News Site – Page 14514 – I wish I had more to offer

Vitesco Technologies to supply e-axle drive to PSA and Hyundai cars

EV subscription startup Canoo, co-founder sued for alleged harassment

Just weeks after Canoo took the wraps off of its electric vehicle, the Los Angeles-based startup and co-founder Stefan Krause has been accused of gender and marital discrimination, harassment, breach of contract, and wrongful termination in a lawsuit filed Tuesday. The lawsuit, which was filed by Christina Krause, the company’s former head of communications and Stefan… Continue reading EV subscription startup Canoo, co-founder sued for alleged harassment

Carsharing Service Drivy Rebrands as Getaround

Getaround plans to open in two new European cities next year and hopes to expand its carsharing fleet to 10,000 in 2020, according to the report. Photo via Gocarma.com Peer-to-peer carsharing service Drivy has been rebranded as Getaround, according to a report by Fleet World. This name change has occurred six months after Drivy was… Continue reading Carsharing Service Drivy Rebrands as Getaround

Sixt Holds Fundraising Event at Oktoberfest

Held for over 20 years, the annual Damenwiesn meeting offers a lunch and space for networking for guests. Screenshot via Sixt/YouTube. Regine Sixt, senior executive vice president of Sixt, hosted her annual women’s networking event Damenwiesn at the Munich Oktoberfest. Over 1,200 women from around the world came to support the Regine Sixt Children’s Aid… Continue reading Sixt Holds Fundraising Event at Oktoberfest

Tesla Vehicle Efficiency Leads Industry Thanks To Tesla Vehicle Design Culture

Invest
Electric Cars
Electric Car Benefits
Electric Car Sales
Solar Energy Rocks
RSS
Advertise
Privacy Policy

Autonomous Vehicles

Published on October 5th, 2019 |

by Guest Contributor

Tesla Vehicle Efficiency Leads Industry Thanks To Tesla Vehicle Design Culture

Twitter
LinkedIn
Facebook

October 5th, 2019 by Guest Contributor

Originally posted on EVANNEX.
By Charles Morris

More range! More range! That’s the mantra that has replaced the “More power!” of the internal combustion engine (ICE) era. How much range is enough? All we know at this point is that car buyers want more. Tesla, always attuned to consumer desires, upped the stakes once again in April, increasing the range of Model S to what Road & Track colorfully calls “a bladder-busting 370 miles.” The interesting thing is that the company achieved this 35-mile increase without increasing the size of the battery.

Tesla’s Model S charging at a GreenWay charging station in Wroclaw, Poland. Photo by Zach Shahan | CleanTechnica | Tesla Shuttle

As Tesla explains, its engineers were able to boost range by making incremental improvements to several parts of the powertrain: “All Model S and X vehicles now benefit from Tesla’s latest generation of drive unit technology, which combines an optimized permanent magnet synchronous reluctance motor, silicon carbide power electronics, and improved lubrication, cooling, bearings, and gear designs to achieve greater than 93% efficiency. Pairing a permanent magnet motor in the front with an induction motor in the rear enables unparalleled range and performance at all times. The net effect is a more than 10% improvement in range, with efficiency improvements in both directions as energy flows out of the battery during acceleration and back into the battery through regenerative braking.”

More range is bound to make the appeal of Tesla’s world-leading electric vehicles even greater. However, the real story here is not about range, but efficiency. At the moment, EV designers are focused on maximizing range, but if at some point the market decides that there’s such a thing as “enough range,” designers could leverage greater efficiency in the powertrain to make battery packs smaller, giving their vehicles more space, better performance, and/or lower prices. Efficiency also offers a direct benefit for consumers — it translates into lower electric bills.

Tesla Model X Powerwall in a garage, via Tesla.

Tesla’s EVs are some of the most efficient on the market — to give one example, the Model S Performance full-size sedan is substantially more efficient than the tiny smart EQ fortwo. When it comes to the vaunted “Tesla killers” — Audi’s e-tron and Jaguar’s I-PACE — the larger Tesla Model X simply blows them away on efficiency. As Road & Track explained in a recent article, Model X is so much more efficient that it offers 91 more miles of range than the Audi and 121 more than the Jag, even though the Tesla’s battery pack is only slightly larger.

As R&T sees it, the reason the legacy automakers’ latest and greatest EVs can’t match Tesla’s aging models comes down to inefficiency, not only in their powertrains, but in their corporate cultures. Tesla’s culture is one of continuous improvement — in the eight years that Model S has been on the market, its efficiency has increased by 25 percent, from 89 MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent) to 111 MPGe. Tesla has improved the vehicle’s motors, air suspension, tires, and even its wheel bearings.

Tesla Model S Supercharging, by Zach Shahan | CleanTechnica.

Another policy prized at Tesla is open communication between departments, in contrast to the “silos” that so many employees of traditional corporations complain of. As R&T explains, Tesla’s newer wheel bearings are more expensive than the old ones, but they may have added as much as 15 miles of range at far less cost than adding battery capacity. The newer Teslas also use Brembo monobloc brake calipers. “Because they can be made to retract the pads from the spinning rotors faster and more reliably than sliding calipers, monoblocs reduce friction — enough to provide up to 20 miles of increased range,” writes Road & Track’s Jason Cammisa. “The additional stopping power, credibility, and better pedal feel are just added bonuses.” Are the Brembos expensive? Very — but on a per-mile-of-range basis, they’re still cheaper than batteries, and Tesla figured that out because the brake team communicates with the battery engineers, and they cooperate to continuously improve the company’s vehicles.

Related: Our Interview With Tesla President Jerome Guillen, Part Deux

Featured image: Tesla Model 3 deliveries in Tampa, Florida. Photo by Zach Shahan | CleanTechnica.

About the Author

Guest Contributor is many, many people. We publish a number of guest posts from experts in a large variety of fields. This is our contributor account for those special people. 😀

Advertise with CleanTechnica to get your company in front of millions of monthly readers.

Russia’s Disinformation War Is Just Getting Started

The disinformation wars are only just getting started, warns a new report on Russian social media interference released by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Published Tuesday, the report offers the most comprehensive look at the efforts of the now-infamous Russian propaganda factory known as the Internet Research Agency to divide Americans, undermine public faith… Continue reading Russia’s Disinformation War Is Just Getting Started

PG&E’s Power Shutoffs Can’t Save California From Wildfire Hell

On Wednesday and Thursday, high seasonal winds will tear through California, drying out vegetation and fanning wildfires. The conditions could easily spell a devastating, deadly conflagration. In preparation, early Wednesday morning the utility PG&E—whose equipment sparked last year’s Camp Fire, which killed 86 people and destroyed the town of Paradise—will begin preemptively shutting off power… Continue reading PG&E’s Power Shutoffs Can’t Save California From Wildfire Hell

Tuesday Morning Auto News, Oct 08, 2019

Indian auto parts maker Minda acquires Germany’s Delvis

Auto parts maker Minda Industries Ltd has signed a definite pact to acquire German automotive lamps engineering, design and testing company, Delvis Gmbh, at an enterprise value of about €21 million. The deal will include two subsidiaries, Delvis Solution and Delvis Products, Gurugram-based Minda said in a regulatory filing. The transaction, subject to closing conditions… Continue reading Indian auto parts maker Minda acquires Germany’s Delvis

The Tesla Effect Is Making Luxury Cars Lose Value Faster Than Ever

A study from Capital One shows some of these luxury cars lost 30 percent of their value. Everyone that follows car news knows Tesla has made a considerable impact on premium carmakers. Most of them are now developing fully electric sedans or SUVs just to have something to compete with the American EV manufacturer. But… Continue reading The Tesla Effect Is Making Luxury Cars Lose Value Faster Than Ever