Informative Report On Tesla Engines And Performance Dynamics

Aim: To understand what makes a Tesla one of the fastest cars in the world.

Objective: This report is to analyze how a Tesla engine works as compared to a more complex combustion engine.

The company is headquartered in Palo Alto California, and founded by Elon Musk. Today, Tesla is the leading electric manufacturing car company in the world. According to Forbes, “Tesla is the first automobile company to set a full manufacturing factory in Silicon Valley”. The vehicles produced by Tesla includes the Model S, Model X, Model 3 and the most recent the Tesla Roadster. Due its unique performance the company has seen great success over the past few years. According to Clean Technica “the electric company has won best car of the year 2013, saying that the model S drives like a sports car, eager and agile and instantly responsive. Other words include best most loved car of 2014, and receiving the highest car rating on performance, safety, aerodynamics, maintenance. First, will be an examination of how the engine is setup. What is comprises of, its different components and functionality.

The main Concepts inspired by Nikola Tesla, which include; Induction motor, inverter, transmission, differential, battery pack and regenerative braking system. Why does the company use this form of technology as compared to other companies? Also, change and improvement in drive efficiency, and energy loss reduction. Secondly, we would see how this has brought a major change in the automobile market. Similar to the Volkswagen beetle which was a revolutionary car in the 1940’s. Notice that what makes a great, reliable car is in the engine. A typical Tesla engine consist of an induction motor, battery, gearbox, and an inverter as seen in the figure above. These components provide an output of all-wheel-drive traction, superior grip, and produce a very large amount of horsepower all at the same time. The induction motor consists of two parts a stator and a rotor. The stator is made up of a collection of conducting bars which are short circuited in to the shaft of the motor. This shaft is being run by a 3 phase alternating current (AC) power input which creates a rotating magnetic field and induces a current to make it turn. The frequency greatly varies on the AC power supply. This is a direct ratio as power supply also alters the driving speed. This makes electric cars drive easier and is less complicated than combustion cars. Combustion vehicles require a usable amount of torque AC power output to achieve a usable speed.

On the other hand, there is no speed transmission needed for an electric vehicle. Hence the electric motor can generate a maximum amount of torque at any given revolutions per minute (RPM). According to Tesla, “the car produces direct rotational motion and uniform power output in its induction motor to increase response rate and high power motion increasing vehicle performance. Engineers at tesla have designed their batteries for better transfer. They installed an inverter to convert the power from the battery. “Direct current (DC) to alternating current AC”. According to Evannex, “The battery consists of lithium packed cells to guarantee effective cooling, minimizing thermal hotspots and temperature distribution to increase battery pack life”. This is cooled by passing through a radiator in front of the vehicle. In Tesla’s the battery pack is located at the mid lower section of the car to lower the center of gravity and increase stability. This power from motor is then transmitted to the drive wheel through a single speed gearbox. The power is transformed from kinetic energy to electricity so that it can be saved in the battery. Some of this electricity in sored in the motor, as a result of this an inverse electric force is induced to slow car down and there is no loss in energy. This is called selective regeneration. Selective regenerative braking is achieved using a smart responsive software connected to the gearbox.

Today Tesla motors is one of the top companies in the world due to its innovative technology. According to Clean Technica, “Tesla is on track to pass Porsche in annual vehicle sales in 2018”. The company has seen a great boost in sales over these recent months. This has led to an increase in the production rate of five thousand cars per week, and recently a third gigafactory about to be built in China. Their vehicles are more affordable and just as luxurious as most Porsche vehicles. This places Tesla at an advantage over Porsche especially with the European market on banning internal combustion vehicles from inner city centers, which could push more sales away from Porsche. Acording to Statistica, “the Model S became Norway’s most popular vehicle to be sold in 2014 placing itself ahead of Volkwagen golf. According to Teslarati, “the Model S 100D broke the record as the first production electric car to exceed 1000 km on a single charge. The car covered 669. 98 miles which beats the modified BMW 5-series which only covered about 517 miles. Other records include towing include The Model X towing and aircraft. According to Fox6, “the Tesla Model X SUV earned a guinness record when it towned a Boeing 787 aircraft which weighed about 280, 000 pounds”. This is the heaviest weight ever towed by an electric car beating its competitor, Jeep, on faster acceleration on more torque at a shorter time.

Presently, the company’s most recent achievement is with the Tesla Roadster. According to Express, “ The a car is able to travel from 0-60mph in 1. 9 seconds, and 0-100 mph in 4. 2 seconds”. Which is much more faster than the Koenigsegg, Mclaren and LaFerrari. Breaking the record as the fastest production car ever made.

In conclusion, Tesla is amongst the fastest growing companies in the world. Its CEO Elon Musk has played a very great role in driving the company in this direction, placing it alongside automobile giants like Porsche, BMW, Audi, Toyota and Volvo. TechCrunch describes Tesla Motors as the car of the future. Also the company has had major setback with its self-driving technology, Tesla still thrives on breaking world records every year and keeps improving driving performance.