Tesla Alpha Model S 2012 spec and review

Tesla Alpha Model S 2012 spec and review
The 2012 Tesla Alpha Model S is a streamlined electric vehicle designed with the ultimate performance and aerodynamic features in mind. Improved airflow from wind tunnel technology allowed the body design to be produced with heightened efficiency and range. The Tesla Model S is expected to rival other vehicles like the BMW 5-Series and the Mercedes Benz E-Class. The Tesla will be offered with a 160, 220, and 300 mile battery pack that can be topped off in around 45 minutes. Estimated cost is expected to run around $50,000. A large navigation screen controls interior features such as the radio, navigation, and HVAC controls. Six piston Brembo brakes on the front and 4 piston calipers in back are surrounded by 21 inch wheels. The Alpha Model can achieve a 0-60 time in an impressive 5.6 seconds, with a top speed of 120 mph. Tesla took its aerodynamic design seriously, even offering door handles that retract to decrease wind drag.

[Source: Tesla]

Recreating Tesla's Wireless Power Experiments

via Gizmodo by Sean Fallon on 6/12/09



If you have a thing for Tesla coils (and who doesn't really) you will be interested in this experiment/history lesson about wireless power put on by Omega Recoil at this year's Maker Faire.

During the presentation, they provide some background on Nikola Tesla's experiments and attempt to recreate them by powering a light bulb wirelessly at various distances. It works of course—in 1899 Tesla managed to transmit 100 million volts of power over a distance of 26 miles where it lit up a bank of 200 light bulbs and an electric motor. So why haven't figured out how to do this on a large scale over the last 100 years?

New Lithium-Sulfur Batteries Could Last 3x Longer Than Lithium-Ion

via Gizmodo by Dan Nosowitz on 6/10/09



Scientists at the University of Waterloo have designed a lithium-sulfur battery that, thanks to nanotechnology, is capable of 3 times the power of lithium-ion batteries with equal volume while remaining both lighter and cheaper to produce. Long-distance electric cars, anyone?

The different atomic structure of the battery and knowledge of nanotechnology are what make this battery different. They used "mesoporous carbon, a material that presents a highly uniform pore structure at nanoscale level," to allow for a more efficient design:

The team assembled a nanostructure of carbon rods separated by empty channels, sulfur was then melted to fill the tiny voids thanks to capillary forces. All the spaces were uniformly filled with sulfur, thus maximizing the surface area in direct contact with carbon and boosting battery efficiency.

We've been needing a new battery technology for awhile now, especially for electric cars, so here's hoping they can get these lithium-sulfur batteries into production as soon as possible and that they deliver on the possibilities we see here. If it really is capable of three times the batter life, we're talking about something like a 730-mile range on a Tesla, 20 hours on a MacBook, or half a week on an iPod, all without added bulk or expense!