Manufacturers – Tesla Motors, Inc.

Posted by PhoenixEV on Jun 19, 2008 in Manufacturers | 0 comments

Continuing our Manufacturers series, we showcase Tesla Motors, Inc. Everyone in the EV community is probably aware of the sexiest, highest performing electric vehicle in production today. The Tesla Roadster. This beautiful car goes 0-60 MPH in just under 4 seconds and has a top speed of 125 MPH yet a range of around 200 miles. Yes, the performance of a Lamborghini at under half the price and with 10X the fuel economy equivalent. Sound like a dream? Well, it is real, and in production this year. They are taking orders for the 2009MY vehicle now on their web site for a $5000 refundable reservation fee on the $105,000 automobile.

The Tesla Roadster went into production in the U.S. on March 17, 2008. Over 1000 U.S. customers have reserved a Tesla Roadster. While U.S. demand is likely to exceed production capacity in 2009, there will be special allocation of 250 euro-spec roadsters that will be reserved for the first European customers.

Tesla is also an entrant in the Progressive Automotive X Prize with a super secret sedan called “White Star”. The four-door White Star could be an all-electric model with a range of 150 to 200 miles, or a range-extended vehicle that goes around 400 miles on hybrid power. Tesla Motors is very quiet about this effort. Some say it is because of the lawsuit against Henrik Fisker and Fisker Automotive over alleged design theft by Fisker while he was employed by Tesla Motors. Fisker Automotive is advertising a hybrid sports car called the Karma. Tesla Motors feels that before doing the design work for Tesla, Mr. Fisker had no experience with hybrid technology and that he provided substandard work to Tesla.

I am sure Tesla will be able to overcome the delays in design of the White Star and hopefully bring a very strong entrant to the AXP challenge. They certainly have the experience to meet many of the rules of the AXP competition, such as safety testing, production planning and marketing. They could very well become the number one automaker as we all move to electric vehicles.

Let us know what you think.