GREENSBORO — The future is quietly catching up with thundering supercars like Aston Martin, Ferrari and Porsche. Its name is Tesla.
The Tesla Roadster offers neck-snapping power from an electric motor. As silent as a golf cart, as fast as a Corvette, and all from common household electricity.
Bill Bucklen of Greensboro plugs his shining gray toy into a socket on the ceiling of his garage where it charges for eight hours so he can drive about 240 miles.
Tesla sold 500 of the cars built in 2008. Bucklen’s is No. 244.
For advocates of electric cars, the $100,000 Tesla represents the pinnacle of vehicles that could dominate the car market in a few decades.
Now, such cars demand commitment and compromise because of limited range and charging outlets.
“Owning an electric vehicle’s like owning a Model A,” said Bucklen, who is the director of the Advanced Television Segment for Analog Devices in Greensboro.
But with Tesla and other companies leading the way, motorists are about to see a better — and much cheaper — variety of electric cars in the next few years.
The benefits include less dependence on foreign oil, cheaper travel and cleaner air, proponents say. A commute of 40 miles costs only about $1 in electric power.
Power companies will have to pitch in with new and accessible ways for customers to charge electric cars, car makers must develop better batteries, and consumers must be open to new ideas, said James Poch, executive director of Plug In Carolina, a nonprofit group whose sole mission is to spread the word about electric cars in North Carolina and South Carolina.
Poch joined Mike Rowand, a Duke Energy representative, at Bucklen’s suburban home to show off his Tesla and the two modified Toyota Priuses that they drive. The Toyotas have special battery pack upgrades that allow them to use mostly electricity, far more than a typical hybrid car, for 100 miles per gallon.
But it’s all for nothing if consumers don’t enjoy driving the cars. At least for the Tesla, that is not a problem.
Slide into the tight two-seater — only 44 inches high — and notice the exotic curves of the wheel arches ahead.
Turn the key and the gauges spring to life. Then, click it to start and nothing happens. No V-12 rumble, no jolt as pistons fire, just a barely audible whir.
Click it into gear — it has only one — and take off. The tires whine on the pavement, the wind blows, and the car surges. It really surges.
Bury your foot in the throttle and a silent, endless force, more like gravity than a drive train, slingshots you to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds. That’s with no clutch, no gear changes, no conventional sensation or sound of speed. It will get you into trouble fast.
All thanks to a magnetic electric motor powered by a lithium-ion battery pack.
Bucklen has rigged a thick black cable to his garage ceiling that delivers power to his car in the same way that a recreational vehicle gets power at a campground. It takes eight hours for a full charge, but the company offers a charger that could do the job in 31/2 hours.
If he plans to travel past the car’s 240-mile range, he must plan ahead to be sure there’s a campground or hotel to provide the connector he needs.
Poch and Rowand want to make it easier for millions of potential electric car owners. They believe the Carolinas will be one of the top markets for the cars outside California and the Northeast.
“We’re trying to make sure the infrastructure delivers as advertised,” Rowand said.
Duke Energy plans to offer a “smart charging” system by which motorists charge their cars when overall usage is low. Computers will manage their home charging,
Rowand said. That means 73 percent of existing cars could be converted with no change in power demand.
Poch’s nonprofit, based in Charleston, S.C., is funded by all of the major power companies in the Carolinas. He drives across both states showing his Prius and explaining the technology.
A former health care sales executive, he created the group three years ago after he studied similar groups in California and Texas. Carolina utilities liked what they saw when he showed them how they could increase off-peak sales while helping the environment.
Motorists need to hear the message of electric cars repeatedly, Poch said. That’s what his job is all about.
To be sold on electric technology, Poch said, “the American consumer needs to see it five times. They need to hear it. They need to touch it.”
Contact Richard M. Barron at 373-7371 or richard.barron@news-record.com
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