# what electric motor in Telsa roadster?



## Evilsizer (Jan 25, 2010)

i have been looking around tring to find the answer to this question but just cant find it. anyone know?


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## 1clue (Jul 21, 2008)

Custom motor, custom controller.

It says so on their site. In the FAQ I think.

It's an AC induction motor.


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## Evilsizer (Jan 25, 2010)

that is disappointing... thanks, i guess i didnt check everywhere then if they had a FAQ. doh


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## 1clue (Jul 21, 2008)

I just tried to find it, and they've significantly changed their site since I looked. It says in the tech specs that it's an AC induction motor, but I have yet to see where it says "custom."

FWIW, every high performance EV which is commercially made, that I've seen anyway, uses a custom motor and custom controller. Sometimes I wonder exactly how "custom" they can be, but I suppose if nothing else it prevents people from duplicating the effort.


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## Sunking (Aug 10, 2009)

It is custom built and trade secret. However it is a 3-phase 300 something volt induction motor.


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## IamIan (Mar 29, 2009)

Quasi-trade secret ... just not theirs,

Tesla licensed technology from AC-Propulsion that combines the Motor, Controller, BMS, Charger, etc... All Designed and still owned by AC-Propulsion ... still being leased to Tesla.

Tesla took this AC-Propulsion system ... made some In-House customizations to better fit their production desires ... but AC-Propulsion never sold the tech ... it is still being leased ... which means regular pay checks to AC-Propulsion from Tesla for the privilege of using AC-Propulsion's designs.


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## CroDriver (Jan 8, 2009)

IamIan said:


> Quasi-trade secret ... just not theirs,
> 
> Tesla licensed technology from AC-Propulsion that combines the Motor, Controller, BMS, Charger, etc... All Designed and still owned by AC-Propulsion ... still being leased to Tesla.
> 
> Tesla took this AC-Propulsion system ... made some In-House customizations to better fit their production desires ... but AC-Propulsion never sold the tech ... it is still being leased ... which means regular pay checks to AC-Propulsion from Tesla for the privilege of using AC-Propulsion's designs.


Nop, Tesla was using AC Propulsion's charging technology. As far as I know the updated Roadster uses another, non ACP technology.


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Cro is correct. Tesla changed the design and separated charging from the motor windings and no longer pays ACP. Anything you want to know about the Tesla can probably be found here:
http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/


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## IamIan (Mar 29, 2009)

Learn something new everyday.

It seems from what I found that Tesla designed their initial system based on ACP tech... which ACP licensed to them to use for that very reason... which I find interesting ... it seems ACP only intended to help develop the Tesla system and never intended to continue to get checks.

ACP is did the same thing again with a BMW EV in 2009 ... and the another one now with Auto-Port Inc in 2010 ...

I guess they just want to stay on the engineering / prototyping side of it.


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