Wheel motors make no sense in most cases. They add a lot of unsprung weight and add more complexity. You need to provide flexible cables handling a LOT of current at high voltage, plus you have to deal with dirt, water, shock, vibration and other things you don't want to get into a motor. You also require an inverter for each motor. You're better off having the motors in the body of the car. There's not a lot you can do about the issues of unsprung weight. I had a long discussion with a friend of mine who helped design the Tesla drive train about this. The unsprung weight is a big issue and has a large negative effect on how the car handles. You typically want to minimize unsprung weight. Think of the effect of all of that additional weight going over bumps. You also can't provide the gearing you can for an in-body motor. Most EVs use gear reduction.

This should be quite safe. There is a lot of negotiation that goes on before current can actually start flowing and it's not like gasoline will explode unless it's coating the contacts or the fumes are strong enough that anyone nearby would pass out.

Fuel cells also have a limited lifetime. Their performance is significantly reduced by 70,000 miles.

Except now the problem isn't the small dealerships. It's the huge dealership conglomerates that are worth billions. The laws were created in order to prevent the likes of GM from competing directly with third-party dealerships. In the case of Tesla, there are no third-party dealerships with which to compete.

Also, with the Tesla model dealerships don't really work. Every car Tesla sells is made to order. There is no inventory sitting around at dealerships. The customer orders exactly what they want and it's made to order. This is very different than a traditional dealership where the dealer buys an inventory of cars then turns around to sell it to the customer.

If one looks at the average power generation an EV is more efficient than diesel. Where I live none of my power is generated from diesel and a fair amount comes from renewable sources (wind, geothermal, solar, etc). The percentage of renewable power is growing quickly in my area as well and most new power plants coming online are natural gas since it's cheaper than coal. The percentage of power in the US generated from coal is dropping rapidly.

http://phys.org/news/2013-09-d...

The energy losses in electricity transmission are fairly low (estimated around 7%). The chargers are also fairly efficient (over 90%) and charging Li-Ion batteries is also quite efficient. Similarly, the inverters are also quite efficient (over 90% is typical) and the electric motor are also quite efficient (typically 80% or higher). There is minimal loss in the transmission compared to an ICE vehicle as well since there are only two gears (single speed, just a 9.73:1 gear reduction). At least in my Tesla, losses due to resistance are quite low due to the very short runs between the battery, inverter and motors and very heavy duty power buses. On top of that, a lot of energy is recovered from braking, unlike diesel vehicles.

There are other advantages as well. An EV is extremely smooth and quiet, unlike a diesel. It cost me a fraction the amount it cost per-mile compared to a diesel vehicle as well. My EV gets cleaner as time goes on whereas most vehicles emit more pollution as they age.

Another thing to consider is that many EV owners have also installed solar to help offset their energy use, further reducing CO2 emissions.

For urban delivery trucks electricity makes even more sense.

https://www.fleetio.com/blog/n...
http://www.greencarcongress.co...

Which is why Tesla has numerous patents on this using a hybrid approach. They use the metal air batteries to charge normal batteries for peak demand.

My guess is that it will be a change in the GPS software to show the battery usage required for a destination and better integrating the superchargers into the GPS. Last week the loaner P85+ I drove while my car was having its annual service had beta software on it and I noticed this in the GPS.

Actually it's not 4x the price in the market the model S is in. It's actually fairly comparible and in some cases a bargain when compared to the other luxury cars it's competing against. Right now they have 28% margins on the model S. As for profitability Tesla is doing the right thing and is spending their money on growth which is exactly what they should be doing. They're not an old established company like GM or Ford so they have to spend a lot of money investing in the infrastructure they need for the future (i.e. the gigafactory, R&D for more models, superchargers, more manufacturing capability, etc.) Once they're out of the huge expansion phase then they should be profitable.

I don't know of any electric that gets 35eMPG. My model S is rated at 89MPGe. A leaf is even better. Also, the model S is not a sports car but a sedan. And we buy them because it beats the hell out of driving a Prius (my previous car). Hell, an electric can go 30 miles using just the energy required to refine a gallon of gasoline.

There's a web site I use that is pretty good at estimating range. It takes into account the destination, change in elevation, type of tires, speed, temperature and wind conditions. Last week when I had my annual service the loaner car I drove (A P85+) had beta software running on it. The GPS showed an estimate of how much battery would be used for the trip. I know they're working on better integrating the charging and battery support into the GPS.

I'd love to see a gas car take 1-3 minutes. It's typically longer than that. Even without a supercharger I spend less of my time charging than I did filling up my car. I spend 5 seconds plugging in at night and 5 seconds unplugging in the morning. The time spent actually charging is irrelivant in most cases except during long trips.

Actually a full tank does not take "hours". For long distance travel a full tank takes 75 minutes using the superchargers. If the battery is completely empty it takes around 40 minutes to charge to 80% with over 200 miles of range. Usually I spend around 30 minutes charging instead of the "hours". Usually the amount of time is irrelivant since it takes me 5 seconds to plug in at night and 5 seconds to unplug in the morning.

Currently I can get an 80% charge in 40 minutes with over 200 miles of range. A "full tanke" takes around 75 minutes. The thing is that usually the charging time doesn't matter. When I come home at night it takes me 5 seconds to plug in (yes, that fast) and it takes me 5 seconds to unplug in the morning to a full tank. I only need to plug in every few days if I want to. In that way, the charging time is usually irrelivant and only comes into play during long trips. Contrast that to my ICE car where every week or so I would have to wait in line and spend 5 minutes filling up the car.

Even at high torque at low speed they are far more efficient than an ICE. As for more expensive controllers, the controllers for an induction motor are no more complicated than that of a synchronous motor. A synchronous motor needs to know the position of the motor, an induction motor needs to know the speed. In terms of complexity, they're not all that different. Also, usually you're not running at peak power. In terms of average power usage, say on a freeway, an induction motor may be more efficient than a brushless motor. See http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/induction-versus-dc-brushless-motors for a good discussion.

I don't think that article is accurate. It does not take into account the well to wheel efficiency. Hell, I can drive 30 miles using the energy required just to refine a gallon of gasoline.