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Tesla will be showing off a prototype of their $60,000 Model S luxury sedan next month. The car is the next step in Tesla's plan to make electric vehicles cheap and available to all. This step from a $110,000 car to a $60,000 car is certainly a big one...and all they need to do is halve it again to get to the level of a Chevy Volt! Albeit with no backup system and only a 200 mile range.
Tesla looked as if it was going to have to stall out plans to build the Model S, as they were running short on cash and needed several hundred million dollars to build the Model S factory. Fortunately for them, the Department of Energy will likely be granting them a $350 M loan for the factory. They hope to have those funds in "four to five" months.
The Model S represents Tesla's opportunity to become a truly significant company that makes an actual impact on the environment. But it's also the company's biggest risk yet. I've got no problem with the Roadster, but it's a small market and impractical car built for a small-market filled with impractical cars. Buyers of luxury sedans expect a lot more from their cars than buyers of sports cars.
It is yet to be seen if luxury drivers will be able to make the compromises (in range and re-charge times) that electric vehicles currently require. Of course, it's always possible that Tesla will create a range-extended version of the Model S, as they discussed previously.
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written by kerry bradshaw, February 18, 2009
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written by richard, February 19, 2009
1, a vehicle powered by limited supply of fossil fules
or
2, a vehicle powered by an unlimited (relatively) supply of solar, hydro and other sustainable electric energies?
I have always wanted one since I first saw it on you tube a few years ago
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written by harumf, February 20, 2009
Well, out of any segment of the driving population, I'd say this is the best fit. Your traveling salesman and your road-tripper are not driving luxury vehicles; they're driving comodity sedans (think Camry). If a luxury-car driver is going someplace more than 300 miles away (yeah...good job citing 200 as the range. The roadster does about 250, and Model S is supposed to be around 300) they are probably going to fly anyway. If we get the same improvement in 3 years for the third model, we'll be looking at a mass-market sedan for $28,000 that goes 360 miles...sounds good to me.
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written by Yamaha Dirt Bikes, February 26, 2009
Looking forward for its new launch very soon.
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As for recharging, if you can do this at home, what difference does it make if it takes 10 minutes or 8 hours? If you can do it at the office, same question.
I see these two issues being brought up again and again about electric cars. People forget that gas-based cars have a real limit to their range as well, but the infrastructure (gas stations) is in place so you don't think about it. Obviously, the infrastructure is going to catch up once electric cars are common. Office buildings, malls, restaurants, hotels, and any place with a parking lot will start to have charging stations (some complimentary, some for a fee--similar to how Wi-Fi is now).
There are many reasons people might not want to buy a new electric car (price, safety, no reliability history, etc.), but range and charging time seem to be really overblown in their significance.