Even better than a Segway (environmentally, that is)....

[Desert_Seg]

I've been following Tesla Motors (www.teslamotors.com) for a while and now I'm following the GM Hy-Wire.

Check out this video....http://www.youtube.com/v/ry6w3mRm-FM

Steven

[Sal]

I wish the Tesla wasn't priced at $100K. It is definitely a SWEET automobile.

The hiWire is an amazing concept.

Remember when we all had 167s? They were so Advanced, though they were and still are the MOdel T of the Segway. Now it's the i2... wireless, intuitive...

Imagine what kind of Segway version 20.0 will reside in?

-Sal

[pam]

Wow, I'd take a HiWire :) - well, not at 10M, but when it gets into people price range. Hope it's closer to 10 than to 20 years.

Pam

[julesdarcy]

Not only is this a technological achievement, it is also a beautiful looking car.

0-60 in 4 seconds is unreal and a top speed of 135mph. Savage! The range is amazing at 250 miles.

The batteries would probably last 5-6 years. I would be interested to know how much replacements are after that, but as they say, in the mean time you have saved yourself 5 or 6 years in gas payments.

According to Tesla's website, they have “sold out” of their special edition Signature One Hundred Roadsters.

The quotes are theirs. Seems that they haven't actually sold any yet. From what I can gather, 100 orders have been taken. I would say they are only going into production now.

They are now taking orders for the next 100 cars. $75,000 deposit and expected delivery in Autumn next year.

[Desert_Seg]

I'm trying to bring Tesla to this part of the world (I'd love to be their dealer) but not having much luck yet.

From what I've read and heard, the first 100 required a full advance payment of $100K with the possibility of a little more money needed upon delivery.

Second 100 are a tad bit cheaper and the family sedan (coming next year) much much cheaper!

See Pam - there is a chance!

Steven

[pam]

The problem with battery cars is... batteries. One of the reasons I gave up my Insight was that it had to be driven every couple of days to keep the batteries OK - at least that's what my dealer told me. I was riding my i167 to work every day and only driving the car on the weekends and had some battery problems. <sigh> But now, the hydrogen-fueled cars.....

Pam

[dnasmyth]

You can pretty much forget hydrogen, it is a joke. I saw an interview with the head of toyotas hydrogen car program in the documentary "Who killed the electric car". He said in 20 years they could be as good as hybreds are now. Of course hybreds will be going from 50mpg like my civic to 250mpg within the next 5 years. Hydrogen is very unstable, but does not have much power for its volumne; so it takes a lot of hydrogen to make the car go and is hard to distrubute. Electricity is already distributed. As he put "the laws of physics are not kind to hydrogen cars". Of course those investing in hydrogen really don't want to invest in a successful technology, they want to sell oil.

As far as the batteries in cars, my civic has 115,000 miles and fleet cars have gone 300,000 miles. You do not have to drive them every day.

[pam]

I'm glad you don't have to drive them every day. I was told every 2 days with my Insight - for sure not to let them go Monday through Friday. <G>

Maybe the batteries have improved.

Pam

[citivolus]

Pam,
Every two days?! You got bad advice. I drive my Insight almost every day in summer but it has spent weeks parked in the winter when I drive my 4wd pickup. I've also left it for a few weeks when I went on vacation without giving it a second thought and it still runs fine after 6 years and over 90k miles. I don't think the guy knows his batteries very well since they are just soldered two-packs of Panasonic NiMH D-cells that make up the Insight battery.
http://www.insightcentral.net/encyclopedia/enbattery.html
http://www.peve.panasonic.co.jp/catalog/e_maru.html

I'm not sure what he was thinking of, but from experience, I can tell you the occasional vacation or even a month of storage doesn't do much to the pack.

[Timezkware Tim]

A Segway is still the fastest way to get around town, but the HyWire is too cool. I gotta get one as soon as I can.

Tim