High Flow Throttle Body

Van Canna · Post by **Van Canna** » Sat May 30, 2009 3:35 am

Nice cars, Bill...but I was hoping for the sound of a Maserati Quattroporte

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Sat May 30, 2009 3:52 am

Different, Van. They will be different.

One thing that'll probably be different is the transmission. The Tesla Roadster has a single forward gear. I'm not sure about the Model S. Maybe a CVT if any transmission.

- Bill

MikeK · Post by **MikeK** » Sat May 30, 2009 4:46 am

Van Canna wrote:The electric cars - when pushed hard - will sound like an electric drill on steroids.

Don't worry Van, we can fix that with a clothes pin and a baseball card.

http://www.spokester.com/gallery.htm

Gene DeMambro · Post by **Gene DeMambro** » Sat May 30, 2009 1:11 pm

One thing I've been wondering about the the utility of an all-electric car in long trips. It's a major buzzkill if a Tesla goes 200 to 300 miles in 5 or 6 hours, then has to stop for 8 hours to recharge.

Gene

MikeK · Post by **MikeK** » Sat May 30, 2009 8:53 pm

That's my thinking too. Compare that with 5 to 10 minutes to refuel a normal car.

I also have to wonder what this wondrous clean power will cost us. Currently I can shop, somewhat, the price I pay for fuel, and even pick the grade, but I have to wonder what will happen to the price of a "fill up" when there is but one distributor.

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Sat May 30, 2009 9:26 pm

Gene DeMambro wrote:
One thing I've been wondering about the the utility of an all-electric car in long trips. It's a major buzzkill if a Tesla goes 200 to 300 miles in 5 or 6 hours, then has to stop for 8 hours to recharge.

Gene

Batteries are where it's at. Every other piece of the technology is old school. But a better battery will break the barriers of range and charge time.

Here's where Tesla is on this.

Three battery pack options offer a range of 160, 230 or 300 miles per charge. With the 45 minute QuickCharge or a 5 minute battery swap, you can drive from LA to San Francisco, Washington to New York or take even longer road trips in about the same time as in a conventional car.

Switching battery packs? I call that a low tech solution to a high tech problem.

- Bill

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Sat May 30, 2009 9:29 pm

MikeK wrote:
I also have to wonder what this wondrous clean power will cost us. Currently I can shop, somewhat, the price I pay for fuel, and even pick the grade, but I have to wonder what will happen to the price of a "fill up" when there is but one distributor.

A martial arts friend of mine (Bill Stockey, hachidan) has retired in Greenville, NC. He and his wonderful MD wife have gone green on their home. One of the things they've done is to have enough solar panels installed on the roof of their house that it provides nearly unlimited hot water AND enough electricity to SELL power back to the grid.

Single supplier? Not in the future, my friend.

Also... If it's switching of a standardized battery pack (pre-charged) on the road, then you can have suppliers (service stations) competing with each other just like you do with conventional gasoline and diesel service stations.

- Bill

P.S. Bill is a Forum member here, although he hasn't posted in a long time.

f.Channell · Post by **f.Channell** » Sun May 31, 2009 12:10 am

Here you go Van.
Must admit I usually don't like euro's, but that sound did make the hair stand up on my arms!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6FUZ34- ... re=related

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 6:07 pm

There was an article in the paper today about GM filing for bankruptcy, and the many reasons why it headed down that path. One point in particular resonated with this line of discussion.

The whole article is here. It's very well written, and shows how this American icon could still be dominating if managers could have used this 20/20 hindsight. (Van in particular might get a chuckle out of item 6.)

- Bill

Seven reasons GM is headed to bankruptcy

***

3. Killing the EV1 electric program

Wagoner said his biggest mistake was killing the EV1, the company's pint-size electric car that was in test fleets in the late 1990s. It was a public relations debacle when the test cars had to be reclaimed and GM then scrapped them. But the real loss was scrapping the program behind them. GM abandoned a big lead in electric car technology and let Toyota take the green mantle for its hybrid Prius.

Now, GM is scrambling to regain the lead, promising its plug-in electric Volt will be on sale at the end of next year.

Al Benchich, a retired union president, says with the failure of the EV1, GM squandered the opportunity to keep the U.S. a dominant manufacturing force in a greener era.

"We have the people and the skills to do these things, and there's no reason we can't be doing it," says Benchich, who watched membership in his local United Auto Workers shop shrink from 2,800 13 years ago to about 500 today. "We could've been building this kind of stuff for a while now, keeping plants open and keeping people working."

***

Van Canna · Post by **Van Canna** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 7:22 pm

As to #6

What else is there

Van Canna · Post by **Van Canna** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 1:07 pm

f.Channell wrote:Here you go Van.
Must admit I usually don't like euro's, but that sound did make the hair stand up on my arms!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6FUZ34- ... re=related

Fred,
You know that the Maserati has a Ferrari engine in it, right?

These high end 'euros' ...especially the Italian cars... evoke 'stirrings' as this Italian beauty

Made for each other

f.Channell · Post by **f.Channell** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 11:10 pm

No I didn't know that.

But why make an engine when you can get a good deal on a Ferrari one!

F.

Topos · Post by **Topos** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 1:30 pm

Van,

Last weekend my son took me for a ride in his new car and I must admit I may be turning in my SL.

The acceleration, I told him, was even better than my 1964 Buick Wildcat, and when he decelerated from 60 to zero my stomach kept going.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF36i6SoZR8

Van Canna · Post by **Van Canna** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 2:35 pm

High Flow Throttle Body

My Candidate for Vrooooom!