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Tesla Motors gives its Roadster a powertrain boost

Thu, May 29, 2008

Tech and Transportation

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Tesla RoadsterTesla Motors has given the Roadster a bit of a makeover by replacing the 1.0 powertrain with the new more powerful 1.5 series.  The changes brought on by the switch over are pretty substantial for Tesla Motors who is getting more and more competition in the electric vehicle market.  The new powertrain consists of the following changes:

  • a new inverter to increase the current to the new motor.
  • a new motor with more torque and ability to handle more current.
  • replaced the gear box with a single speed gear box
  • improved the cabling and gear box coupler that connects to the motor
  • a firmware flash

It’s astounding to think that Tesla Motors could make this machine even better, but they have with this new powertrain they’ve increased the torque by over 30%.  That makes this Roadster even quicker on the quarter mile coming in around 12.9 seconds with a top Tesla's Powertrain 1.5 motorspeed of over 120mph.  This car will take away the excuse of eco-friendly transportation lacking style and speed.  I cannot wait to see one in my city.

These changes were not meant to upgrade the range of the vehicle at all and the battery pack remains completely untouched.  Though all is not lost in the range department because of changes in efficiencies all over the powertrain the car seems to have gained about 10 miles in its range.  This is great news and brings the Tesla Roadsters range to an astounding 220 miles on a full charge.

The fact that the technology is increasing so quickly is a great sign for things to come.  I fully expect to see some great innovation coming from all parties involved in the EV market and cannot wait to see what they come up with.  Are you looking forward to anything in particular?

Source: Tesla Motors Blog

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