Our service partner in Europe received our first PEM failure due to capacitor aging. One capacitor, out of 19 in a PEM, had become resistive, and blew up inside the PEM sending shrapnel throughout the logic and circuitry. By a stroke of luck, the conductive debris did not short out anything.
This is a brief, but fascinating history of a car company that launched out of nowhere, and changed the transportation paradigm in just a few years.
Tesla Roadster Charge Table In an earlier Newsletter, we promoted 120 VAC charging vs 240/208 VAC charging. What you gain in reduced charging times with a 240 charge, may sacrifice long term reliability on key components in your car. (See the July Newsletter) This charge table is a guideline for various charge parameters. It is…
Charging at 240 VAC, which feeds 40 Amps to the Roadster is definitely faster than using the 120 VAC 15 Amp charge cable. A full charge at 120 VAC could take 30+ hours, and conveniently stores in the car and plugs into a regular wall outlets.
Tesla Motors was created based on being inspired by an electric sports car, called the Tzero, developed by a small company called AC Propulsion Systems founded by Alan Cocconi in San Dimas, California in 1992.
The main battery pack in the bowels of a Roadster is a 900+ lb monster, consisting of 6,831 Lithium Ion 18650 cells, mounted in 11 sheets.