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A Senior Director of Engineering at work never specifically said that she would cause me bodily harm if I did not write a blog entry about my bunny slippers. So I wrote, “They are size 7-½ fluffy pinks with big ears and little, white puffy tails, and I really like them.” She said that I should consider elaborating. She also never specifically pulled out an instrument of destruction.
Yes, those are electric bunny slippers
There are a lot of automotive enthusiasts working here at Tesla Motors. I, particularly, am an alternative vehicle enthusiast with an emphasis on “alternative.” In 1995 my friend Kenny and I decided it would be a good idea to cruise around the Black Rock desert, the site of the annual Burning Man festival, on an electric mobile couch. I was just getting acquainted with electric vehicles at the time, and the couch provided a perfect test bed for a 36-volt DC motor controller I was working on.
The couch inspired some of my friends and me to build a series of mobile furniture pieces: floor lamp, end table, love seat, and Barcalounger, to name a few. Then my significant other Lisa suggested that perhaps we should work together on a project and combine our skills. This was a good idea for several reasons, not the least of which was that it meant I could avoid playing Scrabble with her and still get points.
Lisa came up with the idea to design and build a pair of giant motorized bunny slippers that we could drive separately but equally. She is one of the only people I know who can think up an idea like mobile pink bunny slippers and have the vision and artistic talent to make it succeed brilliantly. She made me say that, but really it’s what is under the fluff that makes them special. She made me say that too, so that she doesn’t sound conceited.
Greg and friends take the couch for a spin
So back to my bunny slippers. They are 7.5-feet long and can scoot along at a top speed of about 15 mph. Both feet (yes, there is a left and a right) are covered with plush pink Flokati rugs the exact color of cotton candy. We purchased the Flokatis online from “Hollywood Love Rugs.” Our contact guy was Vinnie. He gave us a deal. Guys named Vinnie are like that. (Note: Flokatis aren’t machine washable, despite what guys named Vinnie tell you. Lisa spent hours finger-combing mats out of pink fluff.) However, the really important information is this:
They are, of course, electric battery powered slippers. They each have a 36-volt system using six YellowTop 12-volt Optimas. Anyone who has used these 38 pound, 50 Amp-Hour, deep-cycle, sealed, yellow lead blocks will know that this is way more battery than one needs for a bedroom slipper. The batteries served their first life in my converted electric Honda Del Sol. The two front wheels are chain driven by a 7-inch brushed DC motor made by Advanced DC Motors. This kind of motive power is also way more than any fluffy footware really needs. The motors were surplus from the failed Tropica electric car venture by Renaissance Cars and are much happier working in the big toe of a giant slipper.
A view ‘under the fluff’
The frame is welded steel and plywood. I taught myself how to TIG weld on the soles of these shoes. “How hard can it be?” I said to myself. The lucky driver sits on a pillowed tractor seat and steers by the rear third caster wheel in the back. There’s a reason you don’t see too many rear caster steered vehicles. It has something to do with stability and cornering at speed, but I wasn’t listening to my friend Bob, who knows about these things. It was much more important to listen to my chief creative officer and get the visuals right. I understand forklifts are one of the few vehicles with rear wheel steering. If this Tesla Motors electric car thing doesn’t work out, I may apply for a job as a forklift driver.
You might be wondering what pink bunny slippers have to do with Tesla Motors. Tesla Motors has set out to change people’s perceptions of electric vehicles as slow and ugly. Well, my slippers are faster than most, and not so ugly, I hope. I’d like to go on some more about how the Tesla Roadster will change the world, but a Senior Director of Engineering is now telling me that I need to write a blog about my electric muffins.
Editor’s note: You might be able to spot Greg and his electric muffin tootling around the Maker Faire in San Mateo, Calif., this weekend, May 19-20. The faire, which showcases arts, crafts, and science projects, will be held at the San Mateo Fairgrounds.
Posted in the categories: Batteries, Vehicle Engineering
Well you are going to inspire me to tinker in my garage more. I do like to see the lighter side of Tesla Motors and this is it. Thank you inadvance for making us all laugh and learn.
Spreading the word in Rhode Island (About electric pink bunny slippers)
-LP
wow, I mean…. wow!! ummm, I got nothin here.
I love this blog. Period :+)
“Our contact guy was Vinnie” yeah I bet you had a “contact guy” at Burning Man hehehe
Hi, Greg.
Nice blog.
It’s sooooo refreshing to see whimsy on the front page.
Tesla’s biggest hit ever: Codename: Pink fluffy bunny Star.
Mark my words.
I recognize Otmar in that friends photo of the sofa. I bet a fair number of Tesla people partied at his old place in Palo Alto before he moved to Oregon. Did you see his mini interview here? : www.peakmoment.tv/conversations/52.html
Did you guys get that sofa at “Sofa-King”?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDn3fpkBLV8
I can’t help but smirk every time I drive down 101 through San Carlos and see the “Junk-King” office.
www.junk-king.net/
Lisa was right to goad you into posting about this silliness. If it weren’t for “makers” and “dreamers” like you and the burning man crowd, the grassroots EV movement might never have brought the technology back to life. Martin couldn’t do it single handedly.
I’ll be taking my kids to the Maker Faire this weekend! Could there possibly be another roadster moment there?
So Greg, do you write the Roadster firmware in assembly code, or in a higher-level language, and if the latter, can you say which?
I learned recently that recent Mars probes had firmware written in JOVIAL, just like hundreds of aerospace projects before them. At the time, I immediately wondered about the Roadster, and now, your blog posting has given me the opportunity to ask someone who is in the know. I hope you can comment.
Word on the street that Hef likes it-he wants you to get him his own “pink matching set”-but he wants them to be faster, like his women. Billie Joe Armstrong may want to order a pair too for future tours- to go with the pink soused concert bunny.
James Anderson Merritt beat me to the Pink Fluffy Bunny Star comment, so I thought I’d post this from the OPTIMA YellowTop link. “OPTIMA YellowTop batteries are made for the extremes. If you have an extreme vehicle, you expect high performance.” Uh, yeah…
If the electric bunny slippers aren’t enough, Greg can be seen in his electric muffin:
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/chronicle/archive/2004/09/20/MNG818RKUU1.DTL&o=0
and “Tesla Suit”:
www.acmeart.com/greg/tesla/greg/teslasuit1.jpg
So much for “gear heads”… I think we need a new term like “amp head” or something (literally).
Greg,
When they say you’re a “firmware engineer” does that translate to C or assembly as James suggested? I write and architect a lot of complex firmware for the company I work for, but that translates to VHDL for FPGAs.
Will you be tooling around Burning Man this year in your latest electric vehicle (wink, wink)? Considering the theme is Green Man (www.burningman.com/environment/green_man.html), a Racing Green Roadster seems somehow more appropriate than, say, Electric Muffins.
oh for the love of god…
in other news, please reassure us that you are using c++ and assembly ( not C ) for the firmware. i’d feel much safer.
there are just a few ways that C++ can actually fit and work in a reasonable embedded system, and most of them are more or less inherently sane ( see Joint Strike Fighter coding guidelines for responsible embedded c++ for example )
C, on the other hand, allows for millions of different of ways of doing things very wrong, and it will still look like a working system at first blush ..
Pink Fluffy Bunnies…………..the most important Blog ever? Discuss.
Consider what this tells us;
1) Tesla has/is recruiting real EV enthusiasts; the engineers and designers who can, if required, think so far outside the box that they’re in the next State!
I hope ex-Detroit colleagues can embrace this as well - it’s where the innovation comes from.
2) Tesla isn’t suffering from corporate image overkill. These people work in an environment where they are encouraged to be themselves.
They’re having a halibut good time producing a halibut good product.
halibut.
No disrespect intended, but I suspect that High Fiber Electric Muffin Star would be the hot-rod vehicle intended for aging baby boomers living in senior retirement communities. Of course, by the time Tesla produces an affordable but zippy EV, most of us here may qualify on that account.
(I keed, I keed. I know you’re working as fast as you can…
)
# Malcolm Wilson wrote on May 18th, 2007 at 7:10 am
## These people work in an environment where they are encouraged to be themselves.
I have been wondering something. With all the “mad scientists” running around at Tesla with access to advanced prototyping and development equipment I would think that many would be wanting to work on their outside “pet projects” at the office.
Yet, every photo I have seen of Tesla HQ shows a rather empty, clean, environment with just the minimum equipment needed to do the required Tesla product development.
Google allows pets at the office, has loaner Segways and does on-site oil changes and car washes.
Would Tesla have a “no working on pink bunny slippers at the office” policy?
I’m really surprised that you guys are concerned about the merits of one language vs. another. C++ has just as many holes as ANSI C. Old K&R C without prototyping is a big step backwards, but almost nobody uses that any more.
I’m waiting for someone to start arguing why they should use ADA, Clips, Prologue, Lisp, Modula 2, Fortran, Pascal, COBOL, RPG, JAVA, CADOL or GW BASIC
How about the relative advantages of Scheme LISP and Common LISP.
Geeze… I currently write large enterprise wide applications in managed space with C# and .NET, and as much as I couldn’t imagine using anything else for what I am doing right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are not using something Linux based with GNU tools or even a customized embedded OS with a niche compiler.
Give them a little credit, they have a smart team and I have no doubt they have picked tools appropriate for the job.
TEG:
If I were working at Tesla Motors, Tesla would be my “Pet Project.” That’s the advantage a company like Tesla enjoys, loyal (and even a bit fanatical) employees. Umm, I submitted my resume a while back
Now, I’m guessing these bunny slippers are more affordable than the roadster
can I get some price and performance numbers? I’ll take anything that doesn’t use gas!
Hmmmmm I never really thought about it before…I am sure the bunny slippers would provide a soft landing for roll-over tests and bounce back in front -end impact testing …but isn’t there a bit of blind spot in front of those ears????
# Mark wrote on May 18th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
# I’m really surprised that you guys are concerned about the merits
# of one language vs. another.
# Give them a little credit, they have a smart team and I have no
# doubt they have picked tools appropriate for the job.
Since I asked the original question, I will remind you that I only asked what was used, no advice or sermons offered. I didn’t even offer my opinion of NASA’s use of JOVIAL for the Mars Global Surveyor project. I just thought it was an interesting fact.
Can’t a guy be curious without taking heat in here? I guess not. Oh well. My question stands, and I still hope to get an answer.
Pink fluffy electric bunny slippers, they keep going, and going, and going…
Maybe you should use duracel in your bunny slippers. lol.
# flabby wrote on May 18th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
# Pink fluffy electric bunny slippers, they keep going, and going, and going…
# Maybe you should use duracel in your bunny slippers. lol.
From Autoweek, May, 2009:
“Little is known about the super-secret Tesla concept car, code-named ‘Pink fluffy electric bunny slippers Star,’ except that it is said to be able to travel a distance equal to an around-the-world trip, using only 6831 Energizer D cells…”
Hello!
Have you seen the PBS’s movie “Who Killed the Electric Car?”
It is amazing documentary story about the way american car companies sabotaged the production and distribution of EV.
I’m waiting for the follow-up to “Who Killed The Electric Car?”
“Who Bred The Electric Bunnies?”
“Who Motorized My Couch?”
“Who Electrified My Flapjack?”
Code-name: Pinkstar. Very cute. Every Tesla dealership should have a pair, for customers to play with… (you know, in lieu of Segways.)
P.S. Spending so much time in the desert, would those become Dust Bunnies?
Al Gore could use the bunnymobiles to make a grand entrance at campaign stops when (o.k., “if”) he decides to run-an antidote to his “wooden” image. Obama might use them as well-with his big ears & everpresent toothy grin, it fits. If you pull up the wikipedia online encyclopedia on Obama there is interesting info. on his background. A bag of carrots to the first Tesla blogger to correctly tell me just what’s most interesting about it - let’s see how smart you are.
P.S.- nyyyih, (chomp,chomp,chomp ! ) - go ahead, Doc, make my day!
# Jose G wrote on May 18th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
## TEG: If I were working at Tesla Motors, Tesla would be my “Pet Project.”
Yeah - I spoke briefly with Greg at the Maker Faire and he basically said that Tesla keeps him so busy working on their product that he wouldn’t have time to think of working on a pet project at the office.
They had the electric cupcake brigade out in force. Really fun to watch them cruise around the event center in formation.
orangeshow.org/vote2006/images/043.jpg
www.makerfaire.com/pub/e/273
www.wkeller.net/gallery/Muffins
# James Anderson Merritt wrote on May 17th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
## So Greg, do you write the Roadster firmware in assembly code, or in a higher-level language, and if the latter, can you say which?
Maybe Doug Bourn will give some details when he speaks at the IEEE SCV on Monday:
www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/scv/sps/May07.pdf
(Doug was at the Maker Faire as well)
Ludmil- also amazing story on how they sabotaged the Calif. mandate to require zero emission vehicles- as in “elect. cars” . Meanwhile, across the bay from The Farm and/or “back at the ranch”: BP (as in “British Petroleum”) just gave U.C. half a billion dollars to study bio-fuels, and to engineer synthetic bio-fuels. EV’s don’t need any of BP’s bio-products & solar powered EV’s don’t need any of anyone’s “products”. Now if only battery makers made the kind of cash the likes of BP rakes in every year-then they could give The Farm a half billion dollar grant to look into advanced EV batteries (now we’d be talkin’!) -the cure , in terms of cars, for “all fuels required to be constantly replenished & purchased from fuel vendors after our money , on a weekly basis , ad infinitum, for as long as we may live or are able to drive a car” -be it bio-fuels or hydrogen.
“NASA’s use of JOVIAL for the Mars Global Surveyor project.”
Can you cite a reference ? AFAIK, most of the recent NASA mars-bound craft are running BAE systems PowerPC based space-hardened CPUs ( RAD6000 and more recently RAD750 ) on vxWorks operating system ( by Wind River ) and are mostly programmed using Green Hills compiler suite /IDE. The languages used : assembler, C&embedded C++ ( its somewhat restricted from normal C++ to cut down bloat and unknown behaviours, i.e. exceptions and RTTI are disabled for example ) and ADA.
If you have more precise info, i would love to hear about it.
FYI, Mike Deliman of WindRiver has been blogging a bit of the life of space embedded software engineer:
blogs.windriver.com/deliman/
# kert wrote on May 18th, 2007 at 3:13 am
## please reassure us that you are using c++ ( not C ) for the firmware. i’d feel much safer.
Memory leaks and null pointers could sneak up and ruin your day.
I think the capabilities of the programmer is more important than the choice of language.
kert: I have an email from the person who chaired the committee that investigated the loss of the spacecraft, and that’s what she said in answer to my question. It’s possible that she was wrong, I suppose. But after the months spent in examination of those subsystems, I doubt it.
This is a perfect illustration of why companies like Tesla succeed. Not because an engineer can make bunny slippers that drive, but because the company lets the web page go up for a lark. Even if it was falsely created to invoke a cool working vibe (I don’t think it was), it is still beyond the imagination of companies like, oh, Ford, GM, Chrysler, etc. to even think of pink bunny slippers that move, let alone know what the hell burning man is.
Good work.
Now get to work the blue halibut shaped rocket that should grace the Space X website…!
“AFAIK, most of the recent NASA mars-bound craft are running BAE systems PowerPC based space-hardened CPUs ( RAD6000 and more recently RAD750 ) on vxWorks operating system ( by Wind River ) and are mostly programmed using Green Hills compiler suite /IDE. The languages used : assembler, C&embedded C++ ( its somewhat restricted from normal C++ to cut down bloat and unknown behaviours, i.e. exceptions and RTTI are disabled for example ) and ADA.”
ADA is a very interesting language for systems that absolutely can not crash like jet control systems. It has provisions for automatic return to a known good state if something goes amiss. I haven’t touched it in a while. The government was supposed to standardize on it, but because there is a loop hole for special needs most contractors just used whatever their software engineers preferred. As the saying goes, when you have a hammer everything looks like a nail. Many military jets have gone up with a dozen or more different languages being used. This is past tense. I’m not sure how it is today.
I’m glad to hear that NASA is using modern hardened chips. I remember hearing about how the Shuttles still used Intel 80186 processors because using the older larger process chips made them less sensitive to having bits flipped by pesky radiation.
It was nice to meet a few of you who have posted on this blog at the Maker Faire. The event was a success.
On the question of what programming language we use at Tesla, we don’t have a blanket rule that tries to specify a language to use. We have quite a few programmable gadgets in the Roadster that cover a wide range of size, complexity, and safety concerns. We try to design for an optimal and safe system, which means the programming language is just one of the considerations. For example, during the hardware design process we may find a part with just the right combination of I/O pins, microprocessor peripherals, cost, and environmental ratings. There might not be a C++ compiler available for this part, which may limit us to choosing between C and assembler. On the other hand, if we identify two or more parts that can do the job equally well we may pick the one with the better programming environment, including the language that we feel is most appropriate for particular job.
The electric couch shown in this blog was built in 1996 when I was working with golf cart controllers. I was just getting into motor control and firmware programming. Before that, I did lots of systems-level programming in Unix and other larger operating systems. In a golf cart controller the overwhelming constraints are safety and cost. We ended up using a Microchip PIC 16C74 and we managed to use almost every peripheral in the chip, which meant we where not wasting any silicon. The motor controllers where programmed in assembler because, at the time, we did not find a C compiler we liked. The couch also has a joystick mixer with a PIC on it which was developed later for another project and it is programmed in C.
On the question of my title “firmware engineer”, I use the term very broadly to mean I work on low level devices like a CPLD all the way up to higher level systems like an embedded Linux kernel. As it turns out, my job also requires a fair amount of PC programming to support the tools we use during debugging.
On the question of building bunny slippers at Tesla, some of my previous jobs before Tesla have been less engaging which allowed me to find time to do some crazy side projects. I now have a job at Tesla that is pretty much optimally aligned with what I like to do so the side projects are progressing at a much slower rate. The bunny slippers have been off the playa for a couple of years because the batteries are old and dead. I’ve set a rather low goal this year of re-fitting some new batteries so we can take the slippers out of storage this year.
Electric cup cakes at Maker Faire video:
www.rocketboom.net/video/maker_faire/cup_cake_cars.mov
Well, I went to Doug’s talk at the IEEE SCV SPS and learned a few things here and there.
It was mostly the standard intro to Tesla technology presentation given other places, but he went into some specifics of the Roadster’s electronics in the Q&A afterwards.
Rather than dump all the detailed specifics which average Joe blogger probably doesn’t care to know, I will just pass along some general bits of interest:
The roadster has more than 20 CPUs total (depending on options ordered)
12 in the ESS to keep the batteries happy
4 in the PEM. (Three to keep the 3 phase A/C going to the motor, and 1 to keep track of the cooling system.)
Most of the code in the PEM is assembly code, but it wasn’t mentioned what remains, although C or C++ seems likely.
It was made clear that no MS-Windows code runs anywhere in the Roadster! No BSODs lurking!
The focus of this talk was the PEM, so there was no mention of OS or code base for any of the CPUs in the front of the car (like for the Navigation system).
There was discussion mentioning how the CPUs communicate, and various safety and failure mode features.
Someone asked how long it takes everything to boot up. The response was “very quickly” although some of the capacitors that drive the A/C motor need to be pre-charged before everything is ready for blastoff (which was quoted as .68g’s)
It was also mentioned that it takes 2-3 people a half day to remove the ESS, so we can forget about any ideas of a quick swap of the battery pack.
All in all, I was again impressed that the Tesla staff seem exceptionally professional and well rounded in their knowledge of what they are building. No one I have spoken with seems compartmentalized into only knowing about one piece of the puzzle. Everyone seems to see the whole picture, so with that approach mistakes seem less likely.
Hopefully everything I wrote here is suitable for public consumption. (If not, moderators please edit as needed)
——————
Oh, and Doug: there are still some Rav4EVs and RangerEVs out there using the paddle chargers and Avcons around the valley, so please don’t convert them to Tesla chargers just yet! Besides the roadster wouldn’t be so great a vehicle for Costco shopping trips! We need more chargers of all kinds spread around…
They should have names like: Fluffernickel and Penniwink. Just a thought.
Hey Greg, your friend Bob is wrong about rear-wheel steer being unsuitable for high-speed vehicles. You’re both forgetting the jet-powered Thrust SSC, the current world land speed record holder, which had rear-wheel steer combined with fixed front wheels, just like your bunny slippers. Which means your bunny slippers have a lot in common with the only car ever to break the sound barrier.
www.thrustssc.com/thrustssc/Engineering/rearster.html
“The roadster has more than 20 CPUs total (depending on options ordered)”
Im not arguing, just pointing out that a lot of them would probably more appropriately called either microcontrollers and/or DSPs instead.
The bunch in ESS/battery pack is most likely either 8 or 16-bit micros with as many AD channels as possible, to measure every current and voltage that is possible to measure, all running identical code.
Motor controller is very likely a DSP/micro hybrid by either FreeScale, TI or somesuch, designed for motion control apps, doing FOC control on the AC motor. Why would they need three, has me stumped though, usually its done by a single chip. Maybe for redundancy ? One could probably be some kind of watchdog keeping taps on temperatures, currents and so on for protection.
These chips normally dont have any op sys to speak of, the application is “written to the metal”
For the rest of the car, i presume they are using either ARM or MIPS embedded CPUs ( data logging, driving the accesoires, doing the user interface and so on ). Probably running some sort of realtime operating systems like RTK, vxWorks or even some realtime flavor or linux.
On a serious note, you sound like someone with the imagination and knowhow to help a bunch of people with a major need for an improved electric vehicle. I’m talking about people with disabilities, particularly wheelchair and scooter users.
You could take your choice: There is no good accessible taxi currently on the market. The big car companies aren’t interested in the relatively small taxi market, and policiticians don’t care enough about people with disabilities to mandate accessible taxis, the way they are mandating “green” taxis (just did it NYC).
And scooters (the kind for people with disabilities, like Rascals, etc.) are great, but they are so expensive that most people can’t afford them, and many too big to fit in a lot of places, like elevators.
If these challenges strike you as interesting, please e-mail me back and I can put you in touch with people who know a lot more than me about exactly what is need in an accessible taxi and/ or better scooter.
Coming back to the JOVIAL and MGS issue, it seems that it indeed was used on it. I found the reference in the Wikipedia article on MIL-STD-1750A
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIL-STD-1750A
interesting to know, and i hope both the 1750A and JOVIAL will remain dead and buried for now
in favor of operating systems and languages the rest of the world can understand and use
# kert wrote on May 23rd, 2007 at 3:02 am
### I wrote: “The roadster has more than 20 CPUs total (depending on options ordered)”
## a lot of them would probably more appropriately ## called either micro controllers and/or DSPs instead.
Yes, kert, I am not an EE, so sorry about my sloppy terminology.
The ~16 processors in the back are probably (as you say) DSPs or some kind of Signal Control Processors.
Actually some part numbers were mentioned in the talk I heard, but I don’t want to just dump everything here.
Hopefully Tesla staff can feel OK about saying technical details in semi-public forums without having everyone try to dissect and reverse engineer based on that info.
## Motor controller is very likely a DSP/micro hybrid by either FreeScale, TI or somesuch,
## designed for motion control apps, doing FOC control on the AC motor.
## Why would they need three, has me stumped though, usually its done by a single chip.
## Maybe for redundancy ? One could probably be some kind of watchdog keeping taps on temperatures,
## currents and so on for protection.
I gather that one of 4 is for temperature control and the other 3 work in tandem to control the motor.
Could it be that each one handles a different phase? I dunno. I already learned more than I need to know personally.
If you want to try to deduce more of what they are doing make sure to start by reading Wally’s blog:
www.teslamotors.com/blog4/?p=45
And some IEEE Whitpapers on innovative AC motor control could offer some ideas:
ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/login.jsp?url=/iel5/7453/20265/00936516.pdf
ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/login.jsp?url=/iel3/4033/11975/00552283.pdf
About all I can really says is that what they are doing is “state of the art” and they have innovative, highly competent people doing it. The Roadster is already proving that their design works exceptionally well.
“3 work in tandem to control the motor. Could it be that each one handles a different phase? ”
Field Oriented Control of an AC motor is done by one chip, and necessarily so. The Clark and Park tranformations need to be in one equation, and in one control loop, in one chip. And modern cheap DSPs have enough oomph to run them at sufficiently high hz.
Er .. no
Heres the theory:
america.renesas.com/fmwk.jsp?cnt=ac.htm&fp=/applications/motor_control/child_folder/algorithms/&title=AC%20Motor%20Control%20Algorithms
OK, thanks, Kert… It would be over my head to try to digest that, so I will just throw back some possibly relevant links for you to look at:
focus.ti.com/lit/an/bpra073/bpra073.pdf
www.ti.com/sc/docs/psheets/abstract/apps/bpra073.htm
ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/AppNotes/AC%20Induction%20Motor%2000984a.pdf
www.patentstorm.us/patents/5869946-claims.html
www.freepatentsonline.com/5699240.html
I bet the Tesla engineers are getting a good laugh out of my amateurish attempts to decipher all of this!
# kert wrote on May 23rd, 2007 at 9:37 am
# Coming back to the JOVIAL and MGS issue, it seems that it indeed was used on it.
# I found the reference in the Wikipedia article on MIL-STD-1750A
# en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIL-STD-1750A
I love how you won’t take my word that I have an email from a NASA inspector on the issue, but you trust Wikipedia! Priceless!
# interesting to know, and i hope both the 1750A and JOVIAL will remain
in favor of operating systems and languages
# dead and buried for now
# the rest of the world can understand and use
JOVIAL is just a version of Algol, which is the progenitor of Pascal. I was surprised that JOVIAL/Algol was still in use, but disappointed to see it associated with a major spacecraft failure. I think the lesson here is that it is a poor workman who blames (or credits) his tools. Algol and Jovial were intended as languages that could allow programs to be rigorously, mathematically proven correct — to promote the writing of correct, bug-free software — and I know that the procedures and methods of NASA would have tried to exploit that intention. It only goes to show that people can make mistakes, whatever language they use. All you can do is try to use the best tools and methods available, sweat the details, and hope for the best. Are the modern operating systems and languages you speak of really “the best tools … available”? If so, what qualifies them to be called such?
In writing the above, my thoughts drifted to Elon Musk and the Space-X team:
www.wired.com/science/space/magazine/15-06/ff_space_musk
If they persist, they will eventually get it right. I’m rooting for them.
# James Anderson Merritt wrote on May 24th, 2007 at 12:11 am
## www.wired.com/science/space/magazine/15-06/ff_space_musk
Wow. Thats an interesting article.
That has to be one of the most frustrating projects.
Between weather, and fuel that wants to explode rather than propel it is a constant “nail-biter”.
I am starting to see why Elon spends more time over on Space-X, and seems to visit Tesla as a “side project”.
“Are the modern operating systems and languages you speak of really “the best tools … available”?”
No, absolutely not. I am a big fan of “use the right tools for the right job” paradigm. There is no single “best tool”. I do various sorts of programming, embedded electronics, system programming and drivers under linux and windows, graphics coding and up to enterprise class multi-tiered database systems.
I always use the tools and languages that are better suitable for the job. My personal preference is to stick to the tools that are widely in use, so when i get stuck, i know its my own fault and the knowledge is out there to resolve the issues, and have been out on market for sufficiently long time so their quirks and bugs are well known and characterized.
niche languages like JOVIAL obviously have their uses too, and in fact using them on mars craft at that time was entirely logical, as this was the “tried and true” tool of the trade of rad-hardened flight computers then. It probably was “the best tool” for this task then.
Ha ha ha! Driving those pink thingies must have been an “experience”!
Will the Tesla car be available in a right hand drive and when will we be able to buy one for down under?
Thank you for honoring the hero of our country by way of your new Roadster.
Another Youtube:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC4UdjYH_No
I came across this link and was moved by the desperation of the workers involved. I wish them luck because there are a lot of jobs at stake. The sad thing is the vehicles would probably sell but it seems unlikely that Ford would go along even though they might turn a loser into a winner. www.mygreenwheels.com/journal/2007/5/18/ford-workers-pin-hopes-on-battery-powered-truck.html I wonder if the auto industry in this country can shift their focus soon enough to avoid even more of these catastrophic situations
david,
“More power” to those guys. I hope their plan works, but it sounds a bit futile.
If Ford let them tap into all the plans, equipment and remnants of the previous RangerEV it would seem to have the potential to make their conversion effort easier. They still have a problem with cost of batteries making it a small market for such a vehicle. The Tesla roadster can command a high price because it is a “sexy” exotic. An electric pickup truck is a hard sell at $50K+
Perhaps their only hope would be to sell them in California with 10 minute recharge capability to capture the ZEV credits like Phoenix and Zap appear to be planning. They would be competing directly with these guys:
www.phoenixmotorcars.com/
Hello everyone,
I don’t know if this has been argued before, but I sill like to make a comment on the fixation of thought about how to charge batteries and that being the limiting factor of electic vehicles.
Why not develop standard battery units that you can easily swap at a “charging station”. Provided that a network of charging stations is available, much like todays gas stations, that would eliminate the limiting fact that it takes time to charge batteries. A charging station could have sophisticated charging equipment and charge dosens of battery units at a time. The units would then replace discharged ones in the cars coming in to the station. Then there would be no limits in long distance travelling with an EV.
Has this been discussed before, and has there been any constructive work done in this direction. If not, then why not?
Best regards,
Johan Gunnarsson
Örebro, Sweden
# Johan Gunnarsson wrote on June 12th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
## Why not develop standard battery units that you can easily swap at a “charging station”.
## Has this been discussed before (?)
Yes, this idea has been presented many times in the blog, and I am sure that TeslaMotors is no stranger to the concept.
## and has there been any constructive work done in this direction.
Not as far as I can tell. The only comments I recall seeing regard the need for safety around high voltage, and the difficulties in needing special equipment and proper training to do battery pack swaps.
## If not, then why not?
I would suspect that they discuss this topic from time to time, and will not say much about it until a day that they actually have such a product planned. As far as I can tell, the direction is still firmly “sealed system only to be serviced and removed by factory service centers”. I wonder what Tesla-Energy-Group partners will do? For instance, will Th!nk let non-think services centers “mess” with the ESS that they get from Tesla?
Well, building the infrastructure with charging stations would of course be an enormous task and dependant on development of industry standards. Maybe researchers can already foresee that battery capacity will increase and that charging time will decrease to such an extent that charging stations with swappable batteries is already a thought that is out-of-date?
Anyway, the initiative taken by Tesla is worth respect and I salute you all at Tesla for making an electric car that is truly attractive and exciting. People who used to laugh at electric cars have certainly got something to think about since the arrival of the Tesla roadster. If I had the money I would order one today.
Cheers,
Johan
With the emergence of the Lightning GTS can an electric run-off be far off? How would you compare the Tesla Roadster to the Lightning GTS? I would love to see these two EVs head-to-head! www.lightningcarcompany.com/
Thanks for making one hellofa car,
Brian
Hello,
Thats an super Car. I´m like it. one reson more to work hard to earn money.
Im like this Car.
Please make an Car for peopel who dont have so much money.
The Globe and the atmosphere will thank you.
by by from Germany
Robert Schippfer
# Brian Franz wrote on June 17th, 2007 at 11:02 pm
## How would you compare the Tesla Roadster to the Lightning GTS?
## I would love to see these two EVs head-to-head! www.lightningcarcompany.com/
Guesses:
Tesla = USA Only (For now)
Lightning = UK Only (For now)
Tesla = Rear Wheel Drive
Lightning = All Wheel Drive
Tesla = Ultra light weight spartan ultra sports cars. (More emphasis on crisp handling by way of light weight)
Lightning = “Grand Touring” luxury sports car. (More emphasis on cabin comfort)
Tesla = Batteries in mid/rear
Lightning = Batteries in the mid/front (Slightly less ideal IMHO)
Tesla = 248hp (185kW)
Lightning = ~650hp (~480kW)
With Tesla Roadster you get 200+ mile range and 0-60 in about 4 seconds.
With Lightning GT you have to pick one or the other
Lightning GTS Sport model= 0-60 in about 4, range = ??? (~130 my guess) 35kW battery pack?
Lightning GTSE extended range model = 0-60 in ??? (~5.5 my guess), range = more than 200. 70kW battery pack?
AltairNano batteries are reported to be very expensive. The Lightning models (particularly the GTSE) might cost a lot more than the Tesla roadster.
I also wonder if the PML Flightlink drive system used by Lightning (and Zap-X) is ever going to meet USA safety standards.
I suspect that the Tesla roadster is a bit further along in development. The specs on the Lightning could change as it gets closer to production.
To some degree, the success of Tesla is causing a new marketing opportunity for “boutique” vehicle manufacturers to just announce that they will add PML Flightlink drivetrain, then start taking deposits to complete the development.
Johan Gunnarsson wrote on June 14th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
# Well, building the infrastructure with charging stations would
# of course be an enormous task and dependant on development
# of industry standards.
I think this is purely marketing question. If there is need for charging stations they will appear if you can make money with them. Instead of big oil companies will probably end up with big electricity companies. Building that infrastructure is big task, but only if there isn’t may marketing power driving that change. After there is, then it will happen naturally.
# Maybe researchers can already foresee
# that battery capacity will increase and that charging time will
# decrease to such an extent that charging stations with swappable
# batteries is already a thought that is out-of-date?
Yes, that is why I don’t believe swap batteries. I just about week ago read of lithium-something battery that could be recharged in five SECONDS. It seems that in that area of technology there is lots of space for improvement, and that improvement is now reaching same speed as computer do. Whatever you end up buying will be already out of date.
If charging could teorethically be made in seconds, then only limiting factor is getting that power in the car safely. You can’t use wrist-thick wires to do that. (I also just read science news about supra-conductive wiring. Very interesting to read. That might be reality in few years).
Report from Japan - Eco Car World 2007:
www.evuk.co.uk/news/index6.html
I just hope that the companytakes off. Personal I love the idea of the sports car but for the just out of college the price tag I can’t afford. I hope in a few next years you can get a vehical out for the every day person. I have to say thanks to you. A low new EET.
Have you guys tried putting the motor and battery pack in a light weight aircraft, heavy trucks or heavy equipment? Your options seem endless!!! Much luck in the future.
Amending my message of 07/05/07, have you considered the farm industry for a proving ground? This would give you a better idea of the durability and stability of the equipment over a shorter time spand. There is nothing any tougher on machinery than working out in the field. When you’ve achieved sucess, you will be putting smiles on the faces of the many farmers, that are forced to jump through hoops year after year to make ends meet.
P.S.
If there are any opennings available in the Calf. plant , I’ll work for 1/2 price.
# James Michael Jenne wrote on July 6th, 2007 at 9:07 am
## If there are any openings available in the Calf. plant …
California isn’t a “plant”. You could call it a design center or headquarters.
They build the Roadster in England, and plan to build model #2 in Albuquerque, New Mexico…
Singing Tesla coil:
www.hauntedfrog.com/gt/movies/2007/duckon/SingingTeslaShow.html
Maybe it’s a pipe dream but wouldn’t it be nice if a way could be found to generate electricity from the earth’s rotation? There’s a lot of energy in the earth’s rotation at more than 17,000 mph. Maybe we could put earth halo generators in space. We’d have clean electricity for thousands of years.
# Philip Sebron wrote on July 8th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
## Maybe it’s a pipe dream but wouldn’t it be nice if a way could be found to generate electricity from the earth’s rotation?
Tesla likes induction motors. If we built a giant coil around the earth it would be a “permanent magnet” motor ;^}
Besides, I don’t think we want to put a torque load on the earth and slow it down any.
Seriously, air and water currents are an easy way to tap into earth’s energy flow.
query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A07E0DB1038F937A25757C0A963948260
www.freepatentsonline.com/3959663.html
www.freepatentsonline.com/20070102933.html
# james jenne wrote on July 5th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
## Have you guys tried putting the motor and battery pack in a light weight aircraft,
I have always thought that while eMotor in cars can be much better than ICE, I always assumed that we are still far behind in aircrafts. I never really checked.
skyhawk.cessna.com/specs.chtml
Cessna Skyhawk
Fuel tank capacity =approx 200liter or 200kg. (100liters each)
Engine 70kg. (found that in other site)
Usable flight time at cruising speed 4.8 hours (at 80% engine power).
Range at that speed approx 1000km
With eMotor engine size can be smaller but battery pack weights more. It wouldn’t have quite that long useful flight time, maybe only two hours. But it would be cheap and relatively silent. Of course there is quite a few things that would be different because eMotor behaves so differently.
It would be interesting to test this. Put Tesla EES in one of those, leave two passengers out to get approx same weight as with fuel+two passengers would be and Tesla eMotor in front just to see how long you could run it.
Because eMotor is so efficient in so wide area of RPM it could be possible that it would actually outrun gasoline engine (much better takeoff efficiency). If it has range of 1000km then I would get a flying licence and get one of those instead
. Also with cost of full tank of kerosene Tesla battery pack would pay itself back in about 100-200 flights. Not too bad. If you fly every weekend you get that back in 2-4 years. Not bad at all.
Tesla could contact Cessna and build one of those just for testing purposes and out of curiosity. If that test is succesful, who knows what could happen. World first full electric aircraft company.
I know a lot of EV engineers are also pilots.
This includes some people who work at Tesla.
I am sure they would be flying around in electric planes by now if it made sense.
I think the range issue is just too important with planes.
Cars have limited surface area for solar panels, but aircraft have a lot of surface area on their wings. Perhaps Solar is the way to go?:
www.solarimpulse.com/
www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070522153315.36ku3qfm&show_article=1
www.siliconchip.com.au/cms/A_30556/article.html
www.treehugger.com/files/2006/03/solar_powered_p_2.php
# Timo wrote on July 10th, 2007 at 7:00 am
## james jenne wrote on July 5th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
### Have you guys tried putting the motor and battery pack in a light weight aircraft,
#I have always thought that while eMotor in cars can be much better than ICE, I always assumed that we are still far behind in aircrafts. I never really checked.
Keep in mind that airplanes have substantially different engineering requirements than cars. Weight and weight distribution are huge factors. Add too much weight, and the plane doesn’t fly. Add weight in the wrong spot, and the plane has weird handling characteristics, like stalling at inopportune moments. It’s one thing to find yourself spinning in a car, where the worst is rare; in a plane, an inverted flat spin will put you in a pine box as often as not (unless you really know aerobatics).
The light weight and high torque of electric motors might make them great for small planes, but batteries need to be substantially lighter. I believe the Skyhawk has a useful load (e.g., fuel + passengers + baggage) of about 900 pounds. Useful load includes the engine, so If Timo is right about the engine weight (70kg, or about 150 pounds), then you’d have the ability to stuff about 1,000 pounds of electric stuff into the Skyhawk. It so happens that TM’s batteries + motor weigh about 1,000 pounds, which means an electric Skyhawk might be able to fly, but not with a pilot.
This said, I believe there is (or was) an electric plane research study underway at Boeing. I’ve yet to see any results from that, however.
Thank you for listing my ideas of July 5th and 7th. Just one more and i’ll let you get back to work. Why not lease or buy one of the recently closed Oldsmobile plants? In addition, open plants in Mexico and on the Pacific Rim to average out the per unit cost. I’ll expect a detailed business plan by the end of the month. Okay the end of the quarter will be acceptible.
I love the bunny slippers… both because they demonstrate what’s possible with a mix of ingenuity and electricity, and because they are GIANT MOBILE BUNNY SLIPPERS!
Have you ever considered making a teeny remote-controlled-toy version of the Tesla Roadster? That’d be a very fun project, I’m sure. If you wanted to be ambitious, you could even run the “Mini-Me Roadster” on a single one of those batteries that are being packed together to power the grown-up Roadster.
The thought occurs to me because I’m going to be filming a “spoof of” / “tribute to” Mister Rogers Neighborhood for the Internet and possibly Public Access TV. Instead of the trolley car, I would love to have a Tesla Roadster zooming through a tunnel to travel to a land of puppets who live in a more ecological and cooperative society. My own peculiar film projects aside, though, I think that a single remote-controlled Mini-Me would make for a good attention-grabber, and a whole line of them would make for good toys for both grown-ups and kids aspiring to be electric superstars. As long as it didn’t leech resources from the main project, I think it’d be a good thing.
# Brent wrote on July 10th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
# Useful load includes the engine, so If Timo is right about the engine
# weight (70kg, or about 150 pounds), then you’d have the ability to
# stuff about 1,000 pounds of electric stuff into the Skyhawk. It so happens
# that TM’s batteries + motor weigh about 1,000 pounds, which means an
# electric Skyhawk might be able to fly, but not with a pilot.
Maximum useful load is listed 758lbs or 343,8kg. If that includes engine and fuel, then it doesn’t leave much for passenegrs and baggage. Approx 200kg for fuel, 70kg for engine means 344-270=74kg for four passengers and baggage. I weight more than that. I think that maximum useful load is without engine or fuel. (344 kg / 4=86kg which sounds about right)
So it has 344kg passengers&baggage + 200kg fuel = 544kg = approx 1200lbs.
If you leave two passengers out (80kg each) that is 160kg saved. 200kg fuel saved. fuel tank structures saved, but that can’t be much. Engine might be slightly lighter. Lets say about 380kg. Still short about 100kg:s for full Tesla battery pack. So you have to make it smaller. Or if eMotor turns out to be more powerful it might be that you could have bigger useful load and that compensates increased load. I don’t know.
You would of course need to engineer that battery for Cessna, and not just push Tesla Roadster it in and that’s it. You might need to use different plane as base of the design. Weight distribution is important as you said as is cooling for batteries, aerodynamics and so on. It is very different from car, but it is doable.
#Timo wrote…
#[Electric plane engineering] is very different from car, but it is doable.
Yes, I think engineers could probably make a flyable electric plane, but probably not using the 172 airframe. A custom design would probably be better. I’m guessing, too, that its range would now be limited.
A tidbit: One of the attractions of the electric motor in automotive use is its high RPM capabilities. This ability would likely be wasted on light aircraft, where RPMs are limited to a narrow range, generally below 3000, with 1000 considered idling. Propeller structural strength and noise issues dictate. At very high RPMs, the propeller assembly will disintegrate, while at high RPMS, the propeller tips exceed the speed of sound, and the continuous sonic booms can make the airplane too noisy for comfortable use.
# Brent wrote on July 12th, 2007 at 11:12 am
## One of the attractions of the electric motor in automotive use is its high RPM capabilities.
## This ability would likely be wasted on light aircraft, where RPMs are limited to a narrow range,
## generally below 3000, with 1000 considered idling.
A simple gear reduction is common on a lot of aircraft which have an engine/motor that spins faster than one wants for the prop.
glasairproject.com/psru.html
The part of the electric motor that would be (somewhat) wasted is the fat/wide torque curve.
As you said, the prop is often used in a narrow RPM range, so a “peaky” ICE is fine for that app.
Electric airplanes are viable although I don’t know of any successful passenger or cargo carriers. The main challenge is the energy weight.
Interesting facts about electric airplanes are that:
1. The worlds highest flying aircraft in level flight was the solar-electric powered Helios that flew to 96,000 ft in 2001. An early version, the Pathfinder+, that reached 80,000 ft altitude is on display in the Udvar-Hazy annex of the Smithsonian near Dulles airport in Virginia.
www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/history/pastprojects/Erast/helios.html
www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/FactSheets/FS-034-DFRC.html
2. The highest volume of aircraft sales to the US military today is the family of electric powered Small Unmanned Airborn Vehicles (SUAV’s) including the Raven, Pointer, DragonEye, and Wasp. The military has bought and deployed over 6000 of these small, unmanned reconnaissance aircraft over the past 5 years and they have proven themselves to be very useful in protecting coalition troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
All of these aircraft, of course, were developed by AeroVironment (www.avinc.com), the original designer of the EV1 prototype and the Posicharge fast charging technology. There are a few former AeroVironment engineers who have joined Tesla today so we can be sure that Tesla has some very experienced electric propulsion R&D engineers on its team.
Additionally, rumor has it that Tesla’s CTO, JB Straubel, has participated in several electric airplane development efforts in the past as well.
# Earl wrote
# rumor has it that Tesla’s CTO, JB Straubel,
# has participated in several electric airplane
# development efforts in the past as well.
Indeed he has:- www.straubel.com/
Amending my suggestions of July 5th, 7th and 10th; it seems building a ” Carriage Werks” parallel to the assembly plants would increase the bottom line. This way “Retro Afficionados”, could immediately take delivery of their 55 or 57 Chevy or any other make you would offer. By the way, “White Star”, is the name of the company that launched the Titanic !!! Try something else.
P. S.
I’am still waiting to hear about an interview date, because my other idea will immediately put you in the forefront.
SUGGESTION BOX - SUGGESTION BOX - SUGGESTION BOX - SUGGESTION BOX
———————— CALLING ALL FUTURE ROADSTER OWNERS ————————
While you’re waiting to take delivery of your new Tesla, can I ask that you give some thought to how you might document your first few weeks / months / years of Roadster ownership?
Can you write your own monthly blog?
Can you post digital photos?
Can you use a camcorder and post videos online?
If you’re going for the Bluetooth Option, can you set up a permanent webcam in the car?
Etc Etc
Whether your experiences are good, bad or indifferent, people will want to hear, see and read about the ENTIRE spectrum of activities which relate to the operation of this car.
Tesla has one of the strongest online presences of any car company. It seems only fair that their vehicle owners follow suit.
Short and Long Term tests in magazines and online reviews are all fine and dandy. But everyone, from potential customers to armchair eco-nauts to ICE die-hards really want to know about the experience of ownership.
Not speculation. Not conjecture. Experience. Day to Day. Month in, month out.
This way, hopefully, Roadsters can make an impact which far exceeds their production numbers.
Can I start the ball rolling, and request that a few new owners post an analysis of “Roadster Milage with and without Air Con”?
Thanks
SUGGESTION BOX - SUGGESTION BOX - SUGGESTION BOX - SUGGESTION BOX
I have read a lot about your new roadster and have heard that you are looking at making a sedan (4 door with flat rear floors.) I am wondering it you have given any consideration of building it with pancake motors where you have no drive shaft and four wheel drive and the abaliity to move at a 90 degree direction for parking, and adding a gas powered generator for emergenies or the abality to increase the distance the car can run on electric.
Writing from a far corner of the world - Australia - where the government is strongly resisting imports of electric vehicles (surely they’re not hand in glove with the oil companies?), when can we see an effort made by the innovators in the EV business to overcome these political barriers to the inevitable? I’d buy an EV tomorrow if it were available, and so would lots and lots of my friends and acquaintances, who need only something to get them to the shops, or the railway, or to take the kids to school, or to visit friends. Look down the track. What will everyone be driving in 50 years from now? Not ICEs, for sure.
John, the editor didn’t suggest it, so I will. Take a look at some of Tesla’s previous blogs. Check in all categories and peek into the archives. You’ll find an answer to your question and many more you may not thought to ask. Specifically, CEO Martin Eberhard addresses wheel motors and rules them out for a variety of reasons. My take: it was simply a choice they made. Arguments can be made for or against all of their decisions, but ultimately they made what they considered the best choice for the type of vehicle they were developing. Another manufacturer of another vehicle would arrive at different choices for other reasons.
In case anyone missed it, White Zombie makes front page of WSJ:
online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118593442187584293.html
Excellent Zombie link Thanks TEG2.
I hope this car continues to gain media coverage.
www.nedra.com/
Editor: Any chance of getting John Wayland or one of the other Electric Drag Racers to write a “hear” blog?
The WSJ article didn’t include the latest time of the White Zombie. Check out www.plasmaboyracing.com/reviews.php and go to the bottom of the page: “July 14th 2007, PIR - 11.466 @ 114.08 mph ET - best 60′ 1.58 sec.” It is very interesting to read through the entire history, too.
David
Devout Ferrari fan/owner.. watching with interest. Teslas`s looking rather nice. But how will it sound though???
# Geoff wrote on August 29th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
## Devout Ferrari fan/owner.. watching with interest. Teslas`s looking rather nice. But how will it sound though???
Not like a Ferrari.
Fan’s will say it sounds like a small corporate jet.
Critics will say it sounds like a vacuum cleaner.
It may take a little getting used to, but I think it is the “new sound” in sports cars, and much less intrusive that the engine sounds you get from a Ferrari.
——————————–
By the way, some nardo did some premature burnulation during the lunar eclipse :
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/29/BA2ARQRFI.DTL
(read the article if you have no idea what I am talking about)
TEG the First wrote on August 29th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
# By the way, some nardo did some premature burnulation during the lunar eclipse :
# www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/29/BA2ARQRFI.DTL
# (read the article if you have no idea what I am talking about)
Man, that guy needed to be chased down and pummeled by electric muffins.
Have you thoughts/plans concerning the EESTOR capacitive energy source, rather than batteries( ugh! chemicals!) ? With the funding of a winning Venture Capital group, the EESTOR now has very credible credentials and may be THE discovery that explodes sales of the Telsa. Check it out.
—
Editor’s comment: We’ve answered this type of question in the blogs many, many times. We’re always evaluating new technologies at Tesla Motors. I would recommend the blog, Balance, for more information.
Why don’t you take a small Tesla tubine, hook it up to a small generator put five gallons of fuel in it and drive the car for 900 miles without the need for expensive batteries and long charging times? Five more gallons… 900 more miels?
I was wondering when Tesla Motors plans to hit the raceing curcits? I personaly would like to be involved with Tesla as it grows. I think that there is much to be gained from “steping up with the big dogs” and hiting the competitions. Is it possible to get a hold of someone in Tesla to possibly dicuss about this growth and my possible involvment?
Any car company that isn’t anal-retentive is first on my list. I love seeing the lighthearted side of things, and this is absolutely hilarious. I’m totally getting a Tesla, no doubt in my mind. I just have to choose between that and my college education! Haha. I think I’ll wait until I get my big, fancy job and my scandalously large paycheck first.
That is the MOST hysterical thing I have ever seen. Thankyou for a great laugh!
The bunny slipper mobile is gorgeous and so sweet! Let me know if you ever need to get rid of them or want to sell them.
laughingsquid.com/cupcake-art-cars-mobile-muffins-by-kinetic-pastry-science/
they are cute but are they road legal?
These are the most amazing means of trasportation i have ever seen. I personally dont have the talent to create such an amazing beast, but you my friend are gifted! Haha. I would give an arm and a leg for one of these! If someone came riding up on one of those for my sweet sixteen, i would cry. no joke. But i dont have the money and I KNOW something so awe inspiring wouldn’t be sold. It’s to original, that would be like asking someone to sell there new born baby. But if you ever happen by the seattle area send me a message (shelbyfransisco@hotmail.com) i would adore the chance to come see!
That is so awesome, how can you guys do that ? Seriously that is so freakingawesome, I mean the slippers was so cool. I commend you on a great idea and a good job.