Elon Musk Teases the 'D'

[TechBoyJK]

http://www.engadget.com/2014/10/01/tesla-d-teaser/

 

[z1ggy]

I'd take this D any day of the week.

wait... D:

 

[Kaido]

Ooh, what's this? Sports car? Luxury car? I'll take two!

 

[darkewaffle]

Intentional or not it's still pretty amusing.

I hope there's multiple models of the D. Then we get some deez. And throw some Ds on the deezs.

 

[soulcougher73]

I've never wanted the D before..but now...

 

[Kaido]

If it's a stationwagon, then I have a feeling I'm going to be broke very very soon

 

[Imported]

Hoping its a cheap roadster.. D for drop top.

 

[smackababy]

I'd hate to see a Tesla luxury car's price tag. People always love to say "Teslas aren't luxury cars!" and they are compared to such; despite having a price tag of luxury cars.

I am really hoping they go with a cheap model.

 

[Pantoot]

Looks like a model S to me. I am thinking D for dual motor, as in an AWD model S.

 

[TechBoyJK]

Elon added another tweet saying he's glad he didn't include the 2nd letter.

All things poing to Dual Motor

Which would give their cars AWD. Motor in front and in back.

Does this mean double the potential power? Model S with 800Hp? 400 to front and 400 to back?

 

[mmntech]

Excuse me miss, can I put my D in your garage?

Does this mean double the potential power? Model S with 800Hp? 400 to front and 400 to back?

I doubt it, as that would just murder the range. The Mercedes SLS AMG Electric Drive gets 120mi range on a good day. That's with four motors for a total of 740hp.

 

[Pantoot]

Elon added another tweet saying he's glad he didn't include the 2nd letter.

All things poing to Dual Motor

His second tweet was:

I love the Internet. Comments had me literally ROFL. No, it wasn't intentional. Glad I didn't mention the other letter!

I am thinking the second letter is P...(power?)

 

[mmntech]

Haha, it's got to be DP. I'd buy that for a dollar.

 

[Pantoot]

Haha, it's got to be DP. I'd buy that for a dollar.

Found over at the teslamotorsclub.com posted by adelman.

Later RobStark posted the nhtsa VIN assignment showing a dual motor option.
NHTSA VIN assignment for Model S shows dual motor option

 

[tweakmonkey]

Dual motor shouldn't kill the range if you're not hammering it all the time. If you're driving the same rate 0-60 times and cruising at freeway speeds I'd think it would have the same range, other than the relatively weight penalty. It will draw a lot more amps at WOT so it will definitely burn through the battery quicker if you're drag racing etc and that becomes even higher load on batteries killing them faster though.

Also I've heard rumors from locals here (I live about 2 miles from the tesla factory near 1000s of employees) that they've had a dual or even quad motor test car for quite a while now and it's ridiculous how fast it is, pulling crazy Gs. They have a test track here as well.

 

[uclabachelor]

Everytime I tease the "D", she comes back for seconds.

 

[CrimsonWolf]

Just showing the tip of the D. What a tease.

 

[Kaido]

Dual motor shouldn't kill the range if you're not hammering it all the time. If you're driving the same rate 0-60 times and cruising at freeway speeds I'd think it would have the same range, other than the relatively weight penalty. It will draw a lot more amps at WOT so it will definitely burn through the battery quicker if you're drag racing etc and that becomes even higher load on batteries killing them faster though.

Also I've heard rumors from locals here (I live about 2 miles from the tesla factory near 1000s of employees) that they've had a dual or even quad motor test car for quite a while now and it's ridiculous how fast it is, pulling crazy Gs. They have a test track here as well.

Musk did say earlier this year that the Model S would get AWD, and there's already a place in the frunk for a motor in the existing models iirc. They also said that the AWD option in the X SUV had a negligible effect on range - something about making it fairly efficient, both motors having to work less hard, etc., since they announced last year that the X would be AWD-only.

 

[Kaido]

I'd hate to see a Tesla luxury car's price tag. People always love to say "Teslas aren't luxury cars!" and they are compared to such; despite having a price tag of luxury cars.

I am really hoping they go with a cheap model.

Yeah, it's definitely not a luxury car. It's a nice car, but it's a performance car like a Ferrari or Lambo, which is why it's expensive (that & because it's electric). I wondered about that initially too, but after reading some reviews by Tesla owners who had previously owned luxury cars, it's clear that they have some differences in comfort and niceties & amenities. But it makes since, because if you've ever been in a Ferrari vs. a high-end BMW or Audi, it is an entirely different experience - while the Ferrari may have leather seats & wood trim, the ride, noise, and extra bells & whistles are totally different. Pre-incentives, I just configured a Tesla with every feature in the checklist for $133k (before tax incentives). I too would hate to see the pricetag on a Tesla luxury model :biggrin:

Plus the Tesla is (surprisingly) still lacking in a lot of stuff in the technical department, such as an EyeSight-esqe system like Subaru has (anti-crash braking, adaptive cruise control, lane sway detection, etc. - although Reddit is saying some of the newer cars off the line has this tech in it), surround-view cameras (like Land Rover has), self-parking (part assist/auto-park), and even basic stuff like A/C vents for the rear jumpseats.

 

[z1ggy]

His second tweet was:


I am thinking the second letter is P...(power?)

I think the second letter was V , and is now there's some D & V. Although, I guess if you're using D for slang, V is just too proper. I think B would be better though. So then he can whip out the ol D & B's on everybody.

 

[smackababy]

Musk stated self driving by next year? Maybe the D stands for "DriveItself"?

 

[mmntech]

Yeah, it's definitely not a luxury car. It's a nice car, but it's a performance car like a Ferrari or Lambo, which is why it's expensive (that & because it's electric). I wondered about that initially too, but after reading some reviews by Tesla owners who had previously owned luxury cars, it's clear that they have some differences in comfort and niceties & amenities. But it makes since, because if you've ever been in a Ferrari vs. a high-end BMW or Audi, it is an entirely different experience - while the Ferrari may have leather seats & wood trim, the ride, noise, and extra bells & whistles are totally different. Pre-incentives, I just configured a Tesla with every feature in the checklist for $133k (before tax incentives). I too would hate to see the pricetag on a Tesla luxury model :biggrin:

Plus the Tesla is (surprisingly) still lacking in a lot of stuff in the technical department, such as an EyeSight-esqe system like Subaru has (anti-crash braking, adaptive cruise control, lane sway detection, etc. - although Reddit is saying some of the newer cars off the line has this tech in it), surround-view cameras (like Land Rover has), self-parking (part assist/auto-park), and even basic stuff like A/C vents for the rear jumpseats.

Even Audi and BMW are debatable in terms of being a "luxury" car. I would consider those performance vehicles as well. Especially if you compare it to something like Lexus.

Would be nice to see a cheaper Telsa, though the primary thing holding that back is battery price. That's why "inexpensive" EVs like the Leaf have such poor range. That might change though once the Gigafactory is up and running, but that's still a couple years out.

I think it's smart for Tesla to position itself in the luxury/performance segment. That's who can afford EVs right now, and they don't mind fronting higher R&D costs. The technology learned from there will trickle down to the econobox segment, as it has with conventional cars.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I bet it looks something like this:

 

[Ferzerp]

The D stands for diode. They have removed the reverse direction. And it will be hailed as the second coming.