Tesla Motors plans to debut cheaper car in early 2015
56 replies, posted
[QUOTE]Tesla Motors plans to unveil an electric car in early 2015 that could sell in the $40,000 range, a mainstream offering that could be key to the automaker's future growth.Tesla's only current offering is the Model S, a premium sport sedan that starts at $71,070 before any state or federal tax incentives, and can cost far more with options. In late 2014, the Palo Alto automaker plans to release a long-awaited Model X sport-utility, likely to sell in the same price range.
The third, lower-priced model could make its official debut at the 2015 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Tesla confirmed Friday. It would begin selling in 2016 or 2017.
The automaker has long promised a more affordable electric car. Delivering one will be crucial to its future.
“This is hugely important for Tesla,” said Thilo Koslowski, an auto industry analyst at Gartner. “This is ultimately the car that will make Tesla a household brand rather than just something in the premium segments. No car company can live off 20,000 to 30,000 sales a year and be profitable in the long term.”
[t]http://www.trbimg.com/img-52ab8ddd/turbine/la-fi-hy-autos-tesla-model-e-debut-2015-201312-001/600[/t][/QUOTE]
More in the sauce: [url]http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-autos-tesla-model-e-debut-2015-20131213,0,37648.story#axzz2nS5vS8es[/url]
Guess I'm waiting to buy a car now.
They should work on a commuter bike for use in the city, it would be cheap as heck to maintain and fuel. I'd buy one.
Awesome, Elon is the man.
I couldn't afford that at all.
I wish car companies would make a cheap automobile that can be affordable for majority of people and has only basic features to it. I'm tired of running through 20 year old used vehicles that break down every other year because I can't afford a $30,000 car.
"cheap" car as in...as expensive as a volt, ford focus-e or nisson leaf or mitsubishi MIV
[editline]14th December 2013[/editline]
15,000 is a cheap car
40,000 is far from a cheap electric car
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;43183605]I couldn't afford that at all.
I wish car companies would make a cheap automobile that can be affordable for majority of people and has only basic features to it. I'm tired of running through 20 year old used vehicles that break down every other year because I can't afford a $30,000 car.[/QUOTE]
[url=http://www.dacia.co.uk/vehicles/sandero/]Dacia Sandero[/url], motherfucker. (Shame you can't import them to the US.)
[QUOTE=Sableye;43183686]"cheap" car as in...as expensive as a volt, ford focus-e or nisson leaf or mitsubishi MIV
[editline]14th December 2013[/editline]
15,000 is a cheap car
40,000 is far from a cheap electric car[/QUOTE]
"Cheaper" not "cheap". Big difference there.
Baby steps. You can't revolutionize the auto industry over night.
[QUOTE=OvB;43183818]Baby steps. You can't revolutionize the auto industry over night.[/QUOTE]
It can be done, it's just the auto industry is money grubbing.
They fill their vehicles with powered windows, built in GPSs and other unnecessary electronics that boost up the cost. I don't need nor want any of that, I just want a basic vehicle that can get me from point A to point B. Make all that stuff optional with additional costs added with each individual thing.
And let cheap vehicles like the British car mentioned earlier available for import.
Profits from model s go into building model x, profits from model x go into model e (this one), profits from that go into the next cheaper one.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;43183848]It can be done, it's just the auto industry is money grubbing.
They fill their vehicles with powered windows, built in GPSs and other unnecessary electronics that boost up the cost. I don't need nor want any of that, I just want a basic vehicle that can get me from point A to point B. Make all that stuff optional with additional costs added with each individual thing.
[/QUOTE]
Older Toyotas are bulletproof, utilitarian, and cheap, if very boring. You can get a good Mazda (which will be a much more fun car to drive) made in the last ten years for well under $10k
[quote]And let cheap vehicles like the British car mentioned earlier available for import.[/quote]
The US has much more stringent/byzantine requirements for safety and emissions. Most cars sold in Europe that aren't sold here are because of the expense required to make them road legal.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;43183848]It can be done, it's just the auto industry is money grubbing.
They fill their vehicles with powered windows, built in GPSs and other unnecessary electronics that boost up the cost. I don't need nor want any of that, I just want a basic vehicle that can get me from point A to point B. Make all that stuff optional with additional costs added with each individual thing.
And let cheap vehicles like the British car mentioned earlier available for import.[/QUOTE]
Tesla doesn't have the infrastructure to make a mass produced cheap car yet. They have one factory (though is still mostly unused), one international manufactury, and their battery producer (Panasonic) cannot keep up with Teslas sales. Elon wants to build a dedicated battery factory and mass production won't happen until then. And if tesla doesn't have the infrastructure than the rest don't either considering Mercedes, Honda, and Smart use Tesla batteries and powertrains for their EVs.
[QUOTE=leach139;43183698][URL="http://www.dacia.co.uk/vehicles/sandero/"]Dacia Sandero[/URL], motherfucker. (Shame you can't import them to the US.)[/QUOTE]
[video=youtube;QXi_aFK2r9Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXi_aFK2r9Y[/video]
[QUOTE=Sableye;43183686]"cheap" car as in...as expensive as a volt, ford focus-e or nisson leaf or mitsubishi MIV
[editline]14th December 2013[/editline]
15,000 is a cheap car
40,000 is far from a cheap electric car[/QUOTE]
A car like nissan leaf aint got shit on this though.
You can do it Elon, I believe in you.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;43183848]It can be done, it's just the auto industry is money grubbing.
They fill their vehicles with powered windows, built in GPSs and other unnecessary electronics that boost up the cost. I don't need nor want any of that, I just want a basic vehicle that can get me from point A to point B. Make all that stuff optional with additional costs added with each individual thing.
And let cheap vehicles like the British car mentioned earlier available for import.[/QUOTE]
Yeah except foreign vehicles are actually banned in this country except those designed to be imported to America.
Didn't Tesla manufacture a "subframe" that's basically ready to roll barring ways for a uman to "interface" with it? (pedals, steering wheel, dash gauges, etc etc)
[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;43184401]Yeah except foreign vehicles are actually banned in this country except those designed to be imported to America.[/QUOTE]
I remember hearing a lot of shit from people trying to import older Nissan Skyline's to the US.
[QUOTE=leach139;43183698][url=http://www.dacia.co.uk/vehicles/sandero/]Dacia Sandero[/url], motherfucker. (Shame you can't import them to the US.)[/QUOTE]
thats so ugly compared to the [url=http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2008/04/4-24-808-sandero_renault.jpg]renault ones[/url] we have here
[QUOTE=leach139;43183698][url=http://www.dacia.co.uk/vehicles/sandero/]Dacia Sandero[/url], motherfucker. (Shame you can't import them to the US.)[/QUOTE]
now that [B]is[/B] a reasonably priced car!
[QUOTE=Zukriuchen;43184468]thats so ugly compared to the [url=http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2008/04/4-24-808-sandero_renault.jpg]renault ones[/url] we have here[/QUOTE]
Too bad Renault wants to [URL=http://boingboing.net/2013/11/13/renault-ships-a-brickable-car.html]fuck you on the battery.[/URL]
[IMG]http://www.trbimg.com/img-52ab8ddd/turbine/la-fi-hy-autos-tesla-model-e-debut-2015-201312-001/600[/IMG]
Those doors work extraordinarily well. It's literally the car of the future.
[QUOTE=Mr. Zombie;43185071][IMG]http://www.trbimg.com/img-52ab8ddd/turbine/la-fi-hy-autos-tesla-model-e-debut-2015-201312-001/600[/IMG]
Those doors work extraordinarily well. It's literally the car of the future.[/QUOTE]
I think people will need exposure to them in the real world for them to catch on. Right now people seem to think they're standard gull wings, and therefore garbage. People need to see they're basically vertical sliding doors. Now the only thing people will need to worry about when parking is if they can shimmy their fatass between the cars, because these doors can open up with just inches of space.
[editline]14th December 2013[/editline]
LarparNar has a gif of it lets see if we can summon him.
[QUOTE=OvB;43185175]
LarparNar has a gif of it lets see if we can summon him.[/QUOTE]
[IMG]http://i.minus.com/iA96cQhSrpjmz.gif[/IMG]
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;43183848]It can be done, it's just the auto industry is money grubbing.
They fill their vehicles with powered windows, built in GPSs and other unnecessary electronics that boost up the cost. I don't need nor want any of that, I just want a basic vehicle that can get me from point A to point B. Make all that stuff optional with additional costs added with each individual thing.
And let cheap vehicles like the British car mentioned earlier available for import.[/QUOTE]
No, this isn't necessarily done to markup the price; it's value adding. Say that there are two manufacturers competing in the same market (ie RWD sedans) and both manufacturers want their cars to be affordable and better than the other manufacturer. By sacrificing very slightly on the profit margin, one manufacturer adds power windows, integrated GPS and a voice-controlled media system but sells the car for the same price as their competitor. Which car do you think consumers are going to buy? The one with barely any luxury features, or the one that is sold for the same price but has all those other features for free?
Also, car manufacturers are under great threat from used car sales. Why buy a bottom of the range new hatchback for $15,000 when you can find for the same price a slightly older hatch with a few thousand ks on it but which has luxury features standard and probably a turbocharged engine? It's more important than ever that new cars have those features standard to differentiate them from an alternative within the bloated used car market.
If you want a car that gets you from A to B, why buy a new car? My car cost me $2,400 and sure it had 275,000km on it but it drives well, is roomy (5 seats and you can fit two bodies in the boot, no there was nothing suss going on there we were just curious) decent on fuel for a V6, has power windows, aircon, cruise control, and its metallic paint was very well looked after for a 13 year old car. Why spend ten times as much as that to buy a brand new car to get you from A to B.
[QUOTE=Mr. Zombie;43185297][IMG]http://i.minus.com/iA96cQhSrpjmz.gif[/IMG][/QUOTE]
That is fucking beautiful
[QUOTE=Mr. Zombie;43185297][IMG]http://i.minus.com/iA96cQhSrpjmz.gif[/IMG][/QUOTE]
a bit slow
[QUOTE=Mr. Zombie;43185297][IMG]http://i.minus.com/iA96cQhSrpjmz.gif[/IMG][/QUOTE]
So slow
Remember it's a new model. It'll probably be a lot faster once they make more yearly versions.
That was their very first prototype. I'm sure the consumer version will be faster.
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