Georgia Fiero Club Forum

General Discussion and Announcements => General Discussion => Topic started by: TopNotch on March 02, 2014, 08:00:57 pm

Title: Not a Fiero, but way cool
Post by: TopNotch on March 02, 2014, 08:00:57 pm

We saw this today -- a Tesla roadster!

Title: Re: Not a Fiero, but way cool
Post by: Fierofool on March 02, 2014, 08:17:41 pm

It's got the lines of a lot of different vehicles.  I see some Mitsubishi, some Solstice/Skye, maybe a little Lotus.  What's the power plant and HP?

Title: Re: Not a Fiero, but way cool
Post by: Tha Driver on March 02, 2014, 09:22:36 pm

It's electric.
0-60 in 3.7 sec, 245 miles per charge.
http://www.teslamotors.com/roadster
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

Custom Fiberglass Parts (http://angelonearth.net/customfiberglass/)

Title: Re: Not a Fiero, but way cool
Post by: cogcaviz24 on March 03, 2014, 08:09:19 am

that's Telsa 1st mass production car. it's actually a Lotus Elise that's been gutted and and the powertrain replaced by electric motors and batteries.

Here's a link to Top Gear compairing it to a Lotus Elise
http://www.topgear.com/uk/videos/electric-shocker (http://www.topgear.com/uk/videos/electric-shocker)

Title: Re: Not a Fiero, but way cool
Post by: TopNotch on March 03, 2014, 11:16:08 am

Tesla actually made the roadsters as a "test bed" to perfect their technology. Now they make sedans and cross-over SUV's (which are also very fast in the quarter mile), and get long range for an electric vehicle. And Tesla's sedan was described by Consumer Reports as the safest car they had ever tested.

Title: Re: Not a Fiero, but way cool
Post by: fiero128 on March 05, 2014, 06:20:38 am

I thought tesla went bust
That car used 2500 AA  lithium Ion batteries

Title: Re: Not a Fiero, but way cool
Post by: TopNotch on March 05, 2014, 10:07:17 am

Not bust at all. In fact, they're building a 2 billion dollar battery factory in the US, so they can bring the cost down. Currently, they buy batteries from Panasonic (Japan).
BTW, the head of Tesla Motors, Elon Musk, also is the head of SpaceX (http://www.spacex.com/), whose rockets send cargo to the International Space Station, and deliver satellites to orbit for commercial customers. Elon Musk immigrated to the US from South Africa, and is now a US citizen. He co-founded Paypal, and sold his interest to get money to build Tesla and SpaceX.
Currently, France's Ariane 5 rocket and Russia's Proton rocket provide most of the commercial satellite launches, but SpaceX is gaining ground fast in this highly competitively market. They're offering launches at lower cost and still making a lot of money, because they have very good rockets, built entirely in the US.

Title: Re: Not a Fiero, but way cool
Post by: jjblue87 on March 06, 2014, 07:40:49 pm

Ya. Everything Elon touches is gold
Tesla stock is up 1200%(not a misprint ) since it went public in 2010
Besides the battery factory they are aggressively planning a notion wide charging network

Real visionary. He's planning a jetson like tube transport for California called the hyperloop. Anyone else would be dismissed but he might just pull it off
He would be a cool guy to have coffee with

Title: Re: Not a Fiero, but way cool
Post by: f85gtron on March 07, 2014, 07:20:52 am

you could made one from a Fiero?...the torque from electric motors are wild!  what would it take?
Ron

Title: Re: Not a Fiero, but way cool
Post by: Fierofool on March 07, 2014, 07:45:04 am

It's been done a few times.  Check this out, starting at about 1:10, then throughout the video.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcwRKNM22LA

Title: Re: Not a Fiero, but way cool
Post by: TopNotch on March 07, 2014, 09:43:27 pm

Elon's rocket factory:

While other rocket factories in the US are just assembly plants, contracting for parts elsewhere (even Russia), SpaceX makes nearly everything "in-house". Elon described it this way: "Metal goes in at one end, and rockets come out of the other end."
To get an idea of the size of these things, there's a guy on a platform working on the 2nd rocket from the left. You can just barely see him.

Title: Re: Not a Fiero, but way cool
Post by: TopNotch on March 31, 2014, 09:18:18 pm

Elon Musk was on "60 Minutes" last night....