Capt Slow
Capt Slow Reader
10/10/08 12:54 p.m.

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/10/10/rufs-electric-porsche-breaks-cover/

I wonder why they didn't base it on the cayman? Anyways its still drool worthy...

katonk
katonk New Reader
10/10/08 12:59 p.m.

Range of 180 miles... at least this is an electric car that could be used as a normal car. Seems too many previous electric cars had very limited range; not exactly practicle when a normal day comprises more than 50 miles on the road.

Woody
Woody GRM+ Memberand Dork
10/10/08 4:11 p.m.

Nein, danke.

Ryan9118
Ryan9118 HalfDork
10/11/08 2:17 p.m.

Could this be the new rich snob mobile? Prius for the wife, electric 997 for the husband?

MrJoshua
MrJoshua SuperDork
10/11/08 2:21 p.m.

Im really curious about the price. Its slower than the Tesla, but if it is sold with the factory backing of Porsche that would be worth quite a bit.

Capt Slow
Capt Slow Reader
10/11/08 4:50 p.m.

I have this crazy dream of racing an electric sports car at an autocross.

I could see pulling up to the autoX installing my "race" battery pack and swapping the tires and going for it...

and with 100% of the engines tourqe availbe from 0 rpm it should be a blast...

RedS13Coupe
RedS13Coupe New Reader
10/11/08 9:28 p.m.
katonk wrote: Range of 180 miles... at least this is an electric car that could be used as a normal car. Seems too many previous electric cars had very limited range; not exactly practicle when a normal day comprises more than 50 miles on the road.

I know... I don't care what the drive train of a car is, and the power curve of an electric engine does seem cool... but some of whats around seems just weak,

I was at the alternative vehicle expo in Santa Monica a few weekends ago, and out front there was an EV club. One of the guys was standing by his car talking to passer bys... Start talking specs with him...

thing was just over 1000lbs, cool... then he gets into range and performance. About 40 miles per charge. Pretty low, but he lives and works in the same town and said he drives it every day no problems... So I guess if you have a second car all is well. Then he mentions that after modding the motor he maxes out at 38mph.

Its good to see some electrics coming out that aren't a joke.

gamby
gamby SuperDork
10/12/08 12:23 a.m.

I like, I like, I LIKE!!!

MrJoshua wrote: Im really curious about the price. Its slower than the Tesla, but if it is sold with the factory backing of Porsche that would be worth quite a bit.

I don't care that they're megadollar cars now--it's great that we're starting to see some killer electric cars period.

We'll see what happens when/if it trickles down.

MitchellC
MitchellC Reader
10/12/08 1:22 a.m.
article: the eRUF Model A can reportedly hit 60 miles per hour in under seven seconds and can reach a top speed of 160.

Seven seconds eh?

Wally
Wally GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
10/12/08 1:35 a.m.
Capt Slow wrote: I have this crazy dream of racing an electric sports car at an autocross. I could see pulling up to the autoX installing my "race" battery pack and swapping the tires and going for it... and with 100% of the engines tourqe availbe from 0 rpm it should be a blast...

I used to race a car like that. I can't imagine what a pain in the a$$ it would be to keep dischargeing and charging those packs every run. Especially if I can only use CFLs

YaNi
YaNi New Reader
10/12/08 7:00 a.m.

The article says, "... about 200 horsepower along with an impressive 480 lb.-ft. of torque."

Those numbers are almost worthless w/o giving engine speeds. I know the Tesla revs to ~14000rpm, so does top end power fall off the face of the earth since peek hp is only 200hp? If I were to assume that peak power were 10-11k rpm, that would mean that you are getting <90 torques. The torque from 0 rpm sounds nice, but it seems like it could be quite deceiving. Those numbers sound like my old roommates Pontiac Firebird 305.

jmthunderbirdturbo
jmthunderbirdturbo New Reader
10/12/08 3:09 p.m.

90 torques? torque isnt a unit...last i checked...but ok...

seems like an interesting step in the quest for non-gas sports cars. im impressed. not to mention that a 911 looks odd with out the grilles in the nose...

YaNi
YaNi New Reader
10/12/08 5:39 p.m.

You obviously don't watch Top Gear. Does ft-lbs make you feel better?

confuZion3
confuZion3 HalfDork
10/13/08 8:04 a.m.
YaNi wrote: You obviously don't watch Top Gear. Does ft-lbs make you feel better?

Yeah. He's got you. They have used the term on Top Gear.

This RUF EV thing seems pretty cool. And if you're looking at 480 ft-lbs of torque and only 200 hp, then eith your torque falls off quickly or the motor redlines at 3,000 RPMs. Even in the Tesla, the torque curve isn't flat to the redline. I think it starts to drop off somewhere just north of 7,000 RPMs.

SUPER-EDIT: I just looked at my clock. It's 9:11.

Capt Slow
Capt Slow Reader
10/13/08 2:16 p.m.

The Hp rating on electric motors can be a bit wonky relitive to the hp rating on gasoline engines.

If I remeber correctly electric motors are rated at peak contious power and most car engines are rated at peak power.

confuZion3
confuZion3 HalfDork
10/13/08 2:17 p.m.

That makes sense. Thanks Capt Slow!

confuZion3
confuZion3 HalfDork
10/13/08 2:18 p.m.
Wally wrote:
Capt Slow wrote: I have this crazy dream of racing an electric sports car at an autocross. I could see pulling up to the autoX installing my "race" battery pack and swapping the tires and going for it... and with 100% of the engines tourqe availbe from 0 rpm it should be a blast...
I used to race a car like that. I can't imagine what a pain in the a$$ it would be to keep dischargeing and charging those packs every run. Especially if I can only use CFLs

Wally, that looks like an RC-10 (or some related Team Associated product).

Kendall_Jones
Kendall_Jones New Reader
10/13/08 2:24 p.m.

And also, I'm sure there is a fancy super whizzy motor controller in there. That means you wont get 480 ft-lb off the line, there will be some ramp / PID loop software that limits the torque. I'd guess that it would still be a huge grunt off the line though.

Kendall

Wally
Wally GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
10/13/08 7:35 p.m.

back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, that was the car to have. i bought one with three summers of lawn mower money. Unfortunately when assembled by a 12 year old it was far from the fastest thing on earth. Especially if you tried to use the science experiment of a factory speed control.

Volksroddin
Volksroddin Reader
10/14/08 7:46 a.m.

Yea the factory ESC/MSC can be a turd...

Jensenman
Jensenman SuperDork
10/14/08 8:45 a.m.

Yep, that tub is a base RC10. That's the first R/C car I had. The 'wiper' speed control was a real joke, if the battery 'dumped' at full throttle the speed control servo would quit working and would stay on wide open. Then the driver would have to take off running to catch it before it went into the street. I'm sure the drivers' neighbors thought that was hilarious.

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