Shocking: Tesla unveils its Model S electric sedan

Electric-car company Tesla Motors, known for its high-performance Roadster, has unveiled its second model yesterday: a seven-passenger sedan. The all-electric sedan has a claimed range of between 160 and 300 miles, depending on the battery choice.

Base price for the large, all-aluminum hatchback is $57,400. With a $7,500 tax credit from Uncle Sam, that brings the price of entry to $49,900. (The Telsa Roadster pricing starts at $101,500, before tax incentives.)

According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the base car weighs just over 4,000 lbs., goes 0-60 mph in 5.6 seconds, and can be recharged in four hours on a 240-volt outlet at a cost of about $4. A 480-volt charger is also available, if you can find a source for that much power. Tesla says it is working on developing high-voltage public charging stations that can charge the base car in five minutes. Meanwhile, it can be charged on 110 volts, although that would take about eight hours. The base battery weighs 1,200 lbs., and it can be swapped in a claimed five minutes, meaning the cars could be a good fit for the Project Better Place venture that Nissan has joined. Project Better Place plans to roll out electric cars with swappable batteries in Israel, Denmark, and elsewhere. Base replacement batteries will cost less than $5,000, according to Tesla.

Two larger battery packs are optional, one providing a claimed 230-mile range and the largest a 300-mile range. A bigger battery pack, denser cells, and the car’s better aerodynamic efficiency account for the increased range relative to the lighter Tesla Roadster.

The Model S has seating for five adults along with two rear-facing jump seats in the large rear hatchback. Additional trunk space is under the front hood, since the car has no gasoline engine. It has a panoramic sunroof, and the rear seats fold down for a cargo floor supposedly big enough to hold a futon or a fully assembled bike. All-wheel drive will be available. A giant 17-inch touch screen manages all ancillary controls in the cockpit.

The company says it will offer a 3-4 year warranty on the car and 6-7 years on the batteries. The company plans to build 20,000 Model S sedans at a new factory in California starting in late 2011. (Though the California factory has been plagued by delays and a lack of funding.) A sport version will be available later.

There is no word on whether the Tesla S is based on an existing car platform from another automaker, though some have speculated it could be based on a Mercedes-Benz E-Class chassis, since Tesla has an agreement to provide batteries for the electric Smart. (Smart is owned by Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler.)

Considering Tesla’s limited resources and the problems the company had in launching its first car, some observers have said the Model S won’t make it to market. The company is taking reservations now.

—Eric Evarts

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Comments

[Robert Jackson]

Exactly what America needs is a quality product. Instead of throwing billions at companies that fail over and over to produce anything close, we should be supporting the little company that could. They truly need a "Steve Jobs" to sell this. It is the 'iPhone' of automobiles. Please, I want this to work, If for nothing else, to poke a stick at the oil speculators.