Tesla Motors now offering Model S totally electric car
Actually they're offering to take $5,000 deposits for delivery in 2012
price $57,400 ... less $7500 federal taxpayer subsidy = $ 49,900
It would appear to offer a whole lot more vehicle for nearly the same money as the Chevy Volt. This model comes with a 160 mile range battery pack. An extra $10,000 will buy you a 230 mile range battery pack. An extra $20,000 will buy you a 300 mile range battery pack.
Tesla states that by using a 220v 30 amp electric stove / clothes dryer outlet, the battery pack can be fully recharged overnight. It can be 'trickle charged' from a standard 120v 15 amp outlet ( with full recharge time being something like 36-48 hours ). The Tesla is also compatible with a 'flash' charger that can boost the battery charge from 1/2 to full in as little as 45 minutes - however, this essentially requires the entire 220v 100 amp electricity supply of a typical suburban house.
Tesla estimates an electricity usage of 0.3 kWh per mile ( not counting headlights, heat / AC, radio / stereo etc. ). At a typical cost of 12 cents / kWh one dollar buys you 27 miles of driving or 3.7 cents per mile driven - assuming that your state doesn't assess a road tax based on miles driven versus gallons of gasoline / diesel ( not ) purchased, and not counting the pro-rated battery cost.
Tesla estimates that after 7 years or 100,000 miles of driving ( actually X number of charges and discharges ) that the battery pak will still be able to store / supply 70% of original capacity ... i.e. a 7 year / 100,000 mile useful battery life. Battery pak replacement costs approximately $20k for the 160 mile size, $30k for the 230 mile size, and $40k for the 300 mile size based on current pricing for lithium ion batteries. Or viewed another way, the Tesla model S purchase price breaks down to about $38k for the vehicle itself + another $20-30-40k for the battery pak depending on the number of battery cells. Again based on Tesla's projections, 100,000 mile battery life versus $20k battery replacement cost represents an additional cost of 20 cents per mile driven.
Combining the 3.7 cents per mile electricity cost, the 20 cents per mile battery cost, and assuming no road taxes will need to be paid, the 23.7 cents per mile driven cost roughly equates to an equivalent 'gas mileage' of about 15 mpg at $3.50 gas price levels. This will obviously drop further if the US federal and state gov'ts start collecting road taxes in the neighborhood of 50 cents per gallon = 2 cents per mile driven by alternate means ( such as adding this cost to the state vehicle registration fee based on actual miles driven as noted during the mandatory annual vehicle inspection )
Of course there is the option of only driving the Tesla 100,000 miles and then selling / trading it before battery replacement costs become an issue. However, this will circle around to 'bite you in the a$$' by another mechanism i.e. greatly reduced trade-in / resale value.
As to Tesla's success as a company, that actually has very little to do with its vehicle sales profits ...
(snip)"Also, California-based Tesla is the beneficiary of the Golden State’s complex, extreme greenhouse gas emissions reduction policy. The company benefits from a $5,000-per-vehicle-produced “Zero Emissions Vehicle Credit,” which it can sell to the other large automakers because they don’t fit the state’s qualifications for the program (because they sell more than 60,000 cars, but not enough zero emissions vehicles). Wired reported last year that 85 percent of Tesla’s total gross margin -- $8.2 million – was from sales of ZEV credits.(snip) from
... thus potential Tesla buyers need to keep in the back of their mind the possibility that the company could go out of business at any time as the result of the state of California stopping taxpayer funding for electric vehicle tax credits. To avoid confusion, the $5000 California taxpayer subsidy provided to electric vehicle manufacturers in the form of a resellable ZEV credit ( as discussed above ) is separate and distinct from the additional $5000 California taxpayer subsidy paid to individual electric vehicle buyers in the form of a refundable state tax credit. Where the ZEV credit is concerned, California taxpayers are subsidizing every Tesla vehicle produced ( regardless of where it is actually sold), whereas the personal electric vehicle buyer tax credit is only paid to Tesla buyers who are residents of California.
But the basic point was that, unlike GM or Toyota where electric / hybrid vehicles comprise a tiny percentage of total corporate business / profits, with Tesla being a small 100% electric vehicle manufacturer whose profitability is almost totally dependent on the existance of gov't subsidies, any change in current gov't policy re electric vehicle taxpayer subsidies could lead to a situation where your recently purchased Tesla vehicle no longer has any manufacturer or dealer support available.
On the flip side, the Tesla's performance as a vehicle is VERY good. IMHO It's 'sexy as hell'. And if state taxpayers also kick in an additional electric vehicle subsidy on top of the $7,500 federal taxpayer subsidy and the $5,000 California taxpayer ZEV subsidy paid directly to Tesla ( i.e. an additional $5,000 California taxpayer subsidy to buyers, or an additional $4,000 New Jersey taxpayer subsidy to buyers etc. via tax credits), the net out of pocket purchase cost will actually be in the same ballpark as the 'entry level' performance sedans from BMW and Mercedes Benz it's intended to compete with.
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Re: Tesla Motors now offering Model S totally electric car
I like it, the lines are sleek, reminds me of a new Jag or Austin Martin. The performance seems to be up to par for the price. They have had a roadster for a few years now that I like.
Re: Tesla Motors now offering Model S totally electric car
Yeah, it looks nice. Better than the volt for sure.