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Tesla reveals pricing for Model S, announces sale of 250th Roadster

 
15 4,399 views Mar 19, 2009

2009 tesla roadster sport 008

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tesla model s teaser 001

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Tesla's first all-original car, the upcoming Model S plug-in hybrid sedan, is due to be unveiled to the public in just a week’s time but the company has already released a couple of teaser shots - one showing the undercarriage and another showing the new glasshouse. In the lead up to the unveiling, Tesla has gone one step further and revealed an expected price tag for the car of $57,400, which would come just under $50,000 when the upcoming $7,500 plug-in hybrid tax credit is applied.

The Model S is already on pre-order sale and should be launched by late 2011 if there aren’t any major development stumbles. The prototype will be previewed next month at Tesla's design studio inside CEO Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket factory in Hawthorne, California. It will be a 'street-drivable’ version and will look almost like the final production model.

Speaking recently via an internal company blog, Musk said the company is doing well and that all should be on schedule for Model S production now that government funding is on the way. The $40 million round of financing secured last year is twice what Tesla needed to achieve profitability, says the company, though it's still well short of the money it needs to build a new manufacturing facility for the Model S. So short in fact that Tesla has applied for a $350 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the construction of the plant. The details of that story can be found here.


Tesla also used today’s pricing announcement to reveal that it has delivered its 250th Roadster. The vehicle was bought by Dr. Rob Wilder of Encinitas, California, who uses an array of solar panels at his home to charge the car.

2009 Tesla Roadster Sport
Tesla Model S hybrid sedan teaser

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Comments (15)

  1. ma_www.mywheelsonwalls.com avatar www.mywheelsonwalls.com Posted: 2/11/2009 11:17pm PST

    Sure!!! I promise to become a trillionaire and solve 3rd world debt....
     
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  2. ma_azlan avatar azlan Posted: 2/12/2009 6:35pm PST

    too bad the tesla handles like crap.
     
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  3. ma_Mike avatar Mike Posted: 2/12/2009 8:28pm PST

    I'm guessing you've driven one, azlan? No offense, just wondering if you're saying that from personal experience. Looks intriguing, I see influences of several cars(Fisker Karma, Maserati Quattroporte in the front) but I'm reserving judgement until they reveal the whole car. However, those wheels look very familiar(McMerc);)
     
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  4. ma_azlan avatar azlan Posted: 2/12/2009 9:27pm PST

    it has over 8300 laptop batteries in it, its sooo heavy so altho fast in a straight line the weight sux through the corners... and yes i have driven one.
     
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  5. ma_gus avatar Gus Chyba Posted: 2/22/2009 8:42pm PST

    Funny, I've driven one for a review on this site, and it handles like it's on rails.
    Many other car magazines have reviewed it as well, and considered it excellent.
    Perhaps you have a different sense of perfection than the rest of us...
     
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  6. ma_axial66 avatar axial66 Posted: 2/23/2009 9:00am PST

    Cheers,

    I drove it 2 months ago, and I have to say, I was truly impressed. Not my kind of car, as I prefer a sedan, thus awaiting the S sedan with great anticipation. Yet as for handling, it was more than impressive. I would take it over my S8 in heartbeat. Now if my S8 were battery powered....
     
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  7. ma_zdenman avatar zdenman Posted: 3/19/2009 1:28pm PDT

    Tesla's chassis and other "handling important" parts are engineered by Lotus and we all know what Lotus means when it comes to handling.
     
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  8. ma_zdenman avatar zdenman Posted: 3/19/2009 1:28pm PDT

    Tesla's chassis and other "handling important" parts are engineered by Lotus and we all know what Lotus means when it comes to handling.
     
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  9. ma_azlan avatar azlan Posted: 3/19/2009 1:33pm PDT

    i must have driven a prototype or something because beyond the limit it had nothing! and it seems very heavy through the corners.. i hope it does handle great but yea i must have driven a prototype or something to get that different view haha.
    tho i have heard some reviews not like it either even topgear...
     
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  10. sidraja avatar Siddarth Raja Posted: 3/19/2009 8:14pm PDT

    Top Gear is entertainment, not to be used for real car buying advice. Anyway, wasn't it proven that Clarkson lied about the Roadster losing charge? I believe the company checked the car's ECU readouts after the test and found the battery had never been fully depleted.
     
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  11. ma_azlan avatar azlan Posted: 3/19/2009 11:11pm PDT

    yes well topgear do have alot of entertainment value added, i didnt say anything about the battery losing charge. and i didnt say im must be right because topgear said the same. all im sayin is because i drove it a wile back i must of had the prototype which still had a lot of tweakes still to do. because it was pretty horrible..
     
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  12. sidraja avatar Siddarth Raja Posted: 3/20/2009 4:02am PDT

    Hmm I think I will have to drive it myself next time I'm in L.A. We have not driven the 1.5 so I don't know how good (or bad) it is.
     
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  13. ma_Chris avatar Chris Posted: 3/20/2009 6:20am PDT

    ok guys.. first of all, the lotus is the best handling car on the road that looks like a car (as in, it wont handle better than an atom or caterham or what ever else is in that market), so of course as soon as tesla starts messing around with it its not going to be as sporty (but much faster) because the car wasnt designed to weigh as much as it does. fine.

    but this is a fully independent design and lets hope theyve learned a lot about designing cars in that time.

    besides, you're missing the point: look at how stunning that is looking.. and its 50k? what else do you get in that market? well lets see.. the volt is going to be 10k less, but would you rather say you have a GM or a Tesla? would you rather be seen in a volt or walk into your garage every morning and see that beauty, for the small price of another 10 grand? lets see.. 50 will put you in a nice CTS, but not the V, it will get you into an entry 5 series of E class... again... i think the tesla wins out there as well.. infinity? nah. lexus? are you kidding me?

    I think at 50k this car is priced to sell and they had better be ready to make as many as 5-10,000 units per year. by 2011, people will have their money back, and will be looking to blow it on toys again.
     
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  14. ma_azlan avatar azlan Posted: 3/20/2009 7:03am PDT

    i agree with you chris, this car is a great feat for the car industry. i made one comment about the handling of (the particular car i drove) i didnt expect people to go wild over that haha, but yea this car is a great achievement and i cant wait to see what more cars will come from this.
     
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  15. villa bali Posted: 1/29/2010 1:48am PST

    As cool as it would be for this company to really survive and do well... something just strikes me as not right. I don't know if its their leadership or business practices or what. Just got a feeling.
     
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