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Model S Alpha Hits the Road from Tesla Motors on Vimeo.
Elon Musk’s desire to see “every car on the road” driven by electricity is briefly realized in this video of the Tesla Model S “Alpha” prototype testing somewhere in the coastal hills of California. Tesla’s “Alpha” phase of testing began last year, and will be followed by a “Beta” test phase before the Model S goes into production. More videos on the Model S and its technical components can be found at Tesla’s Vimeo page.
23 Comments on “Tesla Model S Prototype Hits The Road...”
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Is it me or is it really loud? Did they overdub some “whooshing” noises to give the feeling of…whooshing? I thought it’d be quieter.
I bet they dubbed it. I hope they dubbed it. For safety purposes, add-on EV noises are totally unnecessary at more than 20mph. http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/fetchArticle.action?articleURI=info%3Adoi%2F10.1289%2Fehp.119-a30
They may be unnecessary, but I know with absolute certainty that, if I end up buying EV that makes a noise I’m damn well rigging it to sound like a TIE fighter regardless of speed.
It sure sounds like it. For some reason, producers through the years just can’t seem to give us anything that isn’t “enhanced” somehow, i.e: Radio announcer “echo” (which I like), old movies in which certain action scenes are sped up to emphasize intensity (which I don’t), CGI that also tosses laws of physics out the window and noise enhancements like this. Recently on the Food Network on an episode of “Iron Chef”, they added a subtle “whooshing” sound when the chairman turned his head real quick! My wife and I died laughing when we caught that. I have not watched it since. I suppose since the perception is that nobody does anything physical anymore, but just watches TV all the time, “they” think “they” need to punp up the intensity of anything broadcast.
Many (most?) people don’t seem to realize that, except when under hard acceleration, most of the sound that an ICE-powered car makes once it’s above 30 or 40 mph is tire and wind noise (which are actually more or less the same, as tire noise is mostly air being compressed, released and otherwise moved around where the treads hit the road). I would actually be surprised if an electric car at cruising speed sounded much different that an ICE-powered one. You do notice that the Tesla makes no extra noise accelerating out of corners, etc. I thought maybe we’d hear some electrical or mechanical whine, but I didn’t detect anythin significant at all.
If this thing came out at $50k, had some form of service support in my area, and I had $50k to spend on a car, I’d run out and buy one immediately, regardless of whether it was electric or ICE-powered. I think it’s a stunning looking car, and appears to be a 4-door hatch to boot.
“if I end up buying EV that makes a noise I’m damn well rigging it to sound like a TIE fighter regardless of speed.”
Suit yourself, but I’m going Millenium Falcon.
It looks very nice, even nicer in real than in pictures
by today’s standards, it is a good looking car.
Looks like it gets a little oversteery at 1:07.
Why does an all-electric car need a faux grille?
[quote]Why does an all-electric car need a faux grille?[/quote]
To cool the electric motor / batteries ?
Anyway, most grilleless cars look like crap. Think of a 1990 VW Passat.
Not everybody is in agreement that form following function looks “like crap”. Some of us actually believe it looks like honest design. As opposed to an expanse of solid plastic painted black to mimic a feature which serves no purpose.
I personally prefer the original grilleless design of the 1990 Passat over the later version design instituted solely to placate people who demanded pointless ornamentation.
“most grilleless cars look like crap.”
My ’99 Oldsmobile Intrigue was a sharp looker, thanks to its grilleless face.
I really should have kept that car…
It seems like a fine car to me. Give credit where credit is due, I say, and this looks like it could be a serious automobile as far as I can tell.
It will be serious when it has the range and the quick fill-er-up time. Until then, it’s strictly niche.
My thoughts exactly. My rule of thumb: if I can’t drive it from San Francisco to Los Angeles and back in one day, it’s not a car. It’s an elaborate lifestyle statement.
LA to SF is 381 miles per google maps, will you allow 8, 4, 2, or 0 hours to recharge in between trips?
Regardless of charging time I’d say you mean it needs to go at least the 400 miles without charging. But do you allow for any slow charging time in the mid point of the round trip?
At 8 hours it’d have to be a 400 mile range vehicle
At 4 hours it’d have to be a 600 mile range vehicle
At 2 hours it’d have to be a 700 mile range vehicle
At 0 hours it’d have to be a 800 mile range vehicle
Keep in mind best I’ve seen on a 4 door gas vehicle (Camry, Taurus, etc) is about 500 miles
Oh wait that was a bit of a trick question on recharge times. A quick charger can charge an electric vehicle in less than an 30 minutes which is close enough in my book vs a car with a 300 mile range filling up twice for that trip. (That is a 345V @ 70A quick charger) which presumably “gas stations” of the future would have. Or should I say “fuel stations” now? If you stop for gas twice in a day in CA how much time does that kill is 10-15 minutes a fillup unreasonable for gas?
In combination with minor amounts of slow charging at each end of the trip a 20 minute charge might be required on the way back at a “fuel station”. But the hard part is getting it to make the 400 mile trip in one shot.
and Tesla is claiming 300 miles on the model S
I recall the estimated price to be around 50k for this, competing with the A6/E-Class/5 series. Should be interesting to see how it shakes out.
Indeed. I have a January 2013 call option on TSLA. I put my money where my mouth is. If deliveries start in 2012 as promised and it sells OK, I’ll make enough to buy one.
it does look nice, i almost thought of her as a new jaguar.
it does have a whooshing sound. where it came from?
is unlike your girl friend or wife’s high heel stilettos designed for all show & no go, except u can play chauffeur to pick her up. but whose going to pick u up when your car needs juice? or dr hook.
some experts here said quick charge only quicken the untimely demise of the battery, i think i’ve heard something like that on general charging of batt. these batt are not something u can buy a couple batt when its on sale at wally mart or radio shack.
Does anyone else see the new Kia Optima in this design?
If you have ever heard a glider plane make a low pass down a runway you know that the air moving over the wings and fuselage makes an unbelievable shreeking, shrill turbine-like whine that is absolutely astonishing the first time you hear it. I doubt there was any dubbing at all in this video.
Didn’t anyone notice the unfortunate slowing of the vehicle towards the end of this clip? I am sure it was not due to battery discharge, but it surely adds a a negative subliminal feeling as the car is slower and slower in the last few passes. They need to fix this pronto.
You’re right about the glider thing. The Space Shuttle makes quite a shriek when it lands, and it’s totally unpowered.
That is one beautiful car.