Wired News: Battery-Fueled Car Will Smoke You
Eberhard owes his radically different approach to Nikola Tesla, the iconic Serbian engineer who built the first AC induction motor in the 1880s. Eberhard's supercharged update of that motor is powered by a copper and steel rotor that is spun by a magnetic field. There are no moving parts besides the rotor. Step on the accelerator and the motor delivers instantaneously. An onboard computer provides traction control, keeping the car from burning rubber. The result: 0 to 60 in about four seconds. And, since the motor is not limited by the complexity of pistons moving up and down, it can spin much faster. Porsche's top-of-the-line model -- the $440,000 Carrera GT -- maxes out at 8,400 rpm; the Tesla Roadster has a ceiling of 13,500, enabling it to go 70 mph in first gear. (It has two gears, plus reverse.)
It looks like this thing is gonna list at about $80k, not bad for it's target market. And at last old Nikola has a legacy far more fitting than the electric chair. Coming to soon the mid-life crisis striken Greener near you.
Seriously though, with a 130mph top speed, 250 mile range, and ability to reach full charge in 3.5 hours (on 220v plug), this baby might just indicate the real coming of the electric car.
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