Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Tesla Roadster

tesla.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–190 of 729 posts

Re: Tesla Roadster

#181

Post by dayaz36 »

wintermute2001 wrote: post #125

Am I the only one who's worried that Tesla is really starting to bite off more than they can chew? Right now their finances are a mess, they are publicly struggling to produce their most important car ever, their CEO is spending time figuring out how to dig holes underneath LA...and now they're announcing a semi truck and a roaster in the same day? Don't get me wrong, Teslas are incredible cars. But this seems like a…

Did you not watch the presentation? They're not going to start producing it for another 2 years.

Re: Tesla Roadster

#182

Post by lathiat »

shash7 wrote: post #118
speeq wrote: post #68

Close up video of Tesla Roadster launching from zero: https://twitter.com/DavidHodge/status/931391188065705984

That's some unreal level of acceleration. Never seen anything like it.

Something that really impressed me is how smoothly the Model S launches in the Wet, see here: https://youtu.be/iyXSJAICaBc?t=210 [Real Time @ 3m30s] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNzLTW_l2q0 [Slow Motion]

Elon talked during some event how the latency / response time of the torque control in the Tesla drive-train is ridiculous compared to gasoline and for that reason even RWD models should handle well in the snow. To be fair, some people talk about the (at least older) RWD models being a bit crazy on Snow/Ice. I can only assume that the newer models are much better and the Roadster likely better again - plus it's actually AWD but anyway the point was more about the torque control :)

By comparison one of the kings of Launch Control is well known to be the Nissan GT-R. You can see in this wet launch that while it still does a great job, it definitely has some spin as it basically intentionally causes a loss of traction at the start, calculates the traction available based on the acceleration it does get to then adjust the power output and differential splits. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTJGE0wzJpE

For other really fun scientific/computerised stability control, this video about the Koenigsegg Agera R is great: https://youtu.be/SywqgH7n-5g?t=34

It shows him literally reefing the wheel side to side at 1m15s while full throttle. Even my 2009 Evo X has surprisingly good stability management in the wet - and it is now probably nearly 2 decades old technology behind any of these other cars and only a 50k car not a 200k-1m car. Still crazy and computers are amazing.

Re: Tesla Roadster

#183

Post by bonestamp2 »

eagsalazar2 wrote: post #106
_ea1k wrote: post #26

I would really love to know how they are getting such a large battery capacity in a vehicle of this size. Is this a generational leap in energy density? What kind of materials are being used here?

This car isn't surprising considering the existing Model S performance in any way except that range. WTF?? 650 miles in a car that size is totally game changing. Will next gen of Model 3 and Model S also have 3X their current range?

Probably not. Normal practical cars need space to put stuff that you want to bring with you. This car doesn't appear to have much of that kind of space, probably in lieu of batteries.

Re: Tesla Roadster

#184

Post by urda »

ktta wrote: post #169
urda wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True I haven't even touched on them either! Tesla has yet to prove they can build cars at scale, they are nothing compared to current auto manufacturers. I think they are biting off more than they can chew.

>I think they are biting off more than they can chew. I don't think anyone will disagree with you about that. But we sure as hell want to see them succeed.

Same here! I love their tech and I can't wait to see Model 3 after Model 3.

... but damn it Tesla ship it!

Re: Tesla Roadster

#185

Post by travisjungroth »

csomar wrote: post #66

0-60 in 1.9s for $200k that is affordable by a good range of people. I can see disasters happening with this car as young dudes lose control when they accelerate. There has to be some serious A.I to prevent this.

That has been an issue with sports car since they came into existence.

I imagine AWD and TCS will make this much more controllable than most.

Re: Tesla Roadster

#186

Post by pfranz »

urda wrote: post #157
pfranz wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe he's just repeating the same Roadster business model? Small quantity (can hand-assemble if necessary), high margin, prestige product to help keep money coming in for the rest of the business.

Sure that worked well for Tesla early as they were growing, but this is a company that is already shipping three vehicles to the consumer space. They shouldn't be trying to do "small quantity" work , and instead should be focused on going wide and getting those Model 3's out the door to the those that have already bought in to the Model 3.

Splitting your attention is going to introduce more problems, but so is not having money or having to beg for money every year or two.

Maybe the Roadster reboot should have been scrapped, but this has clearly been in the works before Model 3's production scaling issues. With a large company you have a diverse group of talent; you aren't going to have your designers sit around while you are tuning capacity. Hopefully, this helps compliment their growth.

Re: Tesla Roadster

#188

Post by largote »

csomar wrote: post #66

0-60 in 1.9s for $200k that is affordable by a good range of people. I can see disasters happening with this car as young dudes lose control when they accelerate. There has to be some serious A.I to prevent this.

You don't use AI for that, you use a bunch of sensors and adaptive power or braking vectoring. Calling some heuristics "AI" is a massive stretch.

Re: Tesla Roadster

#189

Post by jfoutz »

simonbarker87 wrote: post #59
Animats wrote: post #23

Does this mean that Tesla is pivoting from their attempt to produce a medium-priced car in quantity and going back to hand-building high-end cars? Tesla is good at high-end, low volume products. But the Model 3 production fiasco shows they don't know how to do what Detroit and Wolfsburg and Toyota City do. This is in a way a step backwards. Tesla is going back to targeting the 1%. There are lots of little supercar co…

Pretty mich every car company makes a high end sports car. This isn’t a pivot, this is establishing Tesla as a car company with a range of cars rather than just 1 or 2 that are very similar. Product diversification is a good thing for companies that make physical products. The manufacturing process and higher margins on this will likely fund new developments that will trickle down to the less expensive models.

Also I think the sports car helps solve problems. You can spend a little more on a solution, then figure out how to do it cheaper on the next generation family sedans. Even decide if that’s just the wrong approach due to maintenance headaches.

Re: Tesla Roadster

#190

Post by baq »

sago wrote: post #158
gsnedders wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chiron is traction limited for most of its run; I presume to beat the Chiron's time the Tesla Roadster has better tyres for initial grip.

> Chiron is traction limited for most of its run This sounds very dubious, unless it has negative aerodynamic downforce. Even then, the times for each successive mph drop off too fast for it to be traction limited. Even F1 cars are not traction limited for more than a brief spell of straight-line acceleration. Aero drag dominates very quickly. Cornering or braking, on the other hand...

The Veyron had little downforce when put into suicide mode, right?
Post reply on HN