Tesla has launched a new entry level model for its Model S range in the shape of a 60kWh version. Coming in under the previously entry level 75kWh variant, the Model S 60 is available in either single motor configuration, or in dual motor 60D spec.

The Model S 75 is now offered as an upgrade to the Model S 60 which increases driving range by around 19 per cent according to Tesla.

The changes come as part of the company’s continuous evolution of its range, whether that is in the form of regular software updates or changes in battery capacity offered. The Model S 60 is in response to customers saying they want a Tesla but can’t really afford the price of the Model S 70 – though those that can will be able to specify the 75 kWh battery for a cost of £7,850 on top of the Model S 60 price.

Quoted at offering a range of around 248 miles, the Model S 60 will still complete the 0-60mph sprint in 5.5 seconds and go on to a top speed of 130mph, while the 60D is faster still thanks to its all-wheel drive capability and increased power.

In terms of the battery specification, Tesla are fitting Model S 60 and 60D models with a 75kWh battery that then has its capacity restricted. This is in part to simplify battery production, while the main reason is that customers can retro-upgrade their model at any time in the future with a software update, should they wish to unlock the battery’s potential.

There are also small changes to the interior trim and equipment levels, while Tesla’s Autopilot system will be available as an option, and use of the Supercharger charging network is free for all customers.

The new Model S 60 and 60D are available to order now with prices starting at £53,400 for the single motor, or £57,800 for ths 60D. Both prices exclude the UK Government’s Plug-in Car Grant, which takes £4,500 off the cost.

Source: Next Green Car

Fortune interviewed Dustin Grace, who for nine years was working on drivetrains at Tesla Motors, and earlier this year switched to electric bus maker Proterra by becoming their director of battery engineering.

Grace shared his opinion about the advantages of electric motors over internal combustion engines.

We listed some of the main topics, but full details can be found directly in the source Fortune article:

• Electric motors generate motion, not heat (high efficiency)
• They’re more powerful (high torque from zero rpm for great acceleration)
• They’re simpler (not many parts, no transmission needed in most cases)
• They’re (vastly) easier to service (less parts, smaller and lighter, fewer subsystems around the motor)
• They feed themselves (regenerative braking capability)
• They’re smarter (ultimate controlling accuracy, especially useful in AWD with two or even four motors controlled independently)

Source: Inside EVs

Watch out petrol, it’s time for electric vehicles to shine

Stephen Hill is an enthusiast for electric vehicles, noble and economical successor to the internal combustion engine

Since the beginning of time, mankind has needed a form of transport to move faster and further than his legs could carry him. For millennia, this need – as basic as food, clothing and housing – was met by the horse in the West, whether harnessed to a carriage or for riding, carrying, hunting, charging, ploughing or pulling, and by the camel in Arabia.

Then the Industrial Revolution in nineteenth-century Britain changed everything, especially with the invention of the steam engine, the first form of mechanised power for transport. By 1883, steam engines, which were actually external combustion engines, could generate the power of 10,000 horses.

Then the beginning of the twentieth century saw the advent of the ubiquitous motorcar, powered by two completely different sources: petrol and electricity. The first petrol-driven vehicle was produced in 1902 by Daimler-Mercedes. Meanwhile, the first electric car, produced and sold in Chicago in 1906, is still running to this day. The power of these cars, however, was still rated by the number of horses that they replaced.

The twentieth century belonged exclusively, however, to the petrol-driven internal combustion engine, or ICE, for several reasons: first, fuel was available and relatively inexpensive, at least until 1974’s oil crisis; secondly, it offered superior performance, especially acceleration and top speed; and thirdly, mass-production made it widely affordable.

These advantages turned the ICE-driven automotive industry into by far the world’s biggest industry, employing millions. The electric vehicle, or EV, could not compete back then with ICE, as batteries were unable to store the electricity required and could not offer anything like the same performance and endurance, especially acceleration, top speed and distance, and were expensive.

The twenty-first century is changing all that, as EV will increasingly overtake ICE, because fossil fuel costs have risen significantly during the last half-century; the issue of toxic emissions is now widely understood and condemned for their harmful effects on the wider environment; the development of battery power now gives the same performance, including acceleration, top speed and distance, for EVs as ICE; EV is cheaper to manufacture and repair than ICE; and EV has much lower depreciation, and therefore lower annual running and finance costs. Above all, EV has no toxic emissions.

In the 2014/15 motor-racing season, for the first time, there will be Formula E running alongside Formula 1. Formula E will offer the same performance, including acceleration and top speed, as Formula 1, but with no noise or toxic emissions.

Ten EV teams will compete, not on out-of-town noisy, smelly race-tracks, but in ten city centres, given that they are green, including Los Angeles, New York, London, Beijing and six others. Various forms of EVs are now in mass-production in California, France, Germany, and Japan, with India, China and the UK soon to follow.

The leading EV manufacturer, Tesla in California, has opened a showroom at Westfield in London; can now provide power for 700 miles; and has just announced an unlimited eight-year warranty on batteries and motor parts. It’s a bit of a shame that the first design of the Tesla S model is so bland… but watch out, old ICE manufacturers: EV is now real.

Source: Spears WMS