Tesla Roadster (2008)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tesla
Tesla Roadster - 02-11-2011.jpg
Tesla Roadster (Darkstar)
Production period: 2008–2012
Class : Sports car
Body versions : Roadster
Engines: Electric motor :
215–225 kW
Length: 3946 mm
Width: 1873 mm
Height: 1127 mm
Wheelbase : 2352 mm
Empty weight : about 1220 kg

The Tesla Roadster is an all- electric two-seater sports car . It is Tesla 's first production vehicle and the first production vehicle in the world to be launched into space .

On July 24, 2006, Tesla unveiled the Roadster in a closed event at California 's Santa Monica Airport . After several delays, small series production began on March 17, 2008 and regular production ended in 2012. During the production period, around 2450 roadsters were produced and sold worldwide. The USA was the largest sales market with around 1,800 vehicles.

drive

The two-seater sports car is powered by a 215 kW electric motor in the rear. The maximum torque of 370 Nm (400 Nm for the sport version) is available at speeds of 0–5400 rpm. The originally planned two-speed transmission was discarded because the prototypes did not meet the requirements for the longevity of the vehicle. Instead, the final series form has a single-speed transmission. All Tesla Roadsters manufactured up to the point in time of the conversion initially received the two-stage pre-series transmission, which, however, is locked in second gear in order to limit the mechanical load. As part of the manufacturer's guarantee, this solution was later replaced by the single-speed gearbox for all vehicles delivered in this way.

With the final gearbox, the vehicle can reach 100 km / h in around 3.7 seconds, while the models delivered earlier still need 5.7 seconds. In order to protect the transmission and to limit the battery load, the roadster is electronically limited in favor of the range at 201 km / h (125 mph).

Chassis and body

Rear view of the roadster

The roadster was developed together with AC Propulsion and Lotus . The body unmistakably bears the design signature of the British sports car manufacturer Lotus, whose plant in Hethel also took over the series production. The point of orientation was the Lotus Elise , from which many components were taken over. Both vehicles have the same aluminum frame that the Danish supplier Hydro Aluminum developed for Lotus. The frame weighs only 65 kg and is not welded, but glued and riveted. This frame was also used on the Opel Speedster . All wheels are individually suspended on double wishbones . The body is made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic .

The car is 3.94 m long, 1.87 m wide and weighs about 1240 kg.

The soft top can be replaced by a hard top , which was available at an additional cost.

Energy storage

The roadster's battery compartment
Tesla Roadster
Tesla Roadster rear view

The energy storage consists of 6,831 cells of commercially available lithium-ion batteries of the size 18650, which are also used for laptops . The battery stores 56  kWh (approx. 20% charge loss, therefore around 70  kWh are required for a charge) and has a nominal voltage of 400  volts . The entire battery consists of eleven plates connected in series, each containing nine blocks also connected in series; 69 cells are connected in parallel to each other in each block (11S 9S 69P). Each battery cell is 65 mm long and has a diameter of 18 mm. The entire package of 6831 cells weighs around 408 kg. Each cell has two fuses, one on the anode and one on the cathode . The entire battery block is cooled by a mixture of water and glycol .

The manufacturer promises a range of 350 km according to the European "Electric Vehicle Combined Cycle ". The ranges observed in practice were between 200 km “at brisk driving” and 501 km. Upgrading to the Roadster 3.0 gives the electric car a range of up to 643 kilometers.

The long range despite only 56 kilowatt hours of energy content - which corresponds to the calorific value of a good 6 liters of petrol - is possible because electric motors are more efficient than combustion engines, which emit most of the chemically bound energy of the fuel (approx. 75%) as heat instead of converting them into motion (25% efficiency for combustion engines,> 94% for electric motors ). In addition, the electric motor acts as a generator when braking and can thus recover part of the acceleration energy used. This saves energy, especially when driving around town.

The roadster's charger can only charge in one phase. The charging time on a Tesla High Power Wall Connector (HPC) with 70 A is four hours, on a three-phase CEE socket with 32 amperes common in Germany about eight hours, whereby only one phase is used. If only a 230 V 16 A Schuko socket is available, which can only be loaded with 10 A continuously, a complete charging cycle takes about 24 hours.

On December 26, 2014, Tesla announced that there would be an upgrade kit for the Roadster. The automaker then calls the modified Stromer Roadster 3.0; part of the optimization is that the battery will be 70 kWh.

Service life and cycle stability

Plug in America carried out a survey among drivers of the Tesla Roadster regarding the service life of the batteries used. It was found that the batteries still had a capacity of 80 to 85 percent after 100,000 miles (approx. 160,000 km). This was independent of the climatic zone in which the vehicle was driven.

Energy turnover

Coupled charging plug
Tesla Roadster is charging

The energy requirement averages 457.2 kJ / km, based on the energy content of motor gasoline , this corresponds to 1.49 liters per 100 km. The vehicle itself is emission- free, but CO 2 and other pollutants can be released during electricity generation, depending on the type of electricity generation.

The manufacturer's website is an energy efficiency, including energy production and generation ( well-to-wheel  on = source to wheel) of 1.14 km / MJ. This corresponds to vehicles with a consumption of around 2.2 liters of petrol or diesel or 1.5 kg of natural gas (H-gas) per 100 km. The provision and generation of electrical energy from natural gas is assumed to have an efficiency (well-to-station = source to gas station) of 52.5%, the well-to-station efficiency for diesel with 90.1%, gasoline with 81, 7% and natural gas with 86%.

criticism

The promised durability of the battery block was seen with great skepticism, especially by representatives of large automobile manufacturers, because they believed that lithium-ion batteries did not have a sufficient service life for use in a motor vehicle. Tesla takes the view, however, that it is extreme temperatures that cause batteries to age quickly, namely cold in cell phones and heat in laptops. That is why the Tesla Roadster's battery block is permanently bathed in temperature-controlled liquid, which should ensure optimal temperatures of 18 to 25 ° C. In May 2011 a driver achieved 100,000 km with his Tesla Roadster and a year later even another 200,000 km, which is seen as an indication of sufficient battery life.

See also service life and cycle stability .

Cost and production

The interior of the car
The cockpit of the roadster

The price for the basic equipment of the car was $ 109,000. A full charge of the battery block (for a range of approx. 350 km) cost around two to three US dollars at US prices in 2008.

In the beginning, the Lotus plant in Hethel in Great Britain was to produce 2,000 copies per year. Production started on March 17, 2008. Interested parties could put themselves on a waiting list on Tesla's website for a deposit of 60,000 US dollars (50,000 euros in Europe).

After the roadster was initially only offered in North America, it was also available in Europe since May 2009. For this purpose, a special model Signature Edition limited to 250 units was created at a price of at least 117,810 euros. The European model should have a more powerful engine, a modified transmission, special dampers and special wheels. The last model produced 2.5 shows minor adjustments compared to the first models.

At the end of 2012, production of the roadster was stopped and production of the Tesla Model S started.

successor

In 2017 Elon Musk announced a successor to the Roadster. This will also be called the Roadster and should break several electric car records. Among other things, the roadster will be the fastest electric car in the world at 400 km / h, accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (97 km / h) in 1.9 seconds and have a range of 1000 kilometers.

Trivia

Tesla Roadster on the way to Mars

In February 2018, a cherry-red Tesla Roadster owned by Elon Musk was launched into an orbit around the sun on the first flight of the Falcon Heavy rocket in its hold, on which Mars is also to be passed. The vehicle served as a payload simulator because the success of the mission is uncertain and valuable cargo such as a satellite was not to be carried. A concrete block is usually used for this. In the vehicle, a life-size doll with a space suit was placed in the driver's seat, which was named after the song Starman by David Bowie Starman .

See also

literature

  • Christian Wüst: Break with high voltage . In: Der Spiegel . No. 21 , 2007, p. 136-138 ( online ).

Web links

Commons : Tesla Roadster  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Roadster to be discontinued
  2. ^ Auto, Motor und Sport, issue 18/2008, p. 64: Volta Renn. Driving report Tesla Roadster
  3. ↑ Elon Musk shares simulation video of Tesla Roadster going to Mars on SpaceX's Falcon Heavy werk = Electrek. February 5, 2018, accessed February 7, 2018 .
  4. ↑ SEC Form 10-K for Fiscal Year Ended Dec 31, 2012 Commission File Number: 001-34756, Tesla Motors, Inc. . SEC . February 6, 2016. Archived from the original on May 16, 2016. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 25, 2014: "As of December 31, 2012, we had delivered approximately 2,450 Tesla Roadsters to customers in over 30 countries." @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ir.teslamotors.com
  5. ^ Todd Woody: Tesla Hits Accelerator Despite Q2 Revenue Miss . In: Forbes , July 25, 2012. More than 2,350 units sold through June 2012 . 
  6. ↑ Jeff Cobb: Top 6 Plug-In Vehicle Adopting Countries . HybridCars.com. January 16, 2014. Retrieved August 29, 2016. Around 1,800 Tesla Roadsters and 1,600 Fisker Karmas had been sold in the US by the end of 2013.
  7. ↑ Roadster: Technical Data - Performance Features Manufacturer's website, accessed on September 17, 2011
  8. ↑ Tesla Roadster 1st generation. autozeitung.de, January 31, 2011, accessed on May 2, 2019 .
  9. ^ Tesla Motors, Roadster: Innovations
  10. ↑ VDI nachrichten: Sporty power pack with power connection.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. August 15, 2008@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.vdi-nachrichten.com  
  11. ↑ auto motor und sport.de : Tesla Roadster Sport in the test: Sports car with electric motor. Report of May 18, 2010
  12. ↑ SZ of November 4, 2009: Tesla manages 500. Accessed on January 26, 2012
  13. ↑ Tesla Motors: Tesla Roadster Travels 313 Miles on a Single Charge. October 27, 2009
  14. ↑ a b Mein-Elektroauto.com: The Tesla Roadster electric car is getting even better. Retrieved December 28, 2014
  15. ↑ Gloor R., Combustion Engines at www.energie.ch
  16. ↑ teslamotors.com: ( Memento of the original from July 12, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. The High Power Wall Connector is the fastest way to charge the Roadster. Retrieved July 10, 2015 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / my.teslamotors.com
  17. ↑ greenmotorsblog.de: ( Memento of the original from April 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Tesla Roadster - battery lasts longer than expected. Retrieved March 31, 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.greenmotorsblog.de
  18. ↑ pluginamerica.org: ( Memento of the original from February 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Plug In America Research Shows That Tesla Roadster Battery Performance Bests Tesla Motors' Own Projections. Retrieved March 31, 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.pluginamerica.org
  19. ↑ www.teslamotors.com - well-to-wheel ( memento of October 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on September 10, 2010
  20. ↑ Tesla owner covers over 100,000 kilometers with his roadster. In: Spiegel Online , May 8, 2012, accessed October 29, 2013
  21. ↑ Tom Grünweg: 200,000 kilometers in the Tesla Roadster: Champion of the Stromer. In: PR Newswire, accessed October 29, 2013.
  22. ↑ The Time : The Challenger. March 22, 2007
  23. ^ Spiegel Online : Electric shock for Europe. July 30, 2008
  24. ↑ Tesla Roadster Sport 2.5: The little electric car. In: Die Zeit , August 25, 2011
  25. ↑ Stephen Clarc: Live coverage: Falcon Heavy readied for maiden launch Tuesday. Spaceflight Now, February 6, 2018, accessed January 26, 2018 .
  26. ↑ Eric Raph: SpaceX Falcon Heavy goes vertical with Musk's Tesla as launch nears . In: Teslarati , December 28, 2017.
Timeline of Tesla models since 2008
Type 2000s 2010s 2020s
7th 8th 9 0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 0
Roadster Roadster
Middle class Model 3
Upper class Model S
SUV Model X
Model Y