all electrics needs a better power source.
It means you cannot do something as simple as parking your electric car at the airport to take a two-week vacation.
You will return with a discharged battery, a dead car and a $40,000 liability.
a href=”http://jalopnik.com/5887611/judge-throws-out-teslas-top-gear-libel-lawsuit”>Judge Throws Out Tesla’s Top Gear Libel Lawsuit
Amidst the Tesla battery problem, comes news of a judgment from the UK courts again dismissing Tesla Motors' complaints and reiterating that Top Gear did nothing libelous or maliciously false in the program's review of the Tesla Roadster. See test --- HERE
Sometimes, life is all about timing.
This whole issue goes back to December 2008 when Top Gear aired a mixed review of the Tesla Roadster, praising it for its technological advancement and speed but critiquing it for its range and deficient brakes. Specifically, there was video of the crew pushing one of the two Tesla Roadsters they had into a hanger on the Top Gear test track as Jeremy Clarkson said this:
"This car was really shaping up to be something wonderful but then… (artificial dying motor sounds and music slowing down and stopping)… although Tesla say it was do 200 miles we have worked out that on our track it will run out after just 55 miles and if it does run out it is not a quick job to charge it up again."
Justice Tugendhat also made mention that what Tesla appears to want is a legal ruling saying Top Gear is a bunch of lying liars who lie, but that "rectification of inaccuracies is not a function of the courts unless that can be achieved in the course of proceedings properly brought to enforce a recognized course of action."
On Tuesday March 29 Tesla sued the BBC television programme “Top Gear” for libel and malicious falsehood.
When Top Gear reviewed the Tesla Roadster, the episode that aired contained lies and misinformation about the Roadster’s performance, behaviour and reliability. Tesla reluctantly took legal action after its repeated attempts to contact the BBC, over the course of months, were ignored.
In the episode, Tesla Roadsters are depicted as suffering several critical “breakdowns” during track driving. Host Jeremy Clarkson concludes the episode by saying that the Roadster doesn’t work.
Specifically, Tesla claims Top Gear misrepresented that:
The Roadster ran out of charge and had to be pushed into the Top Gear hangar by 4 men.
The Roadster’s true range is only 55 miles per charge (not 211).
One Roadster’s motor overheated and was completely immobilized as a result.
The other Roadster’s brakes were broken, rendering the car undriveable.
That neither of the two Roadsters provided to Top Gear was available for test driving due to these problems.
.