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

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

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 295 posts

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

#161

Post by dasmoth »

outworlder wrote: post #49
pbreit wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a fantastic read! I wonder if they get any tech or materials from SpaceX?

Well, SpaceX uses inconel. They also must have a quite good understanding of pyrotechnics, as they need to use that in a lot of places, eg. stage separation. So I'd say yes, at least on the tech transfer part.

SpaceX seem to try pretty hard to avoid pyros -- one reason I've heard is that pyro devices can't be tested!

i believe they do still use a few, but pretty sure not for stage separation.

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

#162

Post by cloudwalking »

bravo22 wrote: post #150
rjusher wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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)¿?

The carbon footprint of producing the battery, even not considering the chemicals, is very large. So much so that you'd have to drive it on many years from a full-renewable source for you to break even with a regular car[1]. Tesla, sadly, maximizes the battery in their cars. My read is that their main goal is selling batteries and everything from opening their "patents" (i.e. their custom connectors/battery pack) to…

What about the carbon footprint of producing gasoline? You're missing half of the equation.

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

#163

Post by throw7 »

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.

look up dual-clutch transmissions. agreed though, nothing's faster than not having to shift at all. the downside of a single gear may be limitation at top speed.... maybe.

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

#164

Post by ohsnap »

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…

Really hard for big companies to change. They have built a loyal brand around big gasoline engines. In fact the sound of the engine is so important to them that BMW pumps fake 'vroom' sounds into the i8 so it sounds like a v8. I'm not kidding.

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

#165

Post by Dylan16807 »

aselzer wrote: post #122
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).

I think you're an order of magnitude low; the battery is arranged to give 100x that voltage and still put out over a thousand amps.

But we're looking at batteries with 23k amp hours across all the individual cells.

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

#166

Post by lentil »

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.

It might get fixed. I just (last week) got a letter in the mail from Mazda saying there's a software update available for the info/nav in my Mazda3. Haven't had a chance to take it in yet to get the update applied, but I'm hoping that it will fix some of the issues I've seen.

Of course maybe your car is new enough that you already have that software version, in which case mine might be about to get worse... :)

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

#167

Post by rdtsc »

nicboobees wrote: post #117
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".

This is an awful user experience though. Look at mobile phones. An old Nokia 3210 or something, just works. It does everything fine. It works as a phone. It was designed from start to finish, and built. Compare that with Android. Every update they seem to break or remove some functionality. Endless software updates, restarting, etc. It was shipped with bugs, it'll always have bugs. I'm not convinced this is an improv…

Aslo battery life. I used to charge my phone once a week, tops. I could drop it, throw, it fit in my hand my pocket find. Now I have to charge it every day. My android is more of a portable computer that also knows how to make calls via the cell phone network.

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

#168

Post by dandrews »

curiousjorge wrote: post #77

this alone will be a good enough excuse to get this car if you could afford it. Asides Nissan GTR, supercars running in 300,000 USD will do roughly 3.0~3.1. hypercars like pagani, p1, porsche, laferrari achieve sub 3.0 I'm extremely impressed. Even more because this was just another regular software update.

Not only s/w this time.

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

#169

Post by arprocter »

Retric wrote: post #132
jakemoshenko wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here I am trying to imagine a vehicle with infotainment but without a steering wheel. It raises so many questions! Do you assume that we will purchase self driving cars frequently enough that the infotainment will keep pace? Do you anticipate purchasing a personal train or fighter jet? Do the handlebars on a motorcycle count as a steering wheel?

People used to buy aftermarket stereos fairly frequently and I don’t see any reason why the infotainment system can’t have that kind up upgradeability. Worst case strap an iPad over the old system. PS: I can see the argument for a highly limited system when they can distract the driver, but if I am effectively a passenger that's a non-issue.

I'm not a fan of screens simply because operating a button or a knob uses less of my attention

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

#170

Post by justizin »

semi-extrinsic wrote: post #139
j-b wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, did you end up buying a different vehicle? If so, which one?

With the OP's requirements I'd recommend a '94 Volvo 240 Turbo. (If we ever need a second car I'm getting one; my first car was one). New enough to be safe (airbags etc), some tinkering will get you 300 bhp, it's rear-wheel drive and has a perfect 50-50 weight distribution if you move the battery to the trunk (standard rally trick). Stereo still has a cassette player, so a $5 adapter lets you plug in your phone for m…

> Sure, it's more expensive in gas money, but when you factor in the reduced depreciation that's peanuts.

What a disappointing attitude to have toward fuel consumption in 2015. :/

Post reply on HN