Plug It In, Plug It In

Tesla Motors to build electric-car plant in San Jose, Calif. 4

Tesla Motors, maker of the ultra-sleek, ultra-expensive, all-electric Tesla Roadster sports car, has announced it will build a manufacturing plant in San Jose, Calif., to churn out within two years its newest all-electric offering: a five-seater sedan. Priced at a still-spendy-but-slightly-saner $60,000, Tesla's "Model S" sedan is expected to roll off the production line in late 2010, just in time to compete with GM's much-hyped $35,000 plug-in hybrid, the Chevy Volt. Tesla says the Model S will be able to travel about 240 miles on a full charge, some 160 miles short of the Volt's estimated range; GM claims the Volt will be able to travel some 400 miles on a full charge and a full tank of gas. However, Tesla is confident it will be able to compete in the broader electric-car market. "I am sure there will be competition," said Tesla Chief Executive Ze'ev Drori. "We hope there will be competition. Competition will accelerate demand." Tesla hopes to sell off its first run of 15,000 vehicles by the end of 2011.

source: Reuters, BBC News

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  1. 2wheeler Posted 6:03 am
    17 Sep 2008

    apples and apples?Comparing the Volt (electric with gas powered on board generator) to the Tesla Model S (full electric plug-in) for its cruising range may not be so accurate.  The Volt's 40 mile cruising range under full electric, vs. the Model S range of 240 miles, may be a more accurate statistic for those looking to compare.
    Anyway these vehicles are still vaporware for now.  I'm sad to hear the Volt won't have any more advanced batteries on board.  Lithium batteries used in the Tesla Roadster must just be too exotic (although they have been powering laptop PCs for well over a decade now).
  2. danallen Posted 6:06 am
    17 Sep 2008

    Still-spendy-but-slightly-saner $60,000As long as Tesla builds their cars to run on 6,831 AA-size batteries they are unlikely to be sufficiently economical for significant auto market penetration.
    As for GM's VOLT, do they even have a battery concept yet?
  3. earlysnows Posted 8:47 am
    17 Sep 2008

    electric carsgreat, another decade and the ICE's will be gone!
  4. gwood Posted 8:13 am
    18 Sep 2008

    crazy!Are these people crazy? $35000, $60000-- When they sell one for $12000, I'll look at it.

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