After catching all the focus of the press and masses with the unveiling of the new Model S, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk wants to convince people that the luxury, all-electric sedan that can be mass produces should also be mass bought. Mr. Musk also wanted to send a message to the U.S. government hinting a government financial support without which the startup company can’t start production.
On Friday, in a newsletter to customers, Mr. Musk highlighted the multiple benefits of the new car from Tesla Motors focusing, as expected, on the differences between an all-electric car and a gas car. The Tesla Model S has a price tag of $56,400 but that qualifies for a $7,500 federal tax credit.
"The ownership cost of Model S, if you were to lease and then account for the much lower cost of electricity versus gasoline at a likely future cost of $4 per gallon, is similar to a gasoline car with a sticker price of about $35,000," wrote Mr. Musk, who is also the company’s product architect.
The electric cars also do not have some of the costs that gas cars have such as numerous moving body parts, oil that needs to be changed. According to Mr. Musk, the Model S costs about $5 to cover a distance of approximately 230 miles.
Tesla Motors, Inc., the company focused on the production of high performance, consumer-oriented battery electric vehicles, has finally unveiled the Model S, which is an all-electric sedan considered to make the dawn of a new generation of vehicles that will run on fossil-free fuels.
Although gas prices are quite low now and the state of the economy is worsening with each day that passes making people worry about many other things than their gas bills, the new concept from Tesla Motors sounds good. This was also the opinion of the large crowd present on March 26 at the unveiling of the Model S.
Unlike the previous model from Tesla Motors, the Tesla Roadster (all-electric, 0-60 miles in 3.9 seconds, $109,000, sport car that sold 1,200 units), the Model S is a daily driver that also addresses some other customers than the wealthy, tech- and eco-enthusiasts.
The Model S can cover a longer distance than the Roadster, up to 300 miles on one charge. Recharging it will take up to 45 minutes thanks to the new, fast-charging technology. It’s a remarkable improvement compared to the Roadster, which is capable of covering only 244 miles on one charge and of recharging its batteries in about three and a half hours. Furthermore, the battery of the Model S will be easier to remove allowing drivers who want to cover long distance to stop at repair shops and borrow a fully-charged battery and hit the road again.
The four-door all-electric sedan isn’t really a head turner and the designers at Tesla know that. They didn’t intend it to be like that. "I see us slipping out of an era when we have to broadcast," Tesla's chief designer, Franz von Holzhausen, a veteran of General Motors and Mazda said. "Our customer base doesn't need that affirmation."
However, the Tesla Model S stands out with other features than the design, although I believe it really didn’t need anything else beside the all-electric engine that really gets the job done. The 17-inch, flat-panel screen in the dashboard that contains most of the car’s interior controls such as heating, lights and stereo, is one of those features. It also features wireless Internet so drivers can check where the traffic jams are or read their e-mails. Tesla Motors execs said the company is spending a lot of money on the interface but is a thing that makes sense to them.
"I don't understand how I can pay $299 for iPhone and then get in my car and still have to turn knobs,” said von Holzhausen.
As for the production process and plans, Tesla hopes it will build 20,000 of the sedans per year by mid-2012. However, to do that, the company needs a government loan. It already asked the Obama administration for a federal loan of $350 million.
