CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive

27 October 2009

Implementation Investments

Tesla Model-S: STAR-CCM+ Helps to Design "World's Sexiest Electric Car"

CD-adapco announced that the Tesla Model-S, officially the “World’s Sexiest Electric Car”, is designed with the aid of the STAR-CCM+ Engineering Simulation tool. Tesla Motors will be participating in a Round Table Discussion at the STAR Global Transportation Forum in Detroit MI, December 8-9, 2009.

In 2008, when Tesla decided to bring the aerodynamics development and thermal engineering of its new Model-S sedan in-house, chose STAR-CCM+ Engineering Simulation Software to help address a broad range of electric vehicle engineering challenges quickly and accurately

With a range up to 300 miles, the Model S Sedan (which is due to hit the streets in 2011) can carry five adults in quiet, stylish comfort and can be charged from any electrical outlet, without ever stopping for gas. Compared to competitors whose typical range comes up to 60 miles, this represents a huge advantage. Recharging batteries on Tesla cars is as simple as recharging a cellular phone – it takes about 3.5 hours for full recharge. Additional features like regenerative braking – which recovers and stores the energy usually lost when the car slows down – extends the charge even further, delivering higher miles-per-charge on in-town driving. All these features enabled Tesla cars to run as inexpensive as 1 US cent per mile.

All of this is delivered without compromise to performance; its peak torque starts at 0 RPM and stays powerful at 14,000 RPM. This is exactly opposite of the experience with gasoline engine which has very little torque at low RPM and only reaches peak torque in a narrow range of RPM. The nearly constant torque of Tesla cars result in great acceleration with highest energy efficiency at the same time.

To achieve this exceptional performance, every aspect of the Model-S is analyzed to conserve energy. STAR-CCM+ provides Tesla Motors with a single tool to simulate and evaluate all of the aero-thermal components and interactions to optimize range performance and minimize vehicle energy consumption.

STAR-CCM+ is deployed among several groups at Tesla Motors including Aerodynamics, HVAC Systems and Power-train Engineering. A key to its successful deployment is the ability to go from CAD model to CFD solution within one tool, allowing expertise in CAD correction, computational mesh generation and physics modeling to develop within a single platform across a broad range of users. Within STAR-CCM+ it’s a straight forward process to add, remove or modify geometry and physics models, allowing engineers to see the results of modifications on quantities like drag, lift, pressure loss, temperature and mass flow.

Tesla Motors will be participating in a Round Table Discussion at the STAR Global Transportation Forum in Detroit MI, December 8-9, 2009, the theme of which is “Alternative Transportation and Electric Vehicle Technology Advancements”

A longer version of this article will appear in CD-adapco’s Aerodynamics and Vehicle Thermal Management Special Report, due for publication in December 2009. Click here to pre-order a complimentary copy.

Tesla motors are now taking reservations for the Model-S.

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