Results matching “nedra”

Our EV experience started in July, 2008, when we bought one of the few RAV4-EVs that was saved from the crusher. A year later, we took delivery of a Tesla Roadster. For the past three years, we've been committed to drive, test, measure, show, demo, hack, and explain our cars and what they represent to anyone willing to listen.

We have driven the RAV4-EV over 20,000 miles and the Roadster over 18,000. The only maintenance we've had to pay for has been replacing tires and a 12V accessory battery. Since we don't have to take our cars in for oil changes every three months, we have to fill the wiper fluid ourselves.

Sometimes I wonder if the Roadster has lost some acceleration over the past two years, it just doesn't seem that crazy fast to me anymore. Yet when I take someone for a demo ride and they gasp/yell/squeal/swear when I do the 0-60 demo, I realize the car hasn't changed, I've just gotten used to what it can do.

I've broken 100 mph on a quarter-mile drag race track so many times it's boring. I've been in the passenger seat with a real race car driver showing me what the car can do on an autocross track, and then giving me pointers while I drove the same course.

The RAV4-EV is less flashy than the Roadster, but it can haul five adults and a fair amount of cargo. Even with 64,000 miles it's still getting over 100 miles of range per charge, about the same as when it was new. It gets a little less range in the winter, but it still surprises me how little we need to drive beyond its range. Cathy laughs at me when I worry we need to take the Roadster for some lengthy drive, but when I check the distance it turns out to be half of what the RAV4-EV can do on a single charge.

Cathy and I have done enough distance driving in the Roadster that it's old-hat now. With a few strategic Tesla charging stations scattered around, plus maps of places to find alternative charging, planning charging stops is now an opportunity to explore somewhere new that in the old days we would have just driven past. We had a delightful lunch at a scary-looking tavern in Artic, WA, that had the same sort of local regulars you'd expect to see in an episode of Cheers. We have a new favorite burger joint, Burgerville, which means something for two vegetarians. We have made friends in Portland, Ellensburg, Coeur d'Alene, and Vancouver, B.C., and at Puget Sound Energy and the Wild Horse wind farm.


We have talked ourselves hoarse at many car shows (both official and impromptu) and I can't even guess how many people we've had the pleasure of talking to about driving electric. Long ago, I lost count of how many times we've helped a reporter write a more informed article about EVs.

With all we've done and as many people as we've personally reached, it's humbling to know many people in the community who have been doing even more of the same thing, some for decades.

We've made many friends from the Roadster and RAV4-EV owner communities and the broader EV community; too many amazing people to even try to enumerate.

What a wonderful experience it's been to AMP IT UP!

I joined four other Seattle-area Tesla owners in driving down to Portland for the NEDRA Wayland Invitational IV electric vehicle drag racing event at Portland International Raceways on July 24th and 25th. My friend Richard wasn't due to receive his 2010 Roadster for another week or two, so he and I shared the driving and the racing in my car.

None of us had any previous drag racing experience, we were just doing it to promote electric vehicles by showing a bunch of people that EVs can be as fun and powerful as gas-burners without sending a bunch of our our dollars overseas or dumping CO2 into the atmosphere.

Over the two days, thanks to Northwest Handling Systems, John Wayland, James Morrison, and several others behind the scenes, who arranged charging both on and off the track, I was able to post the best time in a 2008 Roadster: a 12.982 second 1/4 mile ET at 103.48 mph. The best Roadster time was set by Scotty Pollacheck (the professional driver/rider of the famous Killacycle) in James Morrison's freshly-delivered 2010 Roadster sport: 12.643 second 1/4 mile ET at 102.89 mph.

At the Wayland Invitational, I got to race head-to-head against other 2008 Roadsters using the same driving technique and as well as controlling other parameters. Having Richard racing in my car allowed me to compare how weight changed times with other parameters held constant. Also got to race against the famous White Zombie. We had two nights there, one with charging at the track and one without. My YouTube channel has some videos from that weekend.

Two weeks later, the same group of owners spent another evening at Pacific Raceways in Kent, WA this time with Richard driving his shiny new 2010 Roadster. I was able to do some more experiments there.

Based on what I've seen so far, it breaks down like this:

13.40 seconds: 2008 Roadster, medium weight driver with a cool battery pack, single foot start, traction control on, racing in warm weather at sea level.

0.32 seconds - having a warm battery pack from a recent 240V/40A charge
0.10 seconds - traction control off
0.07 seconds - lose 20 to 30 lbs of driver weight
0.07 seconds - two-footed start (indirect estimate)

I didn't compare single foot launch and two-foot launch with all other parameters controlled. From otherwise similar runs in Portland and Kent, I saw a difference of about 0.07 seconds, but that was different tracks, different charge profiles and different ambient temperatures. The other delta were pretty well controlled.

One owner in Portland increased tire pressure to 40 psi all around trying to shave off a few hundredths to break into the high 12's and didn't get any benefit.

There's also some variation from car to car depending on how well the motor was wound, etc. While there was about 0.07 seconds difference between Richard and me in my car (presumably due to weight), there was a much smaller difference between Scott in his car and me in mine (0.04 seconds) even though I would guess the weight difference to be similar.

I didn't sense the stock tires spinning even with a two-foot launch and TC off, so I don't see how sticky tires would help on a 2008 Roadster. I have confirmation from Tesla to not expect the 2008 Roadster to spin the stock tires with TC off when on dry pavement and driving in a straight line. (That said, I am not recommending turning off TC in any other circumstance.)

I didn't get a chance to try all of the optimizations on the same run. It was only on the second day of the Wayland Invitational that I had a chance to charge up at the track and that was before I learned about the two-foot launch technique in detail, and also before I had the nerve to turn off traction control. So, I don't know what happens when you stack up all of the techniques together.

According to my data, getting a stock 2008 Roadster under 12.8 is going to take a trick I don't know about. Perhaps a driver under 100 lbs, or driving at higher altitude could do it. It might also help to fold back the side mirrors to reduce drag. It will be interesting to see what happens at the NEDRA nationals in Denver in September.