Green Elises - Tesla Roadster and Exige 265E

[exigeracer]

Yep, a 240+HP Electric Elise:

Where is the car made?
Components and subsystems for the car come from a variety of sources all over the world. Final assembly for the Tesla Roadster is at the Lotus factory in the UK.

What is your relationship with Lotus?
Lotus Cars is assembling the Tesla Roadster under contract to Tesla Motors. Tesla Motors has also hired Lotus Engineering for certain design and engineering tasks. The Tesla Roadster style was developed in Lotus Engineering's design studio - Lotus Engineering won a design contest where several design firms submitted proposals. Lotus Engineering supplied the initial chassis which was significantly modified by Tesla Motors engineers.

Why did you choose Lotus as a manufacturing partner?
Lotus is the acknowledged leader worldwide for efficient assembly of sports cars at modest volumes.

Some deets:

Style - 2-seat, open-top, rear-drive roadster
Drivetrain - Electric motor with 2-speed electric-shift manual transmission with integral differential
Motor - 3-phase, 4-pole electric motor, 248hp peak (185kW), redline 13,500 rpm, regenerative "engine braking"
Chassis - Bonded extruded aluminum with 4-wheel wishbone suspension
Brakes - 4-wheel disc brakes with ABS
Acceleration - 0 to 60 in about 4 seconds
Top Speed - Over 130 mph
Range - 250 miles EPA highway
Battery Life - Useful battery life in excess of 100,000 miles
Energy Storage System - Custom microprocessor-controlled lithium-ion battery pack
Full Charge - As short as 3.5 hours

Efficiency. Performance. Pick Two.
Gone are the days when sports cars demanded a choice between efficiency and performance. Now it’s no longer a zero-sum game. Instead, you get peak performance at every moment, with little mileage penalty.

Instant Freedom
The first time you drive the Tesla Roadster, prepare to be surprised. You’re at freeway speed in seconds without even thinking about it. There’s no clutch to contend with and no race-car driving techniques to perform. Just the touch of your foot and you’re off, without any of the sluggishness of an automatic.

How powerful is the acceleration? A quick story to illustrate. A favorite trick here at Tesla Motors is to invite a passenger along and ask him to turn on the radio. At the precise moment we ask, we accelerate. Our passenger simply can’t sit forward enough to reach the dials. But who needs music when you’re experiencing such a symphony of motion.

Rest assured that this responsiveness works at all speeds, as noticeable when you’re inching your way through parking lots as when flying along freeways.

100% Torque, 100% of the Time
The Tesla Roadster delivers full availability of performance every moment you are in the car, even while at a stoplight. Its peak torque begins at zero rpm and stays powerful beyond 13,000 rpm.

This is the precise opposite of what you experience with a gasoline engine, which has very little torque at a low rpm and only reaches peak torque in a narrow rpm range. This forces you to make frequent gear changes to maintain optimal torque. With the Tesla Roadster, you get great acceleration and the highest energy efficiency at the same time. All while requiring no special driving skills to enjoy it. This makes the Tesla Roadster six times as efficient as the best sports cars while producing one-tenth of the pollution.

A lot more information on the provided website.

Some pictures of that amazing Lotus styling you ask?











I'll have more pictures and info when it gets posted by people who were at the unveiling ceremony.

Anyone else think it looks amazing?

 

[Omnis]

I'm not for the front end. It's alright, though.

But, if the torque curve never inclines, when is the best time to shift? 7200 rpm?

 

[Dave A]

It's an interesting cvar, the big problem is, when you do want to take on a long journey, you'll have to stop for ages to re-charge the car. Even with a 200mile + range it's not practical, I'd have trouble trying to drive from Manchester to London and back in 1 day for the British motorshow, you just can't do it in an electric car.

I'm wondering why the other thread on this car got closed though since that one was created over 18 hours earlier. Oh well, both contain the same information.

 

[YSSMAN]

I quite enjoyed getting mocked by dann for apparently double posting despite the fact that I had started a thread about this car more than 12 hours before this one.

(BTW: I don't have a problem with it. You have more information that I did, so I'm fine with it).

---

Anyway, this is a good way for Liberals to spin crap around about how their sports cars are "above" ours because we burn gasoline. Great... And then we can challenge their car to a race, and not only go further, but also go faster as well.

Of course, someone will probably say that I'm missing the point with this car, and indeed I am. Yes, they have proven that you can build a sports car with an electric motor, but so what? It isn't like the masses will the clamoring to buy these, as they are unfeaseable in the average market. They take too-long to charge, and drain considerably on the energy resources of the given town.

Spin it how you wish, but it is another exercise by environmentalist folks to prove that everyone else is dumber than they are. Think the "Smug" episode of South Park, as that could be an outcome we could see...

 

[red70mach1]

A gas electric hybrid version of the Elise would nicely.

 

[Jay]

I think this looks good especially for a electric car, as electric cars often look pretty weird.

Tesla, great name for this car.

A gas electric hybrid version of the Elise would nicely.

An Elise with two motors and batteries would gain a quite a few pounds I would think, not something I imagine Elise buyers/enthusiast would be too happy about.

 

[pimp racer]

I like that 0 - 60 MPH time. Very impressive for an electric.

 

[daan]

I quite enjoyed getting mocked by dann for apparently double posting despite the fact that I had started a thread about this car more than 12 hours before this one.

Yes, my mistake. Shoot me now. Spell my name right though...

 

[Onikaze]

An Elise with two motors and batteries would gain a quite a few pounds I would think, not something I imagine Elise buyers/enthusiast would be too happy about.

Wonder how much a GM 4-banger with a new Dual Mode Hybrid transmission would add.

That would be real nice.

 

[niky]

@Omnis... I don't think shifting is a problem if the car is only 2-speed... them there's pretty loooooong legs.

I'd hit it, if it was cheap enough. God knows you don't actually buy an Elise to actually go somewhere. You buy it for a quick spin to get the blood flowing. Anything further away than the grocery store, and you'll probably die of a heart attack... or a tree to the head... whichever happens first.

Still, a 4 second electric car is nothing new... the Venturi Fetish has been around for, what? Three or four years already?

 

[Jim Prower]

It's a dragster. It has one speed, makes all of it's torque at .0000001RPM and it trails off at the end. (notice that torque is significantly less at redline on the electric than the gas engine...the chart was made with a slant in favor of the electric engine.) it will have a lower top speed than a gas car, and will accellerate at high speeds much slower.

 

[Poverty]

nice looking car but the power curve is the wrong way round, good for city driving though

 

[exigeracer]

It's a dragster.

No, it's an Elise.

 

[Jim Prower]

Its power deficit at high speeds, (often, higher than 100mph) It's heavier weight (thanks to batteries) and its torque curve, (remember, this is a single-speed car) makes it, effectively, a dragster compared to an Elise.
Electrics provide impressive quarter-mile times, but fall short in other venues.

By the way, if you drive it that agressively, do you really think you'll get 250 miles out of those batteries? In fact, the faster you go, the smaller the range gets compared to Gas. That's because the motor has to work harder at higher speeds, because that's where it loses all of it's torque.

 

[TheCracker]

Obviously heavily based on the Elise, which is no bad thing

Not a bad idea for a trackday or a 'thrash-around-your-local-driving-roads-on-a-Sunday-morning' type of car.

 

[exigeracer]

Lotus Exige 265E

Yep, Lotus Engineering has created a solid, very fast Exige powered by Bio-Ethanol. It weighs no more than the normal Exige S, but comes with an extra 45hp, and to sixty in 4 flat. Faster than an F430, and less emissions than a Focus, they say. Sign me up!

Speaking of signing up, if any Americans here want a supercharged street-legal Exige S, head down to your dealer now, it'll be worth your while come December.

 

[Jim Prower]

Nice job Lotus! an alchy-Lotus, with more compression!

 

[SouL]

Speaking of signing up, if any Americans here want a supercharged [b]street-legal Exige S[/b], head down to your dealer now, it'll be worth your while come December. ;)[/QUOTE]


Oh? :)

 

[exigeracer]

If you're at all interested, demand a refundable deposit and MSRP sales contract in case things fall through, but as of now, it looks like things will be going your way. So many people are claiming the S will come, but so few are willing to give their Lotus sources, so things are kind of comical at this point, but if you're serious about it, call your dealer.

edit - Oh yes, there is also talk of an "S-Kit" for existing Exiges.

 

[SouL]

Where are you finding out about this?

 

[exigeracer]

These are the more convincing sounding, reliably-sourced posts I read on Elisetalk. There's a funny thread in the Exiges section where they're throwing around accusations, but nobody wants to reveal their source, so it's quite funny.

 

[TopHat]

Cool, maybe it will be mass produced in the long run!

 

[GT Pro]

Yer, the new supercharged Exige looks great. Can't wait till' October and the 265E has nice performance figures.

 

[3-Wheel Drive]

I'm digging the Tesla. It's the first electric car I've considered cool since the Venturi Fetish.

Maybe their is hope for the electric car afterall
Wait, who am I kidding? But seriously, that Lotus is pretty cool looking, and quick to boot. And for current technology/capabilities, it's charge time and range aren't that bad, especially considering it's a performance sports car (0-60 in ~4s, top speed 130+).