tesla

I know its capri forum but this really is something  - 95k delivered in aust next year.Actually has a 460 KM range - the top model comes which its owner charger - re-charges the car in 20 min -  US built.Thinking about it - if u travel 80000km / per year for a business, bill them at the lowest 0.63c/km (=$50,000) - buy one of these and....... :


 
 

thinking - Tesla have given up their patents on their battery technology etc - u can order them direct from Japan or the US. Mount a 12 inch 4 pole ac motor in the gearbox tunnel, (no gearbox), battery packs etc in the engine bay - you should be able to build a nice electric capri with decent range and speed. Nice and quiet, no exhaust  system, no more visits to the petrol station, no pollution .........

whoops - I meant one of the old capris (not that it matters). The thing about the tesla is the range and power output it achieves (vs the range of the leaf and others which generally get you only 100 -150km).Converting an older car up to this point would give u a similar result - a $16k conversion (with the older style lithium batteries) will give u around 120km - useless except for a daily commute to a local job (mind u the acceleration is as good as a petrol engine). The batteries apparently make up approx half of the total conversion cost.
You should be able to achieve a much better result with commodity cell technology used by tesla. They are apparently looking to sell an 85kw pack for under 20k, - much more respectable. To re-charge in 20min makes it extremely palatable. Makes it worthwhile owning an electric car in Australia (esp since we import 91% of our oil).