{"id":3453,"date":"2009-02-06T21:36:32","date_gmt":"2009-02-06T21:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zmetro.com\/?p=3453"},"modified":"2009-02-06T21:36:32","modified_gmt":"2009-02-06T21:36:32","slug":"a_drive_in_the","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zmetro.com\/?p=3453","title":{"rendered":"A Drive in the Tesla Roadster"},"content":{"rendered":"



Dan Neill<\/a>: <\/p>\n

What transpires in the next 2 seconds is the heart and soul, the essence and spirit, of the Roadster. This is the trick this one-trick pony does better than perhaps any sports car on Earth. We in the business call it “rolling acceleration.”<\/p>\n

At about 20 mph I nail the go pedal, and the power electronics module summons a ferocious torrent of amps, energizing the windings of the 375-volt AC-induction motor. Instantly — I mean right now, like, what the heck hit me? — the motor’s 276 pound-feet of torque is converted to dumbfounding acceleration. Total number of moving parts: one.<\/p>\n

Street lights streak past me like tracer bullets. My little mental circuits go snap-pop with the thrust. God has grabbed me by the jockstrap and fired me off his thumb, rubber band-style. Wow.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, over in the Porsche, 19th-century mechanical forces are taking their own sweet time. The driver has to clutch, shift to a lower gear, and de-clutch — a regime that takes about half a second if he’s talented. When he pushes on the accelerator pedal, the throttles in the Porsche’s throat open, the fuel injectors start hosing down the cylinders with high-test, and the variable-angle cams rotate to maximize intake-valve duration. The flashing fire in the cylinders can now apply its maximum force to the pistons.
\n<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"



Dan Neill<\/a>: <\/p>\n

What transpires in the next 2 seconds is the heart and soul, the essence and spirit, of the Roadster. This is the trick this one-trick pony does better than perhaps any sports car on Earth. We in the business call it “rolling acceleration.”<\/p>\n

At about 20 mph I nail the go pedal, and the power electronics module summons a ferocious torrent of amps, energizing the windings of the 375-volt AC-induction motor. Instantly — I mean right now, like, what the heck hit me? — the motor’s 276 pound-feet of torque is converted to dumbfounding acceleration. Total number of moving parts: one.<\/p>\n

Street lights streak past me like tracer bullets. My little mental circuits go snap-pop with the thrust. God has grabbed me by the jockstrap and fired me off his thumb, rubber band-style. Wow.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, over in the Porsche, 19th-century mechanical forces are taking their own sweet time. The driver has to clutch, shift to a lower gear, and de-clutch — a regime that takes about half a second if he’s talented. When he pushes on the accelerator pedal, the throttles in the Porsche’s throat open, the fuel injectors start hosing down the cylinders with high-test, and the variable-angle cams rotate to maximize intake-valve duration. The flashing fire in the cylinders can now apply its maximum force to the pistons.
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