Tesla's in-car charging computer gets touched on video

Your retinas have been treated to plenty of external shots of Tesla's Roadster, but have you ever stopped to wonder what kind of excitement sat just southwest of the steering wheel? CNET's UK branch managed to get their camcorder within a Roadster parked on display over in Britain, and what they found was a rather robust interface that enables owners to get all sorts of involved with how and when the car charges. The representative did note that typical navigation functions were controlled via the JVC head unit, but the small panel just under the gauges enables motorists to control a number of aspects in relation to charging. There's even a guide that explains which choices are cheaper and more beneficial for the long-term life of the battery. Have a look at the video in the read link.

[Via Digg]

[OneLove Posted Jul 31st 2008 1:52PM]

6,831 lithium ion batteries? Is that AAA?

[billmiller Posted Jul 31st 2008 1:56PM]

no...the ones you use in your watch

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2008 2:48PM]

It goes from zero to two hours in under a second.

[Redwoodflyer Posted Jul 31st 2008 4:01PM]

Laptop

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2008 4:31PM]

Not AAA.. actually a tiny bit larger than AA.

[ENGplasmaman Posted Jul 31st 2008 5:19PM]

They are 18650 cells, same as what you get in most laptops

[billmiller Posted Jul 31st 2008 1:54PM]

cool...i want this baby

[billmiller Posted Jul 31st 2008 1:55PM]

get set to be ranked low...thats what u wanted right?

[billmiller Posted Jul 31st 2008 1:57PM]

now...i posted this comment for the dude who wrote "FIRST"...where the hell did his comment go...WTF is this commenting system

[Quo Posted Jul 31st 2008 2:14PM]

Just stop. Stop. You've already commented three times too many today. Come back and try again tomorrow, maybe we'll forget who you are.

[mrotier Posted Jul 31st 2008 2:48PM]

Forget him? Are you kidding me? That guys everywhere. He loves plastering his name anywhere he can.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2008 1:56PM]

Shit. I would have gone to that motor show if I had known there would be a tesla roadster :(

[kjb434 Posted Jul 31st 2008 2:13PM]

I hope all those fancy screens don't eat into the mileage. God forbid if happen to charge a phone. It'll probably know a few miles off.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2008 2:34PM]

There is so much battery power on board you could run your house for a week. Don't worry too much about a few touch screens.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2008 2:30PM]

Maybe they should add a screen telling people how to avoid the back of other vehicles and trucks

[2late2die Posted Jul 31st 2008 2:39PM]

I thought that's why people have to pass a test to get a driver's license.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2008 2:56PM]

he's referring to this:

http://www.hey.com/2008/07/25/worlds-first-tesla-crash-in-san-francisco/

[Frankenstein Black Posted Jul 31st 2008 2:51PM]

LOL! A female coworker was looking over my shoulder at the video and thought that Eric guy from Tesla was Hot. So the next thought on everyone’s mind is who does she look like? Ask me.

[OneLove Posted Jul 31st 2008 3:26PM]

epic fail!

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2008 5:28PM]

Onelove has got the correct idea.

[Frankenstein Black Posted Aug 6th 2008 2:35PM]

You 2 fruits are awfully concerned with each others "feelings" :p...
Anyways she looks like a hotter Caroline Bisset (smaller nose and more curves). With that running around the office how is this an epic fail?

[DCTenor1 Posted Jul 31st 2008 3:30PM]

I had a hell of a time figuring out what direction "southwest" of the steering wheel is. I think you mean the center console, which if you're in a UK car, would be down and to the left of the steering wheel, which I guess could be identified as "southwest." But seriously, let's not break out the cardinals unless it's absolutely necessary, mmkay?

[BigD145 Posted Jul 31st 2008 4:52PM]

Saying "7 o'clock" or "8 o'clock" would make more sense. I've never heard anyone refer to a vertical surface using N, S, E, or W.

[kwahhn Posted Jul 31st 2008 3:32PM]

And the sign says, "everybody welcome, come in, kneel down and pray."...

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2008 4:15PM]

I took some photos of the Tesla at the London Motor Show (amongst others) - feel free to check them out:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aris1234/sets/72157606365141730/

There is a picture of the Tesla motor there too:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aris1234/2701045039/in/set-72157606365141730/

Quite small.

There isn't much storage space in the trunk/boot - just a space about the size of some golf clubs (didn't take a picture of that). I did ask them to open the hood/bonnet though - and got a picture of that.

Aris

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2008 5:58PM]

Great looking car (but not exactly a family car, not that that is its target).

But those charging graphics on the touchscreen had to be designed by someone outside of the graphics industry, I'd say.

There's also something very inelegant about hearing about 6,831 lithium-ion batteries powering the car.

1) Replacement costs of these batteries?
2) Longevity?

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2008 9:09PM]

If you have to ask...

I think the entire battery pack assembly & associated electronics (including the battery cooling system) costs around $22,000.

The batteries themselves are in sub-assemblies called "bricks," IIRC.

Tesla went with a very labor-intensive option (multiple small cells and the labor-intensive process of interconnection/assembly), so even though you are replacing the battery pack "brick"-by-"brick" it'll cost ya.

A big part of other OEM efforts to reduce the cost of EV batteries is using larger cells with automated manufacturing techniques.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 31st 2008 11:01PM]

Actually, I was just thinking the graphics were refreshingly simple. They show you exactly what you need to know, without being over-bearing/overly shiny.

[linuxamp Posted Jul 31st 2008 9:05PM]

I hope the battery meter is better than that on phones. On all my phones 4 bars could mean anything from 100% to 35%. The last three bars drop very quickly.

[viper24 Posted Aug 1st 2008 2:47AM]

i have had the pleasure of using this system. it is very intuitive but i found the screen to be a bit small.

[neofolklore Posted Aug 1st 2008 8:54AM]

haha liking the avatar, even though it is an old meme