A&Q about Lotus
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Lotus is onboard with this. 0-60 in 4 seconds. 100% electronic and 100% 100k.
A:
An electric Elise?!
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Man thats awesome... I would get that in a heartbeat if not for the price.
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Where've you been Transio?
There have been a number of posts here about this. It's an Elise chassis and Tesla hired Lotus to do the exterior and interior styling, and Lotus is building it for them. Some of the guys on the board have been to presentations and checked it out. By all accounts it's pretty cool.
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I was reading about this a while back. It's sweet. But pricey
When I first saw it I was like hey it looks like they stole the design from Lotus, but then I keeped reading and was like no wonder!!!
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Originally Posted by JWA
Where've you been Transio?
I forgot to add: <sarcasm>
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I love Tesla! They're my favorite band from the 80's. Saw them at Vegas HOB a few weeks ago
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I want to drive one through Coratia.... gotta do the name honor!
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It's actually not the Elise chassis, it's been redesigned.
Some have suggested that the Tesla Roadster is built on a Lotus chassis. This is not true. Tesla licensed the Elise chassis technology, but Tesla’s UK-based chassis engineering team designed the Roadster’s chassis using that technology. The suspension and occupant protection systems are very similar. But here are a few key differences:
1. Tesla re-engineered the main chassis rail extrusions, making them stronger and thereby allowing us to lower the doorsill height by 2 inches, drastically improving ingress/egress. (Elon and I are both more than 6’ tall, so improving ingress was a requirement!)
2. At the same time we changed the way the chassis rails bend just behind the seats. Lotus simply bends the rails. Tesla instead miter-cuts the rail, then bonds them together at the exact correct angle with a custom bracket. This solution works with the new extrusions to lower the sills, and reduces manufacturing complexity.
3. We eliminated the box section that surrounds the gas tank on the Elise. The Tesla Roadster achieves equivalent (actually slightly higher) stiffness with the structural box that encloses the battery pack
4. We designed a unique rear sub-frame, to accommodate a battery pack and electric drivetrain rather than a gas tank, engine, and exhaust system
5. We lengthened the Tesla Roadster’s wheelbase by 2 inches – rearward of the seats, giving us a tad more room for the battery pack, shifting the weight forward to keep the distribution reasonable, reducing ride choppiness, and giving the car a little more sophisticated look
6. We beefed up the composite crash structure at the front (one of Lotus’s clever innovations) to accommodate the higher weight of the Tesla Roadster
7. The suspension geometry is identical to that of the Lotus, though we strengthened many components, again to accommodate the increased weight
8. We use larger brakes – both front and rear
etc,etc.
Originally Posted by JWA
Where've you been Transio?
There have been a number of posts here about this. It's an Elise chassis and Tesla hired Lotus to do the exterior and interior styling, and Lotus is building it for them. Some of the guys on the board have been to presentations and checked it out. By all accounts it's pretty cool.
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Aruna,
Thanks for posting here...I hope you continue to keep us informed as the product progresses. Last month I spent about a half-hour with Mac at Pebble Beach going over the car and was very impressed with it. Lotus did a great job on the design, both exterior and interior.
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Originally Posted by Aruna
6. We beefed up the composite crash structure at the front (one of Lotus’s clever innovations) to accommodate the higher weight of the Tesla Roadster
Is it still bonded to the chassis? One of the issues that seems to arise with the Lotus crash structure is that when it gets damaged (which doesn't seem to take much effort) it has to be cut and ground off to replace it. This results in long repair times and high repair bills for what in other cars would be considered very minor collisions. I suppose if you've made it sturdier it might not be as much of a concern.
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I know Tesla wants to distinguish themselves, but it seems that they keep hinting that they want to distance themselves from Lotus and the Elise. Lotus is renown for suspension and chassis development. The Elise is a known commodity in the sports car world. Telsa's expertise seems to be mainly with the electric engine and associated systems. I'd advocate sticking with what you're good at, and continuing to partner with Lotus.
The Lotus DNA within the roadster is the primary reason I'd consider a Tesla.
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Originally Posted by JnC
I know Tesla wants to distinguish themselves, but it seems that they keep hinting that they want to distance themselves from Lotus and the Elise.
Just a thought: maybe Lotus doesn't want people considering the Tesla as an alternative to the Elise?
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Uh, excuse me, but without the soundtrack:
bbbbbbrrrrrrrrrraapppppppp, VVOOOMMPP-AH! bbbrrraaaaappp!!!!
I think I'd be missing out on approximately half of the fun of an Elise.
Still cool to see another application of the Elise chassis, outside of that "car-plane". Is that thing still around? It was based on the series 1 Elise.
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Originally Posted by transio
Just a thought: maybe Lotus doesn't want people considering the Tesla as an alternative to the Elise?
Right.... like Lotus didn't want people to consider the Vauxhall VX220 and the Opel Speedster as an alternative to the Elise either.
The Tesla roadster is ~2x the price of an Elise, 0-60 in 4s, and a rather unique power train. If anything, it's an electric car in the Esprit marketplace.
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Has anyone heard about this? I heard about it at the track yesterday but I forgot the name. Low production numbers, supposedly $100K.
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wow, twice in one day. see the tesla post just down the way. and the older posts on it too
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I think it's called the Tesla.
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Hmm, I guess the front kind of looks like the Elise. I wouldn't be confused
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The 0-60 time is reported to be 4. Pretty impressive