Mike Dodd wrote:
Doctor Drivel wrote:
http://www.teslamotors.com/

Made by Lotus and will do low flying. A saloon available in around 18
months time. Well by, by, internal combustion engine.

http://www.wired.com/news/wiredmag/0...ory_page_prev2


(assuming you meant "Bye Bye", as in the end of the IC...

Still very limited - such that for most people it could not replace a
conventional IC car 100%.

$80,000 price?, say £55,000 on an optimistic $:£ technology ratio.

250 miles for a 2 seater driven frugally, then a specialised 3.5 hr
recharging time. Hmmm, there goes the weekend trips. Still, no boot
space to support a weekend trip.

The saloon is expected to have a significantly reduced range, due at
least in part to the increased weight. Less range (still with a 3.5 hr
recharge time) - less practical.

Oh, and if you think oil was scarce, try the Lithium used in the
batteries. Replace all ICs with lithium powered electric and I think
you'll hit a minor snag.


I think you will find that a large part of the earth's crust is made of
lithium actually. One of the most common elements.

http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pu...lithimcs06.pdf

For a US centric view on world lithium reserves..that totally ignores Asia.


Maybe a nice toy for whacking around country lanes, and for the local
commute. Beyond that and it is simply not practicable.

Not today, no.

But consider...IF the cars were not sold, but leased, and the overall
operational cost and fuel cost was less than - say - a small commuter
car, and you need a second car to commute with..


Please note that I'll welcome the day that electric replaced IC - but
that day isn't here yet, nor will it be in 18 months with the release of
the saloon. With the recharging limitations of this technology you need
to be looking at something like a three-fold range improvement before
you can start scrapping the IC.

Close, but no cigar.


I agree its not - like the Internet - going to be an overnight thing.

I can' remember when the first Internet pipe from the UK to Holland
opened up..mid 90's. we all yelled 'this could be he real thing; but
everybody else was saying 'rubbish. X-25 is the future' Then we had the
hype boom in 1998-2000, then a realization that it would take tome, but
now, maybe 10 years or so after the first decent IP infrastructure was
laid in the UK, we take it completely for granted. I get for £20 a month
today what would have cost £20,000 a year or more then.


Whatever happened to hydrogen fuel cells?

Same as X-25 really. The wrong track that the big boys will take for all
the wrong reasons. That will quietly get sidelined because in the end
the cost benefit will not stack up to electric battery except in a few
cases.

Look at Microsoft exchange. Its an X400 mail server with IP stuck on the
back end. How many users use X400 these days?