New Tesla Roadster: 0-60mph in 1.9 seconds

1.9 seconds.



http://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/tesla...-car/ar-BBF4jKB









1.9 seconds.

Loved the Twitter comment from the German Formula Student team to Elon Musk about only needing to be 0.387s faster to match them

That is how I imagined/wanted my pipedream new Fiat Coupe to look, that is beautiful.

Whilst I fully understand and accept the need to develop this technology I feel that Tesla marketing completely misses the point. Yes the figures are astounding but their vehicles offer no sense of occasion and limit convenience.

Car manufacturers could have produced cars to go ever faster but have for years they have exercised restraint. In the late 80's speed was bad. Group B was banned, F1 cars were made to go slower and the 150 mph limit was imposed on road cars.
Manufacturers have taken small steps beyond those limits but they have rarely gone headline searching.

Tesla however go all out with performance grabbing headlines. But in reality what we all want from an all electric cars is some sense of occasion, driver involvement and convenience.

I'd be hard pressed to not feel a sense of occasion by hitting 60 in 1.9 seconds. It would be the first occasion where my bowels were left in a different time zone - albeit very quietly.

Anyway, this is a sports car, so I guess it needs to be fast to grab the headlines to make people put posters of it on their wall and dream of owning one.

For convenience, aren't they are bringing out a "people's car" shortly? I have heard that there are doubts over its likely success though, but I still think they are on the right lines. A bit like when the Prius first came out it was a left field choice, but now it is mainstream, particularly in London where every 3rd car seems to be a Prius.

Whilst I’d like to agree that this sort of acceleration shouldn’t be important for Tesla. But a friend has just ordered the Model S instead of a 911 because he can have a relatively practical car that is also very quick.

Exactly. Tesla have done well to dispel the idea that electric cars are dull and only for hippies.

Trouble is, the claim of 1.9 seconds may not be deliverable - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAvIVGGhEis

His method is a quick and dirty method but, for me, there are too many assumptions in that - especially the dynamic effects (weight transfer, tyre loading, force delivery etc)

Fixed that for you (based on data supplied by my Dad).

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This.

I don't give a toss about 'sense of occasion'. I have a coupe for that. But I also have a 120 mile daily commute, and regular 600-800 mile journeys (for example, on Friday I will be driving Hemel-Struan and back on Sunday; in a month Hemel-Berlin and back a fortnight later).

I want a car that will go at least four hundred miles on a charge, doesn't take twelve hours to charge at home, and doesn't take more than a quarter hour to charge in a service station. Call me picky...

I *like* the idea of electric cars. I think that burning fossil fuels is not a good idea, and all these batteries are a good place to put the excess we can get from wind and sun, and if we do burn fossil at a power station it is at least more efficiently done than in a petrol engine.

Powerful electric motors don't carry the efficiency penalty that IC engines do; they don't have reciprocating mass or pumping losses and their internal friction is extremely low; it does not significantly change the power usage per mile, or indeed, the cost of the power unit. Though acceleration will eat power, as in anything; travel at a constant speed for most effective energy use. Slipperiness of the car body is also significant; minimum drag is good for economy.

But there's no real reason *not* to put a more powerful motor in...

In the interim we have the plug-in hybrids. Commute on electric during the week.... go as far as you like on petrol on the weekend.

BMW do a thing where you can borrow a petrol car if you’re doing a long journey. The data says that the vast majority of journeys are much shorter than we think.

What's the service intervals on say a full electric car? And I presume they would be cheaper.

What do you think they would charge?

Doesn't exactly say what 0-80mph time this is, but it doesn't look slow at all...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ogbo0Vg5huM

I wonder what current prices are!

Ohmygod.

Most people don’t do long journeys often enough to make the inconvenience of electric cars a real problem.

I’ve driven from Portsmouth to Inverness and back again twice in the last year and we could have made the journey in a Tesla Model S in much the same time.

My problem with electric cars is charging them. I live in Southsea, Portsmouth which is predominantly Victorian and Edwardian terraced housing. Unless you can afford one of the million+ detached properties on the seafront (of which there are only a handful anyway), you don’t get a driveway.

Even on the odd occasion I do manage to park immediately in front of my house, I couldn’t very well trail a cable from my front porch across the pavement because someone would either steal my power for their own car or trip on it and sue me.

Until they overcome this issue, I think they have a problem selling them in most major cities.

It is an indication only but there are limits to road tyre adhesion that I'm not sure 1.9 seconds will allow, partly based on the speeds set so far by various cars, Tesla included.

Interesting to note that the Model S in this video does demonstrate some wheelspin off the line where it is demonstrably quicker than the Mclaren initially. The track was damp but to me it indicates that the tyres are always the limiting factor.

Well, for Tesla it is tyres and money. Much as the technology improvements brought about by Tesla are to be applauded the business model is very shaky. No way would I consider a deposit on one of the new roadsters (if I could contemplate the cost) unless it was going to an Escrow account. It wouldn't take a high percentage of Model 3 deposit payers to ask for their money back for Tesla to fold.

My thoughts exactly.

Engineering Explained - What Is The Fastest 0-60 Time Possible?

I'm very skeptical of these claims. I collated data for the P85D and P90D a while back and the number post 100mph aren't especially impressive. I think the same will hold here.

Tesla Model S P85D (2015)
0-30mph: 1.5
0-40mph: 2.1
0-50mph: 2.7
0-60mph: 3.6
0-70mph: 4.6
0-80mph: 5.8
0-90mph: 7.2
0-100mph: 8.9
0-110mph: 11.0
0-120mph: 13.7
0-130mph: 17.1
0-140mph: 22.0
0-150mph: 29.7

Calculated 60ft (18.3m): 2.03s
Calculated 60ft (18.3m): 38.7mph
Calculated 330ft (100.6m): 5.13s
Calculated 330ft (100.6m): 74.4mph
Calculated 1/8 Mile (201.1m): 7.79s
Calculated 1/8 Mile (201.1m): 93.4mph
Calculated 1000ft (301.7m): 10.1s
Calculated 1000ft (301.7m): 105.7mph
Calculated 0-400m: 12.03s
Calculated 0-400m: 113.8mph
Calculated 1/4 Mile (402.3m): 12.08s
Calculated 1/4 Mile (402.3m): 113.9mph
Calculated 0-1000m: 22.44s
Calculated 0-1000m: 140.5mph
Calculated Mile (1609.2m): 32.57s
Calculated Mile (1609.2m): 161.5mph

Tesla Model S P90D (2016)
0-30mph: 1.1
0-40mph: 1.6
0-50mph: 2.1
0-60mph: 2.8
0-70mph: 3.6
0-80mph: 4.6
0-90mph: 5.8
0-100mph: 7.1
0-110mph: 8.8
0-120mph: 10.9
0-130mph: 13.4
0-140mph: 16.9
0-150mph: 21.8

Calculated 60ft (18.3m): 1.75s
Calculated 60ft (18.3m): 43mph
Calculated 330ft (100.6m): 4.64s
Calculated 330ft (100.6m): 80.2mph
Calculated 1/8 Mile (201.1m): 7.12s
Calculated 1/8 Mile (201.1m): 100.1mph
Calculated 1000ft (301.7m): 9.29s
Calculated 1000ft (301.7m): 112.3mph
Calculated 0-400m: 11.12s
Calculated 0-400m: 120.8mph
Calculated 1/4 Mile (402.3m): 11.16s
Calculated 1/4 Mile (402.3m): 121mph
Calculated 0-1000m: 20.93s
Calculated 0-1000m: 148.2mph
Calculated Mile (1609.2m): 30.33s
Calculated Mile (1609.2m): 167.4mph

I can't find a data set for the P100D so I cobbled together the specs and put them through the calculator, ticking every box I have for a better launch. Inceidentally, the claimed 2.28s 0-60mph was red herring as they actually measured it using a the '1 foot rollout' Actual time was 2.54s... which is pathetic of course!

Tesla P100D
0-10mph: 0.4
0-20mph: 0.78
0-30mph: 1.19
0-40mph: 1.62
0-50mph: 2.16
0-60mph: 2.84
0-70mph: 3.74
0-80mph: 4.82
0-90mph: 5.99
0-100mph: 7.29
0-110mph: 8.74
0-120mph: 10.47
0-130mph: 12.59
0-140mph: 15.24
0-150mph: 18.9
0-160mph: 24.93
0-170mph: 53.67

Top Speed (mph): 170.4
Top Speed (rpm): 9850
62.5-125mph: 8.42

60ft Time: 1.79
60ft Terminal: 43.1
330ft Time: 4.67
330ft Terminal: 78.6
1/8 Mile Time: 7.2
1/8 Mile Terminal: 99.4
1000ft Time: 9.3
1000ft Terminal: 113.4
1/4 Mile Time: 11.19
1/4 Mile Terminal: 123.7
0-400m Time: 11.15
0-400m Terminal: 123.5
1km Time: 20.66
1km Terminal: 153.6
3/4 Mile Time: 23.63
3/4 Mile Terminal: 158.4
1 Mile Time: 29.19
1 Mile Terminal: 164
2 Mile Time: 50.6
2 Mile Terminal: 169.9

Let's not forget that the claimed 691bhp of the P85 was tosh. The peak power of the two motors combined makes this if added together but running simultaneously, the figure was more like 460bhp max. Peak torque of 700-900lbs/ft at idle is why these cars dominate off the line. I'm sure this Roadster could manage just under 2.5s to 60, possibly even 4.5s to 100mph but I doubt it will pass the 1/4 in under 10 and it almost certainly won't reach 250mph.

I even did a bit of reading on Tesla forums earlier and, as far as they are aware, a 200KWh motor would make this roadster even heavier than the P100, and likely be so big that it wouldn't even fit in the P100 let alone a smaller frame like this Roadster.

I'm going to find out what I can about that one in the video above tonight

The more I think about this video, the more flawed I think it is. Digital motors are able to respond much faster to detected loss of traction than any braking system.

I agree with you about the speed of response, but that is still subject to the grip provided by the tyres which is almost certainly the limiting factor in acceleration, particularly in a road car with the requirement for road legal tyres.

It is difficult to get definitive figures for anything other than road cars because anywhere else 0-60 isn't particularly significant. Some stats indicate that an F1 car takes about 1.6 seconds - 2wd obviously but with pretty large slicks, similar power to the Tesla and a lot less weight to get moving, although less low down torque due to the nature of a petrol engine. Such a shame this wasn't dry but even so if the Citroen rallycross car took 2.99 seconds to 60 with the power, lack of weight and 4wd it makes me sceptical of the claim made by Mush for the Roadster.

Magazines measuring 60-0 times do their best to not trigger ABS systems. When they start pulsing, it's a dud run and they go gain. The perfect time for each car would be when it stops purely under mechanical grip.

Yup - tyres will be the limiting factor but that’s why extracting the maximum from them is the absolute challenge. Brakes are deeply unsophisticated - especially when compared to a digital motor. If you don’t trigger the ABS then you’ve not extracted the maximum from all the tyres and if you do trigger the ABS then you’ve not extracted the maximum from all the tyres. You need to be slightly beyond the adhesion threshold of each one of the tyres..

These guys show what can be done by students on a budget (albeit a big one)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I-NCH8ct24U

Yes, they have slicks, a light car and big wings (the latter I don’t think give much in this case) but they’re also doing it in 0.4 of a second faster which, at this level of performance, is massive. Theyre also going to 62 (100kmh)

Some years ago I came across a 1940's car magazine - can't recall the title - with the last in a series of articles about how fast 0-60mph could be achieved. After much theory, experimentation, and letters to the editor, IIRC they were calculating about fifteen seconds...

Velcro tyres and velcro roads. I have seen the future.

Failing that could achieve the claimed figures but using slick tyres thoroughly warmed on a track circuit?

I imagine that the roadster will be used in a racing series to further the electric car message that Tesla want to spread. It doesn't matter that the claims are exaggerated because that will be forgotten by the time they go into production.

Is he on here?