Comments on: Tesla Roadster Wins 5th Monte Carlo Alternative Energy Rally http://inhabitat.com/tesla-tesla-wins-5th-monte-carlo-alternative-energy-rally/ Green design & eco innovation for a better world Fri, 24 May 2013 13:04:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc By: tahrey http://inhabitat.com/tesla-tesla-wins-5th-monte-carlo-alternative-energy-rally/comment-page-1/#comment-312544 tahrey Mon, 11 Apr 2011 13:26:31 +0000 http://inhabitat.com/?p=235359#comment-312544 So for how much of the trip were they going at it hammer and tongs track-style, rather than travelling at the lower end of typical cruising speeds? I have a feeling this was more of the mediterranean-style time trial (= try to get as close to a particular average speed as possible, not slower OR faster) "rally" than an all-out speed challenge. And given some of the vehicles the Tesla would have gone up against, those average speeds might have been quite low, certainly far lower than the car would be capable of even sticking to all applicable speed limits. There's a Smart EV in there for heaven's sake, and something that at least superficially looks like a Th!nk City - the latter is rated for a top speed somewhere around 60-65mph on the flat depending on which literature you believe... and they're in a zone where the motorway speed limits are 68~81mph and the mountain roads a good 56mph. (or maybe I stand corrected - they have to cover some 560km in 9 hours, achieving an average of at least 63km/h, or roughly 40mph. Still, that's only the kind of "touring speed" that a mid-vintage Citroen 2CV could attain, though I presume not on mountain roads. It might require fairly hard driving to keep that up, but you'd get a lot of it back from regenerative braking if you were careful, rather than hammering the brakes track-style, and wouldn't ever be reaching properly high speeds) After all... my petrol car's economy can go over 60mpg if I drift along very slowly, never exceeding in-town speeds on the open road; if I really cane it track-style, that dips into the low 20s, or even momentarily lower. Constant-speed running almost invariably raises it again though, unless I'm hitting 3 figures mph... It's entirely conceivable that with severe use (e.g. regeneration being practically nil) you could burn up the battery pack in 50 miles on a track, but stretch it out to some 350 miles on a rally like this, so long as you took care to average *just* over 40mph, and to regenerate as much as possible of the energy spent in acceleration or hillclimbing (that used to actually cover ground is lost, of course). So for how much of the trip were they going at it hammer and tongs track-style, rather than travelling at the lower end of typical cruising speeds? I have a feeling this was more of the mediterranean-style time trial (= try to get as close to a particular average speed as possible, not slower OR faster) “rally” than an all-out speed challenge. And given some of the vehicles the Tesla would have gone up against, those average speeds might have been quite low, certainly far lower than the car would be capable of even sticking to all applicable speed limits. There’s a Smart EV in there for heaven’s sake, and something that at least superficially looks like a Th!nk City – the latter is rated for a top speed somewhere around 60-65mph on the flat depending on which literature you believe… and they’re in a zone where the motorway speed limits are 68~81mph and the mountain roads a good 56mph.

(or maybe I stand corrected – they have to cover some 560km in 9 hours, achieving an average of at least 63km/h, or roughly 40mph. Still, that’s only the kind of “touring speed” that a mid-vintage Citroen 2CV could attain, though I presume not on mountain roads. It might require fairly hard driving to keep that up, but you’d get a lot of it back from regenerative braking if you were careful, rather than hammering the brakes track-style, and wouldn’t ever be reaching properly high speeds)

After all… my petrol car’s economy can go over 60mpg if I drift along very slowly, never exceeding in-town speeds on the open road; if I really cane it track-style, that dips into the low 20s, or even momentarily lower. Constant-speed running almost invariably raises it again though, unless I’m hitting 3 figures mph… It’s entirely conceivable that with severe use (e.g. regeneration being practically nil) you could burn up the battery pack in 50 miles on a track, but stretch it out to some 350 miles on a rally like this, so long as you took care to average *just* over 40mph, and to regenerate as much as possible of the energy spent in acceleration or hillclimbing (that used to actually cover ground is lost, of course).

]]> By: lazyreader http://inhabitat.com/tesla-tesla-wins-5th-monte-carlo-alternative-energy-rally/comment-page-1/#comment-311659 lazyreader Thu, 07 Apr 2011 12:06:08 +0000 http://inhabitat.com/?p=235359#comment-311659 Tesla, I'm glad you brought it up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwO-xnkFdco Tesla, I’m glad you brought it up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwO-xnkFdco

]]>