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      04-28-2013, 05:26 AM   #23
hotrod182
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Drives: 2023 i4 M50
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: California

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Quote:
Originally Posted by gvega702 View Post
If you can afford it, occasionally people do something to benefit society and the planet, rather than just their pocket books.
I love my electric car. I would say I am driving it twice as much as my 2011 BMW. Smooth, instant torque, no gear changes, and absolutely silent. Not to mention I have achieved up to 130mpge. Yes, the costs don't always pen out, but the concept of driving on sunlight is awesome in my opinion. I am in the planning process right now of putting up a $24,000-$30,000 solar system within the next few months. I was absolutely surprised how many Nissan Leaf customers are the same ones buying the $100,000 Tesla and $60K solar systems.

Here is an example of a modern solar installation:

https://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/...tems/2Kkg31401

You can see real time production per panel. If you push the play button when looking to today's production, you can see how each panel reacts throughout the day.

An average 250 watt 3.2 ft x 5.5 ft solar panel will put out 1.2-1.3kWh daily in Southern California. My 12 miles of daily driving to/from work would be covered by just 4 panels. Pretty remarkable stuff. Soon as battery technology gets better, the electric car will become more mainstream. The LEAF battery is reported to cost $12000-$18000 to replace, and deteriorates every year. But, as it is, a Tesla S Performance sedan can fit 4 adults, and 2 kids. Has a front hood area with huge storage capacity. cg of only 17" above the ground (same as a Z06). Can run 0-60 in 4.1 second, and low 12 second qtr mile times. Won the Motor Trend Car of the year award, and absolutely stunned Road and Track. R&R stated that without the 640hp Viper (On the front cover of the 4/13 edition) clutching and revving its engine, it would lose in a 5mph-60mph race with the Tesla. And the Tesla does it with an engine the size of a small office trash can nestled between the 2 rear wheels. And it can get 88mpge, or much better efficiency than a Prius. Two of these small motors would be putting out 800+hp and around 900lbs of torque! When battery tech evolves, then we will start seeing some amazing performance numbers. Just look at the top $1M Mclaren P1 and Ferrari coming out. Both have electric motors to boost their performance. The future is going to be fascinating for electric drive technologies.

Even my LEAF has 80,000 watt motor which is quite amazing. 200lbs torque at 0rpm. A Tesla has a 320,000 watt motor (400+lbs tq at 0 rpm). Kind of amazing if you put it in 12volt terms, that would be 6666amps for the LEAF and 26,666 amps for the Tesla. The fast charger on these cars be can deliver over 50000 watts. My LEAF is loaded with heated steering wheel, heated front/rear seats, awesome back up camera, comfort access, sirius radio, home link, streaming bluetooth audio, smart phone apps, LED headlights. Very techie stuff.

I'm enjoying driving my electric car so much, my next BMW will most likely be the i3.

FYI: Here is a video I took while doing a 0-75mph run in the $100K Tesla S. With 3 adults in the car.

__________________
2011 Alpine 335d M-Sport 12.34 @ 110.48mph
2019 i3s Terra,
2008 Black 335i Sedan. 11.11@ 129.47 mph
2008 Monaco Blue JB3 2.0 335i Coupe. 11.33 @ 132.77 mph, 60-130mph: 6.95 seconds
2023 i4 M50 11.48 @ 121.56mph, 3.43 0-60 (dragy)

Last edited by hotrod182; 05-05-2013 at 12:19 AM..
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