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Tesla’s Model S Gets “Ludicrous” Mode, Will Do 0-60 in 2.8 Seconds

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Re: Tesla’s Model S Gets “Ludicrous” Mode, Will Do 0-60 in 2.8 Seconds

#101

Post by rjusher »

bravo22 wrote: post #92
rjusher wrote: post #76

One thing I don't understand is the position of the big car makers(BMW, MB, AUDI) being a passive observer in this field. Tesla is getting so much, that if any automaker that can deliver a car with half the specs of a model S, and keeping their model's prices as a mass produced car, would deliver a big punch to Tesla, and would greatly move the market forward. Is it the investment necessary for building a network of…

The batteries in a Tesla aren't very green and sadly they are quite large. Big automakers think in volumes of millions of cars, Tesla delivers about 25K (EDIT: looks like 40K projected for this year[1]) cars a year. http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2015/05/12/tes...

What do you mean with not very green, I do know they carry chemicals inside, but the not very green part is the manufacturing or the battery itself.

But Tesla is also working in a big battery factory, and I read this plant is very green.

But how is the batteries less green than cars producing contamination. (The batteries could be worst, that's is something I haven't even considered)¿?

Re: Tesla’s Model S Gets “Ludicrous” Mode, Will Do 0-60 in 2.8 Seconds

#102

Post by mackey »

tthayer wrote: post #89
stefanobernardi wrote: post #9

Even if not a software update, I still find Tesla's way of thinking of a car as an actual (continuously update/upgrade-able) product fascinating. Very rare for hardware. It gives an amazing user experience, "Hey restart your car and it's now got X and Y". Respect. Edit: clarifying the term "product".

Agreed. The 2015 Mazda3 we just bought has a horrible info/nav system that crashes and frequently stops responding. I'm guessing the actual chance of it ever being fixed at 0%. Tesla's get an automatic OTA update that would fix that kind of thing and it wouldn't be something you'd have to 'deal' with for the rest of your ownership of the vehicle.

I have been researching mazdas (CX-5) lately and they do get updates to the info/nav system. I think I read there is a crashing problem in v.51 or something, but its fixed in v.55. Not the same as tesla, but better than others.

Re: Tesla’s Model S Gets “Ludicrous” Mode, Will Do 0-60 in 2.8 Seconds

#103

Post by e40 »

stefanobernardi wrote: post #9

Even if not a software update, I still find Tesla's way of thinking of a car as an actual (continuously update/upgrade-able) product fascinating. Very rare for hardware. It gives an amazing user experience, "Hey restart your car and it's now got X and Y". Respect. Edit: clarifying the term "product".

What is doubly amazing about this: they must really be confident of their testing procedures and software practices, because the liability of pushing a bad software update and causing injury to a driver... confidence, for sure. I'm certain this is the reason Toyota and others don't ever update the software in your car, after you purchase it, unless it's a recall firmware fix.

Re: Tesla’s Model S Gets “Ludicrous” Mode, Will Do 0-60 in 2.8 Seconds

#104

Post by zzzeek »

epmatsw wrote: post #56
ck2 wrote: post #39

No-one needs this, I predict accidents. I hope insurance companies can determine which models have this and inexperienced drivers should pay more. Just hope no-one kills anyone.

Well that's a pretty silly way to look at this. No one needs a car that can go faster than 85mph, but pretty much every car on the market can break that limit. What makes this different?

my dad has a Tesla, I've driven it, and I think it is entirely different. The acceleration you see in a Tesla happens at times like, when you're trying to make a left turn in front of some other cars really fast; you're going from zero to about 30 miles in hour in less than a second, silently. If you happen to not have seen a pedestrian in the crosswalk as you do this, that pedestrian is dead; they will not hear you, and you will be through them before you even know it.

The acceleration of the Tesla presents a challenge to normal human reaction times on a routine basis. It encourages the driver to use the greater acceleration advantage to do things that would not be possible in more traditional cars, like zooming from a dead stop to a very high speed to get through turns or rapidly changing traffic blockages. All with zero engine noise emitted to the world around you.

I love the tesla but the acceleration / noise thing is definitely going to cause more accidents until some mitigation is applied (which I hope to be that the cars just drive themselves).

Re: Tesla’s Model S Gets “Ludicrous” Mode, Will Do 0-60 in 2.8 Seconds

#105

Post by coldpie »

tthayer wrote: post #89
stefanobernardi wrote: post #9

Even if not a software update, I still find Tesla's way of thinking of a car as an actual (continuously update/upgrade-able) product fascinating. Very rare for hardware. It gives an amazing user experience, "Hey restart your car and it's now got X and Y". Respect. Edit: clarifying the term "product".

Agreed. The 2015 Mazda3 we just bought has a horrible info/nav system that crashes and frequently stops responding. I'm guessing the actual chance of it ever being fixed at 0%. Tesla's get an automatic OTA update that would fix that kind of thing and it wouldn't be something you'd have to 'deal' with for the rest of your ownership of the vehicle.

I will never buy a vehicle with both an infotainment system and a steering wheel. Subaru lost a sale of a brand new car when the dealer sat down, turned the key, and the radio showed.... a loading bar.

Fuck that. I deal with shitty software enough everywhere else in my life. I'm not going to put up with that in a 4000lb piece of metal going 70 MPH.

Re: Tesla’s Model S Gets “Ludicrous” Mode, Will Do 0-60 in 2.8 Seconds

#106

Post by beambot »

vvanders wrote: post #93

More impressive to me is the fact that the 90kWh battery is already trickling down to the Model S. It was originally developed for the Model X. I think it's safe to say that we'll see Model X features moving down to the Model S much faster than previously thought. This is how you relentlessly improve a product instead of holding specific features to a Model without solid technical reasons.

I've been reading Henry Ford's autobiography ("My Life and Work"), and it seems like Musk is taking a page directly from Ford's playbook with continuous product (and component) updates that are (mostly) backwards compatible with previously-produced vehicles in the same model.

The parallels are pretty amazing, and they go much much deeper too (eg. fabrication automation, experimentation, engineering to the highest extent possible, etc).

Re: Tesla’s Model S Gets “Ludicrous” Mode, Will Do 0-60 in 2.8 Seconds

#107

Post by rjusher »

csours wrote: post #98
rjusher wrote: post #76

One thing I don't understand is the position of the big car makers(BMW, MB, AUDI) being a passive observer in this field. Tesla is getting so much, that if any automaker that can deliver a car with half the specs of a model S, and keeping their model's prices as a mass produced car, would deliver a big punch to Tesla, and would greatly move the market forward. Is it the investment necessary for building a network of…

The biggest issue at the moment is the limited range with battery only. Even after a large network of charging stations is created, the user experience for long trips is not ideal - up to 1/4 of driving time may be spent charging. The ownership paradigm may change at some point, but at the moment people like the idea of using their own car to go around town as well as going on vacation / see the parents / etc across…

You are completely right, even though I would like to own a car for my daily use, and a big car for trips and etc, is not feasible, for me at least, so I have to buy the best of both worlds.

I disagree with the 1/4 of the time charging, with a solution like the Tesla's battery swap, it would be far less(I could be completely wrong in this).

Re: Tesla’s Model S Gets “Ludicrous” Mode, Will Do 0-60 in 2.8 Seconds

#108

Post by Cshelton »

rdl wrote: post #17

If you can do this as a $10k update "safely" with a computer-controlled pyro fuse, I wonder what you could do by hacking the firmware and replacing it with a piece of busbar. 2 seconds?

I feel like the limit of what these motors can do now is being held back by something they can't control anymore, tire grip.

I think a lot of these software updates on the acceleration speed aren't because they all of the sudden figured out how to get more power from the electric motor. I think it's from tweaking the "no-slip" system or whatever they call theirs. Basically when the car detects it's losing grip, it cuts back the power. I think this is a balancing act on how to get the system to push the limits of slipping without putting the average user into a ditch because they tried out the "ludicrous" mode.

I'm sure on static conditions in a lab, Tesla can make the thing do something like 2s. It would require something other than a regular tire on a regular road though.

Re: Tesla’s Model S Gets “Ludicrous” Mode, Will Do 0-60 in 2.8 Seconds

#109

Post by mynameisvlad »

WillPostForFood wrote: post #100
stefanobernardi wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of the responses got what I meant, which I realize is not clear. I mean a non-disposable, dynamic and upgradable hardware product. This is the first time that I see this in the hardware world, where every object is manufactured and then all plans are towards a V2 or a new product. The few exceptions are for recalls, but that's obviously a different story.

Is it really that different from the performance parts divisions of the major auto makers? Like Toyota uses TRD to build and sell aftermarket parts that you can get installed at the Toyota dealer. Mercedes does it with AMG, Ford with Ford Performance, etc...

It is 100% different. This isn't aftermarket performance parts (which is an incredibly narrow field of upgrades), this is updates and new features actively being provided to everyone who has purchased the vehicle. Hell, most cars require you to go into a dealer for a software update in the first place, don't even think about going in to get a new feature like cruise control installed unless you got it as a shoddy aftermarket replacement (OEM parts are generally hard to find aftermarket).

AMG also doesn't make parts anymore, they make tuned versions of existing cars, as new products.

Re: Tesla’s Model S Gets “Ludicrous” Mode, Will Do 0-60 in 2.8 Seconds

#110

Post by declan »

DanBlake wrote: post #12
dxhdr wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's as fast as the Nissan GT-R, which coincidentally costs around the same price as the Tesla. https://www.google.com/search?q=nissan%20gt-r

The GTR is 2.9 seconds, so the tesla is faster- Its also faster in the 1/4 mile as well, so this is kind of a big deal. I believe this is the fastest production car under 300k that you can buy.

>I believe this is the fastest production car under 300k that you can buy.

The 2014 Porsche 911 Turbo S was tested by Car and Driver at 2.5 seconds 0-60, and it's ~$200K, depending on options: http://www.caranddriver.com/porsche/911-turbo-turbo-s

I suspect the 2015 Turbo S might be a bit quicker.

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