Tesla 4-Door SpyShot. The Question Is Will The Company Be Around Long Enough For It Ever To Become A Reality?

Tesla is making some big moves, literally. The company is planning to relocate from its current headquarters in San Carlos, California, to a $250 million facility in San Jose, California, the construction of which will begin in the summer of 2009. The reason? The Model S, an all-new 4-door 5-passenger zero-emissions luxury sedan powered by a lithium-ion battery pack. Unlike the Tesla Roadster, which is built in partnership with Lotus in the U.K. and based on a stretched Elise platform, the Model S will ride on a platform developed by Tesla. (Road and Track)

The question the Spies want answered is will Tesla even be around when the car is ready for sale because of these volitile economic times?

Also, does it have a chance against the Fisker Karma?

2008 SEMA Auto Show Photo Gallery

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agent0000 - 10/26/2008 12:42:55 AM

0 Boost

This car looks totally hot!!!

truckman - 10/26/2008 4:07:37 AM

+1 Boost

Looks great, but come on! This car is unfortunately not going to be in everyone's driveways at this price starting at $60,000.! Only the rich will buy this car.You would have to own two cars if you owned this car, could you imagine a road trip and having to charge it every 240 miles, knocking door to door to re-charge it!lol All it needs is a generator.

chewy - 10/26/2008 4:44:08 AM

+1 Boost

I don't see how they can meet this price. First they are building a bigger car, one that isn't already built on an existant chassis. They are going to double the range (way more batteries) And all of this with production in San Jose?

Basically they are advertising this for about half the price of the Roadster? And I am not sure how they will meet safety requirements and such. I am thinking this would be a very heavy car if they want it to actually pass government regulations, and have 240 mile range, and be an actual passanger car.

Audiphile - 10/26/2008 2:43:26 PM

+2 Boost

001,

I know what you mean. If the Tesla sedan's batteries are like the roadster's, it will take 3.5 hours to fully recharge them, and that's when they are plugged into a 220-volt outlet! This car would be limited to commuting and to trips shorter than 240 miles. (And that's assuming one has access to an electrical outlet at one's destination!)

The Fisker Karma, on the other hand, is sort of a large, luxurious, high-performance Chevrolet Volt. It's gasoline engine and generator would recharge the batteries on trips longer than 40 miles, making long road trips feasible.

However, we don't know much about the Karma. I just checked the Fisker website. There is no mention of the gas engine's displacement, power, or fuel tank size. Nor is there any mention of the car's weight, range, battery size, battery power, recharging time, steering, suspension, or brakes. They don't even provide trunk volume specifications!

Either Fisker are deliberately witholding information on the Karma, or they have not progressed much beyond the initial design stage. Do you know which scenario is true?

woood - 10/26/2008 10:42:24 PM

+2 Boost

I think someone or something big is behind Tesla. Why else would they have the confidence to spend 250m on a new plant and why else would the bank even loan them the money?