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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

#121

Post by zdrummond »

e40 wrote: post #103
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.

Except, when I was driving my Tesla Model S down a long stretch of highway, the entire instrument cluster froze. I had to pull off and turn it off and on again; I kid you not.

Move fast break things! Hmmmm.

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

#122

Post by aselzer »

mrfusion wrote: post #35

How can they get that many amps out of the battery? It seems like you'd need a capactior to have that kind of power?

There are lithium polymer batteries with a peak discharge rate (usually a few seconds) of 100+ times their capacity (C rating).

So if you put a lot of those single cells in parallel to e.g. form an 80Ah battery, you could for some time pull 8000A+ out of it at 3.7V (the car's motors probably need a few times that voltage, so there will be cells in series).

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

#123

Post by scott_karana »

rdl wrote: post #42
andyeskridge wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aparently the new Roadster will. [1] [1] http://techcrunch.com/2015/07/17/surprise-tesla-is-working-o...

I assume that means awd for the new roadster; Otherwise I don't see how they could do tires.

Don't forget that strength-to-weight is a big determinant of acceleration, so the new Roadster wouldn't necessarily need to be AWD. (and here's hoping it's not!)

There are plenty of Benzes, BMWs, and domestic sports/sporty cars with massive acceleration "despite" being RWD. (See all the Viper vs Model S videos, for example)

A Model S drivetrain in something that isn't 2200kg long-wheelbase sedan would be amazing :)

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

#125

Post by city41 »

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…

Why do you say the other makers are passive? BMW, Mercedes, Nissan, VW, Ford and Fiat all have fully electric cars. Sure none of them get near the range the Model S does, but they are getting involved in this. A Nissan Leaf offers roughly one third the specs of a Model S, but also at one third the price. Seems like progress to me.

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

#126

Post by NovaS1X »

Cshelton wrote: post #108
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 cu…

Tire grip is a huge one. I'm sure the improvements are as you said it's been a theory of mine too. Suspension also has an effect however obviously wouldn't be affected by this update.

I think they do these test with the stock tires. It would be nice to see what the Model S could do with a set of R compounds or Hoosiers in a straight line.

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

#127

Post by aidenn0 »

dragontamer wrote: post #82
prplhaz4 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

a tenth of a second for a 0-60 time actually is kind of a big deal...the closer you get to zero the harder it is to shave off that additional tenth...traction also becomes a very real limitation...bravo to the Tesla team. Also, i'm pretty sure the Tesla IS the only $100k luxury sedan with that performance right now. Very few pure sports cars make it under 3s.

Its probably _because_ of traction actually. A internal combustion engine has to worry about gears and gear switching. Even if the gear takes a short-time to switch, that is a penalty that the electric cars do not face. The Tesla can provide smooth acceleration from 0 to 60. No combustion engine can accomplish that feat... although some hybrid supercars are beginning to incorporate electric motors for that reason.

Twin-clutch ICEs are pretty darn smooth acceleration.

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

#128

Post by gonehome »

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.

My friend has a Mazda3 and we hacked on it over the weekend to make the infotainment system a little bit better.

Check this out: http://www.mazda3hacks.com/doku.php

You can turn off the annoying restrictions, change the ordering of some menus and drastically reduce the time of the starting confirmation dialogue box. All you need is a USB to Ethernet adaptor.

Also make sure to disable watchdog or you can get into a reboot loop that makes it difficult to ssh back in and fix (we almost thought we'd have to bring it into the dealer, but we were able to get out of it with some script on that forum).

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

#129

Post by aidenn0 »

outworlder wrote: post #10
leeoniya wrote: post #2

so it's a fuse that costs $5k or $10k. is it made from 5oz-10oz of solid platinum? what am i missing here [1]? [1] http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3D...

What you are missing is that it's a 1500A fuse. Source: http://jalopnik.com/the-tesla-model-s-just-got-upgraded-to-l... > While working on our goal of making the power train last a million miles, we came up with the idea for an advanced smart fuse for the battery. Instead of a standard fuse that just melts past a certain amperage, which means you aren’t exactly sure when it will or won’t melt or if it will arc when i…

What voltage are they running at? That's a crazy high current, I wonder if they could run at a higher voltage.

[edit] Just dividing the power-train rating of 515kW by 1300A yields a bit under 400V which sounds reasonable.

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

#130

Post by nogridbag »

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 wonder what's taking so long for automakers to adopt technologies like android auto. If I have to have an infotainment screen, I just want a dumb screen that I can dock a variety of different phones to.
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