New Tesla News

[Kramer]

Sorry if this is going too off topic, but I found these *cough*ahem* 'straight line' numbers interesting:

"On a wet public road, with mediocre traction, we measured a 0-to-60-mph time of 4.4 seconds (shifting at 62 mph) and a quarter-mile of 13.3 seconds at 104 mph (shifting at 45 mph, which is what’s represented in our spec panel). Even more impressive is the instant acceleration at real-world speeds of 30 to 100 mph. Squeeze the throttle, and the Tesla surges forward with effortless ease.

Our top-gear acceleration measured 2.3 seconds for the 30-to-50- and 50-to-70-mph intervals. The Tesla’s 4.6-second total for the two tests bests that of a Mercedes-Benz CLK63 AMG Black Series, which was our 2007 champion in this measure of instant responsiveness."

From: http://caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_...take_road_test

Can't wait for the inevitable Lotus vs. Tesla track comparison...

[Julien]

Originally Posted by Kramer

...."On a wet public road, with mediocre traction, we measured a 0-to-60-mph time of 4.4 seconds (shifting at 62 mph)...

I thought the trany was locked in 2ed.?

[couldbemage]

Originally Posted by rob13572468

Do you know which reactor this was... The chernobyl reactor had a *very* poor design and serious design flaws: Modern reactors become stable as soon as the graphite control rods are dropped full into the reactor. Even if the reactor was running full power there should be enough of a passive reserve of coolant to keep the core temp low enough to prevent meltdown...

The reactor at chernobyl was not built to find inherent stability: Once the rods go full in the cooling pumps must run for up to several hours to keep the core temp under control. But if the reactor is shut down there was not enough energey to keep the coolant pumps running. So If there was a problem that would cause an automatic shutdown the reaction would be stopped but the loss of coolant would still cause meltdown. The russians knew this was a big risk but chose to keep the design because it was cheap and fast to build. Even so there wouldnt have been any leakage had the reactor had a proper containment building which *all* US reactors have.

BTW: how do I know so much about this... I did my physics internship in nuclear physics at argonne... (I cant believe i wanted to be a physicist...)

First meltdown in the US occurred at the west end of the san fernando valley. Since it was a research facility, it had no containment building, leading to significant groundwater contamination. The funny thing for me is how few people know about it, as compared to the TMI incident.

Never dig a well in simi valley...

[rob13572468]

Originally Posted by couldbemage

First meltdown in the US occurred at the west end of the san fernando valley. Since it was a research facility, it had no containment building, leading to significant groundwater contamination. The funny thing for me is how few people know about it, as compared to the TMI incident.

Never dig a well in simi valley...

Actually the *first* meltdown in the US was the Idaho Experimental Breeder reactor in 1955.... the china flats reactor (the one in simi) meltdown happened a few years later. The first meltdown *ever* happened in ontario... (leave it to the canucks with their beer and curling brooms )

But all of these incidents were at the beginning of the nuclear program before we had matured the engineering enough to include multiple levels of redundancy as we have today...

[Gizmo3000]

Not meaning to change the subject..

but drove by the new Tesla showroom on Santa Monica last weekend.
and looks like they haven't made any progress on it!
-it's still all boarded up, and no longer says/shows anything out front.

[Randy Chase]

Originally Posted by Randy Chase

David Vespremi, on this forum as DavidV, was also let go last month. Things are looking precarious, but I hope they can pull it out and make a go of it.

New development-
Former employee slaps Tesla with class action suit - Autoblog

[ivan1]

as per Automotive News - Tesla corporate average fuel economy rating (CAFE) = 244 MPG
"Tesla VP Darryl Siry told Automotive News that the company is eager to sell its CAFE credits when trading begins".

[nockpoint]

new tranny online

Tesla v2.0, er, v1.5 Hits the Road | Autopia from Wired.com