Tesla Model S - WOW!

Stock ticker TSLA I believe

Yes, the model S is the car my wife and I are salivating over. Due out in June/July 2012.
We are prop ably going to get the middle range option.
And the other cars you mention are exactly the market they are planning to go head to head against.

I believe they are shooting for a production of 20,000 a year.

Long term goal (2-3 years after the Model S comes out) is to the come out with an economy sedan at much higher production numers.

YAY!!

 

The new tesla is unbelieveable. Much better looking that the silly wannabe Elise, "Roadster." The styling, the numbers. It will be a huge success if people catch on. Even if it starts around 50k.

 

i like the car, but too much money. and the extra range is nice. i would just charge 3 times a week instead of 5 times a week like i do in my Leaf with its measly 100 mile range

 

From wiki: "On May 20, 2010 Tesla Motors announced it would form a partnership with Toyota to produce the new lower-priced Model S at the former NUMMI assembly plant in Fremont, California,[18] now known as the Tesla Factory."

interesting!

 

I won't buy it. It is just too big. Infact many roadster owners aren't buying either because of this reason (see teslamotorsclub forum website)

While it looks gorgeous in pictures, somehow in the small Seattle Tesla store it didn't look that great (I think it looks better from a distance because of its size).

BTW, the 160 mile would cost 50K (i.e. double of Leaf) and the 300 mile one would coust 70K (nearly 3 times).

 

Haha, calm down now. I was thinking the same thing when I heard about the Tesla S several months ago. The reason why everyone's not going to flock to it and BMW/Merc/etc will still be in business is because of the Tesla S's proven reliability, safety, quality and materials, and actual range. All are big ????s at this point to make even the biggest enthusiasts a little dubious.

 

The Model S starts at $57500. Each battery upgrade costs an additional $10000. Apparantly the jump seats & panoramic roof will be options. Options & their pricing haven't been determined.

 

Read Tesla's 2010 Annual Report to learn more about them.

 

S-Class sales are at 66,000 a year. And bear in mind a specced up E-Class (either through option packages or if you go for the E-500/AMG) is the same kind of price, and merc sell 300,000+ E-Classes a year. With local governments promoting EV's (for instance in the UK if you have the merc as a company car then you have to pay tax based on the car's retail price every year, wheras the tesla you pay no tax. for the company, they can claim reduced CO2/greeness etc) i can easily see 5-10% of those current vehicles becoming Teslas instead. And when they hit three years old and enter the second hand market they will be an absolute bargain!

 

did you see the model-s battery?

it is a big flat slab that covers the entire bottom of the car.



the rear motor assembly looks nice, too.




more pics
Tesla lets us peek in on Model S development — Autoblog

 

That slab of battery is going to make for a mega stable ride, and there's not going to be any road noise coming up through that!

 

No road noise except the hummm from that ginormous electric motor. I want one

 

One thing about this battery, though - how are they going to protect it from road hazards?

You run something over on the highway and it might bounce up and stab your very expensive slab o' battery

 

You ever been worried running something over and it piercing your gas tank? i think that is a non-issue.

 

Grumpy have you seen a Tesla in person? They sit like 3 to 4 inches off the ground driving through a flooded road even if it was a conventional car would be impossible.

 

In Texas there's a public service message that says "Turn around, don't drown." Good advice....