G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com
Understanding Tesla View of HP and Torque
Most people today understand when a person mentions Horsepower or Torque they relate it to how well a petro powered auto might perform. Faster, stronger, driving machines that compete for your hard earned dollars while giving you an in the gut experience to make one grin from ear to ear or puke depending on your own personal constitution.
With today's EV auto's, people are still looking to relate the EV to the horsepower and torque or HP / lb-ft that they are used to and no fully understanding that in the EV world the motors are dealing with Kilowatts and Megawatts which is the common terms used for electric motors converting electricity into motion.
In reviewing Tesla's Blog, I came across a posting by JB Straubel, Chief Technical Officer for Tesla. He wrote a blog titled "Tesla All Wheel Drive (Dual Motor) Power and Torque Specifications" in which he covers Electrical Horsepower, Dual versus single motor, and all wheel drive 85D and 70D covering the differences between the two.
One thing that I learned was that while we all know that petro auto's loose HP/Torque in higher elevations, all auto's have reduced air resistance, yet EV motors actually get faster. It is an insightful read especially about the ability to adjust their power between front and rear motor both going uphill and downhill where regenerative power capture takes place.
Take a look and sound off on what your thoughts are on his blog post.