Tesla Model S Revealed. Again. More.
Published: March 27th, 2009
Share
Our pals over at Autobloggreen have a full gallery of photos of Tesla’s new Model S which seats seven (Volvo-like rear-facing child seats). True to form, the the new EV makes it debut with a wide range of unsubstantiated claims about range (300 miles), recharge time (four hours), features, everything. Oh, wait. Tesla will fit the $50K “entry level” Whitestar sedan—I mean Model S—with a 160-mile (including limp home mode) battery pack. Owners of the”Tesla for the rest of us” have to pay $? to upgrade for a 300-mile (including limp home mode) battery pack. And the timeline for this Roadster redux? The third quarter of 2011. Something tells me it’ll be later, and they’ll take your money sooner.
More by Robert Farago
Comments
Join the conversation
sitting@home: In point of fact, the topless roadster has a Cd of 0.35 compared to the Model S which is in the Prius like 0.26 range. As far as gearing, maybe -- but again, 400 lb-ft of torque (or whatever it will be -- that's about the range) is pretty usefull when going up hills. In case no one read the link I posted, the Model S will have a more powerful motor than the Roadster and be liquid cooled. In the Roadster, just the battery pack is cooled.
@ Paul Niedermeyer: Don't get me wrong, I helped Tesla get their first round of funding because I believed in what they were trying to do and I definitely understand how difficult the auto industry is. And I'm impressed with what Tesla has been able to achieve so far. Still, I'm no fan of Elon and...I may be a tad bitter they didn't offer me a job...but I do have serious doubts about their claims for the Model S, which I think deserve to be debated, especially since they are after my tax money. Maybe with current weight and performance targets, the battery range is easy to calculate but the overall performance, timing, and cost of the vehicle depends on so many variables that any claims are basically meaningless at this point in the product development cycle. In any case, I accept your support for my auto company startup. It has long been my goal to be a full time armchair CEO. TTAC motors???
300 miles on a 4 hour charge!? When travelling, I've seen 1,000 miles in a day. My car can go further than that on a single tank, which takes all of maybe 3 minutes to refuel. Not to mention the infastructure costs. Living in California, our electric infastructure is beyond straining in the summer (rolling blackouts). The draw from these things has got to be massive.
ConspicuousLurker wrote: 300 miles on a 4 hour charge!? When travelling, I’ve seen 1,000 miles in a day. My car can go further than that on a single tank, which takes all of maybe 3 minutes to refuel. That's a pretty big tank. Clearly, "when travelling" 1000 miles a day you wouldn't use your *electric freaking vehicle* with a 150 mile range. In contrast, I drive a never-changing 45 miles round trip on my commute ~250 days a year. If the Tesla S makes it? Sure, I'll take one. I'm with Lieberman & Niedermeyer. People should stop giving Tesla such a hard time. Sure they have lofty goals on this one, but so what? If they make it, awesome. EV's are heading in the right direction imo. If Tesla doesn't make it- so what? Maybe I'm just numb and stopped caring about where my tax money goes after the all the bailouts. But then again I'd be a lot more excited about the Tesla model S succeeding in 3 years (they said "end" of 2011) than AIG staying alive for another few weeks on I'm sure an equivalent taxpayer expense.