[rpunwani]

Some more photos of the Tesla Model S taken at the Tesla showroom in Boca Raton, Florida. Thanks to the staff for allowing me to take the pictures.

[iamahunter]

Originally Posted by tj123

I agree that we have advanced technologically in the past two decades. But it is quite unfortunate to know that since French physicist Gaston Planté invented the first rechargeable battery 154 years ago, battery performance has improved only eightfold.

When compared to electronics ,batteries are still lagging in the 20th Century. Companies and governments have spent billion searching for the illusive battery which Recharge more quickly, store more energy, and discharge it for longer. The humble batteries are turning out to be the toughest nut to crack ,now wonder Tesla has given away all its patents to speedup research in this area.

Read interesting article :http://theweek.com/article/index/243...better-battery

Completely agree with what you say.
But think of it this way, battries till now had a very small part to play.
It has been since mobiles were invented, we have started looking at improved battries.
Prior to it battries were majorly used to run stuff like watches and torches.
Just shift your thought process 2 decades back, and think of cars running on battries, sounds crazy for that time, doesnt it..!!

All these years humans were looking at utlization of the fuel(petrol/diesel/etc..), for running our cars..
Proof of that are the better engines that we have in our cars today.

When people felt the need for improved battries for devices such as mobiles/laptops, then we started improving our battries.

Now we need better battries for running our cars, I am sure we'll have it soon.

OR
We may just move on from battries to something else which is small and produces electricity on its own, enough to run a car.

[GKR9900]

This seems to be a great way to bypass those long waiting hours for recharging the battery. A battery swap in about the same time we take to fill up the tank. Tesla is ironing out all gripes from the electric automobile experience. Way to go!

http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars...-battery-swap/

[Mad Max]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

They intend to come out with a lower cost edition for India etc. With our taxation it will still be at least 30 lacs plus!

Exactly what I was thinking. If we need such "green" initiatives to make some impact on our environment, these cars should be affordable to at least a middle-class person. At the cost of 30L, I am not sure who would line up to buy these cars. Maybe the few corporate honchos who want to display their green badge.

One more worry I have is disposal. Whenever we have focused on green initiatives, we have forgotten that we need to deal with the batteries / toxic waste. I am not sure our government is ready for that either.

[AshBabu]

Originally Posted by iamahunter

Completely agree with what you say.
But think of it this way, battries till now had a very small part to play.
It has been since mobiles were invented, we have started looking at improved battries.
Prior to it battries were majorly used to run stuff like watches and torches.
Just shift your thought process 2 decades back, and think of cars running on battries, sounds crazy for that time, doesnt it..!!

Batteries were used in many traction applications for many years. For example Fork lifts used in factories are built with DC motors for traction and batteries. They can be used to lift 3.0 to 5.0 ton materials.

Railways are largest user of batteries. All the coaches including AC coaches have large batteries which supply the lights, fans and air conditioners when the train is stationery. In running condition an alternator coupled to wheels provide required power and also charge the batteries.

Design break through are limited in batteries. Handling high current is always an issue. Mobiles and electronics require very low current, hence easy to handle. For traction motors, the starting current will be high and the battery would need to take care of this requirement. For traction usage, this requirement will be more especially in cities.

Originally Posted by GKR9900

This seems to be a great way to bypass those long waiting hours for recharging the battery. A battery swap in about the same time we take to fill up the tank. Tesla is ironing out all gripes from the electric automobile experience. Way to go!

http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars...-battery-swap/

Mahindra also considered this option of swapping batteries for the mini van project in 2001 itself. Survey showed resistance to this mode. You have to take any battery available whether new or old, which was difficult to accept by our people. Not sure how far people will be ready to accept it now.

[GKR9900]

Originally Posted by AshBabu

Mahindra also considered this option of swapping batteries for the mini van project in 2001 itself. Survey showed resistance to this mode. You have to take any battery available whether new or old, which was difficult to accept by our people. Not sure how far people will be ready to accept it now.

I really hope people accept it this time around. Although there aren't much go-greeners in our country, the Tesla model 3 at a reasonable price should make quite a stir in the Indian automobile market if it can garner better cooperation from the government, and better acceptance from the people.

Originally Posted by GKR9900

Suppose the range of the vehicle is 450km.I started from home after a full charge, the distance to be traveled is say,600km.I will have to find a charging port and wait for a couple of hours for the car to recharge to complete the remaining 150 kms? Compare that with a normal car where I could just fill up and go. Can someone shine some light on this?

I think the battery swap very much answers my previous predicament. I agree that many drivers won't be driving 600km non-stop, but in the rare situation that you do need to do so, this comes as a life-saver in case the juice runs out. Over-night charging should suffice other situations.

Originally Posted by HeavyFuelRun

Also, we must keep in mind that an electric car is only as green as the method by which the electricity it runs on is generated. For example if the electricity running the car came from a coal fired power plant, the car is just as polluting if not more than a car that runs on petrol/diesel.

If the electricity came from a solar power generator, then the car is carbon netural and green, unless i'm missing something here as well.

Hence, electric car does not always mean green car, we must go back to source!

I agree , where the electricity comes also is a big issue. However what it does not do is double pollution. For petroleum fuel the refineries themselves are a major pollutant. Add to that the pollution from the carbon emissions. It's a double blow to the environment.
However like in certain areas where the electricity supply is hydro based or even nucleur (debatable) it is good for the lungs I suppose. :-)

People have been toying with Solar charging for car batteries. Some smart alec suggested overnight charging. :-)

[volkman10]

India-bound Tesla Model 3 to be Unveiled in March 2016.

The Model 3 will be the cheapest Tesla car in the company's line-up, and will compete with the likes of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Audi A4 and the BMW 3-Series

http://auto.ndtv.com/news/india-boun...h-2016-1214182

[rsidd]

The government really, really needs to remove import duties for CBU electric cars. Not just the Tesla. In Strasbourg a year ago I saw a self-service electric car rental with Renault Zoe and Fiat 500 available, and there was plenty of demand. And they also need to give major concessions for Mahindra E2O. I have seen just 1 or 2 on the roads in Chennai so far, whereas I saw many Revas on the road a few years ago (even though they didn't market heavily in Chennai). Many people would be willing to pay a 30%-50% premium for an electric car (compared to a Tata Nano) but not a 100%-300% premium.

[GKR9900]

Hope our honorable PM returns home with some good news for us petrolheads....ermmm...batteryheads

[Turbanator]

This looks encouraging news , I expect some changes in upcoming budget - concessions for hybrids / electrical cars are overdue

American automotive and energy storage company Tesla Motors is considering building an assembly unit in India. The company designs, manufactures, and sells electric cars, electric vehicle power train components, and battery products.

Read more at: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/cnb...ce=ref_article

[volkman10]

Tesla considering Model 3 for India. With a local assembly plant, the manufacturer would be able to export cars assembled in India, to key markets in the lucrative Asian region

Tesla Motors is indeed exploring an operation where they begin their Indian stint with assembly operations for their Model 3. This car is currently manufactured in the Netherlands and sold primarily in the European Markets.

Given the high import duties around electric cars, Tesla officials are currently in consultation with the Indian Government to try and rationalize duties. Additionally, they are also exploring a separate categorization that would help the development of electric cars here. While a full-fledged manufacturing plant might come under consideration sometime in the future, it is going to be the assembly plant that’s the way forward for now.

http://motoroctane.com/news/19781-te...el-3-for-india

[volkman10]

Tesla to build battery plant in India

Given high local demand, a Gigafactory in India would probably make sense in the long term.

While Tesla is looking at the possibility of building a car factory in China, the California-based electric car maker might consider a car battery factory in India

http://auto.economictimes.indiatimes...-musk/49562559

[ashwin489]

Originally Posted by GKR9900

Hope our honorable PM returns home with some good news for us petrolheads....ermmm...batteryheads

It would be more realistic to expect him to return home with more selfies. I am not really sure what all of these "meetings" with tech CEOs have actually contributed to.

Note to Mods: If you think that this post is OT and decide to delete it as usual, then the post I have quoted is also equally OT.

[maddy42]

I would just wait and watch and take what Elon says with a tonne of salt. The timelines of his vehicles are all over the place so do not expect the Model 3 to be in time, also the battery factory is due to take off in 2016. Expect a couple more hiccups before things get ironed out.

Lastly we have an issue of the numerous items this company is dabbling in:
1) 2 Car models.
2) 2 Variants of Powerwall(Launched but not in the market)
3) 1 Gigafactory for batteries in Nevada
4) 1 Car factory in California
5) About 4-500 Supercharger stations around the world(free power to cars)
6) Tesla Galleries in all Major cities in the US, Europe and Asia

Points 1 and 2 is where money comes in. Points 3,4,5,6 are where money goes out. Time will tell how this balances out.

So india getting the Model 3 or Model S or even Powerwall is all in time. Maybe 5 year timeline.

Maddy