Those big finder flares create drag, as do the sharp angles on the nose. I don't know if the hitch on the rear c pillar was deleted for laminar flow, cabin space, or production costs but it really kills the look. And of course it wasn't going to ship with 22 inch wheels, those would kill mileage and ride quality. So, you've got a 70 hp gas motor, that looses 13% efficiency to "extend" the range... 60 hp to drive the car once your batteries are @ the 30% cut off point. Weak Sauce. A turbocharged 1 liter making 130 hp is much more like it, and would likely get better mileage to boot. I love the idea of serial hybrid, but I wouldn't spend 40G's on this arthritic Malibu.
Why is it that Tesla can make a high performance electric car with a range of 240 miles per charge, but major auto companies can't?
Probably because the major auto companies have to hit a lower price point for their customer base compared to a specialty manufacturer like Tesla. Tesla Roadster Reservation <I> Reservation type: Reserve the 2009 Tesla Roadster Important Information — please read * Reservations for the Tesla Roadster are open to all U.S. residents <b> * 2009MY Roadster base price: $109,000</b> (see 2009 spec sheet for more details) * Availability approximately 12 months * $5000 refundable reservation fee starts the process and locks in price* * Additional $55,000 to lock in a production slot and delivery timeframe. * Exterior/interior choices, options and balance due 3 months prior to production of your Roadster * Submit your questions here, or call 650-413-6300. *Price lock for 2009MY good until Dec. 31, 2008. </I> <hr> The lower priced sedans are probably two years away. Based on the location for their new facility, being price competitive with Toyota, Honda, GM etc is probably not their goal. Tesla Sedan <I> Tesla Motors to Produce All-electric Luxury Sedan in California Tesla Motors to assemble all-electric Model S luxury sedan and build corporate campus in heart of Silicon Valley SAN JOSE, Calif. - Tesla Motors Inc. plans to build a $250 million facility to manufacture a zero-emission luxury sedan in the heart of Silicon Valley. The nation’s leading all-electric car company will also relocate its corporate headquarters and research and development efforts to a consolidated campus in San Jose, Calif. Tesla President and CEO Ze'ev Drori announced Wednesday that construction on the 89-acre site would begin in the summer of 2009. When fully operational, the facility will employ approximately 1,000 workers. Tesla selected San Jose in part because the region already enjoys a high concentration of highly skilled engineers and support infrastructure. The factory – expected to achieve gold certification from U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) – will be 20 miles from the current headquarters in San Carlos, minimizing inconvenience for more than 250 employees. “Big deals like this happen when both parties have something significant to gain,” said Drori, who praised San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed’s 15-year “Green Vision” job-creation initiative. “Locating Tesla’s headquarters, manufacturing and R&D in San Jose will allow us to proceed with minimum disruptions and virtually no dislocations.” <b> Model S is Tesla’s zero-emission, five-passenger luxury sedan powered by a lithium-ion battery pack. It is expected to have a base price of about $60,000 and get about 240 miles per charge with exceptional performance. The first sedans will likely roll off the assembly line in late 2010. </b> Tesla’s first production vehicle is the Roadster, a zero-emission, all-electric, two-seat sports car. On sale now in the United States and Europe, the Roadster is assembled at a Group Lotus PLC factory in Hethel, U.K. Tesla has no plans to move Roadster production. Tesla, which has delivered about 30 Roadsters so far, announced last week it was ramping up production amid scorching demand. About 1,200 people have put down deposits to reserve a Roadster. </I>
Like all technologies give it several years, and after the early adopters spend all their $$$ on it and they can start ramping up economies of scale, the price will drop quite a bit. Think of how much early HD TV's or early computers cost.
Q: What is the cost of operation of the car A: With current average U.S. electric rates of ~10 cents/kwh it should cost 80 cents to drive for the first 40 miles, and then get 50 mpg thereafter using gasoline (market rate). 80 cents to drive 40 miles...that will appeal to a lot of people. DD
German interiors are heinous. Has anything really changed inside an Audi in the past decade? lol. Has BMW figured out that having to jog a dial here and there through a myriad of turns when I could just as easily push a button is a pain? It's a reason why the iDrive is iHated. Not to mention Germans are trying to outdo American manufacturers in terms of poor reliability. Let's hope GM is still around... at the rate they're going, they'll need a handout from the gummint, too. lol.
It looks like they went to Apple for the interior design Anyway, the concept is great, I think a lot of people are going to buy it. Is it me or did the Volt look a lot better in the commercial?
Bingo. My first thought when I saw the front end of it. Of course with what they did to the next Acura TL, that won't be a problem. lol. I was watching a documentary about GM on CNBC and they basically said they knew their interiors were garbage, but they didn't care because they kept sellin' .... Quit chanting "buy American" and start chanting "build and buy quality American cars". People have been chanting "buy American" for decades now and have inferior crap to show for it until possibly the past few years.
Cadillac has a nice interior and I believe has had pretty good quality overall recently. Of course you'll pay for it, too...
True...for me, its worth it to pay more for a nicer quality interior. I know people dont feel the same way though. And it really has nothing to do with penis size, as Rockets2K so eloquently stated earlier.
I think the car looks good, and if it does well, it could start a revolution.....this is the kind of innovation I have been looking for from the US car companies for years. DD
What's interesting is that is this only possible because of high fuel costs. If gas was $1.30 like it was five years ago, do you think people would care about a 40K car that goes 40 miles on a 80 cent charge. The reason Europe is so ahead of us in terms of energy technology is because fuel has always been expensive for them.
