Five years after Tesla revealed their electric roadster The new and improved Tesla Model S has arrived! Aceman takes a look at all of its features and take it for a test drive.
Review:
Test Drive:
Specs: MSRB: 60,000$ + 7500 Tax Credit USD 0-60 MPH Approx 4.4 seconds Can go up to 300 Miles without a charge Seats up to 7 people Trunk and Hood Carrying Space Automatically turns on and off and self locks upon you leaving 17 inch touch screen for controlling car functions and surfing internet Zero Emissions
I was wondering if anyone would ever consider owning a car like this? I am a fan of Tesla but I find it hard to believe that they could become as big or successful as Mercedes, BMW, Lexus,Audi etc but I do admire them pushing the limits of car technology.
i would get one if i had a house and as a 2nd/3rd car, not to replace.
that said i do see bigger things coming for tesla if they keep innovating as they are, catching up to other major manufacturers is a long, long time away because of lack of platforms and the need for R&D for new tesla based (ev based) platforms. unless they slap things together like they did with elise/exige for cuv/suv/4d/2d/econ/van
On January 11 2013 05:53 DoomBox wrote: Seats 7? Someone please explain how...
They are heavily investing in the clown demographic in terms of sales. I imagine it is similar to how when a tent says it can sleep two people, you can do it only no one will be comfortable.
I currently own a RX-8, so my next step would be a family car as I already have my joyride. Having seen the Model S in person, and having been impressed by the Roadster, I would definitely consider the Model S for a family sedan if I were to compare with other sedans in the same price range - especially if I was living in the city.
Looks very cool and I'm very excited for the future of these. Unfortunately though, for anyone like me who lives in a cold climate it's not nearly as economical because it requires a crapton of power to heat the interior.
I read about the model S years ago when they were still planning it while selling the Roaster. I always thought it was a cool idea but limited by the battery technology. Lithium-ion is the best today has to offer, but it just have too many drawbacks in my personal opinion.
On January 11 2013 06:31 Pandemona wrote: I'll wait to see what Top Gear say on this before i even consider Electric Cars
Top gear is about as good for reviewing cars as the daily show is for actually being informative. They are going for the jokes not for exactly an unbiased fair review.
In theory a family could easily work off 1 electric car 1 gas powered car, or long trips could be done via renting cars and all cars be electric considering most daily driving fall in under 70 miles, the problem is where to charge for those without houses meaning market penetration past homeowners would be difficult till infrastructure is around, and in terms of energy per pollution even the most dirty forms of electricity in the US is still cleaner then gasoline in green house gases although a bit more noticed by people is smog. Which would work great for clearing up cities on hot days.
Anyways problem with tesla is they still haven't figured out their manufacturing process yet which is why these cars cost a bit too much I swear they could knock 10k off it easily in terms of just man-hours per car if they would streamline their process for making cars, too much of the work is done by hand. That also has to do with their limited production runs etc hell just a couple years ago they were only making like 10 cars a week, I think their most recent numbers and buying out the old nummi factory they started ramping up for higher volume I think around 500 a week currently? Either way tesla brand could benefit from being bought out and expanded by one of the bigger motor companies, but that will never happen just based off the guy who owns tesla would never allow that.
I really liked their Roadster, but I'm not quite sold on the Model S. The range is actually perfect for me. My only worry would be charging it not at home.
Tesla is a very cool company, however, the issue they face is that their cars are not easily ported to the general populace. The cars would greatly pay off in regards of how little electricity costs compared to oil, but the general cost fo the car makes it more of a luxury choice. I can't wait for Tesla to make a "people's" car.
EPT
![[image loading]](http://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2011/10/fisker-karma-car-0h02.jpg)
