Paul Tan's Automotive Industry News
   

Electric 4-seater luxury sedan from Tesla

tesla9.jpg

Tesla Motors, who sent shockwaves through the industry with the introduction of the Elise-based electric sportscar the Tesla Roadster (shown above) has announced that it will be making a new 4-seater sedan aimed at the BMW 5-series, to be released by the end of the decade.

The luxury electric sedan is set to be available globally in two variants, one with a similiar engine to the Tesla Roadster (248 horsepower) with a 320 kilometer range on a single charge, and another more powerful variant with a higher range - about 480 kilometers. The sedan will be built with lightweight steel, and production is expected to be 10,000 to 20,000 units annually.

This is likely the first manufacturer to come up with a fully electric powered sedan for mass production, while other manufacturers have gone different paths - Lexus is focusing on hybrids while BMW is investing in hydrogen and turbodiesel technology. Don’t expect anything funky like in-wheel motors though, the motor and battery pack will be positioned traditionally in the front, and power will be sent through the rear wheels.

5 Comments »

  1. BobMarley said,

    December 6, 2006 @ 8:16 pm

    Finaly! An all electric car thats going to be mass produced!

    …Anyone know how they will cost? and where they will be available?

  2. haterade said,

    December 6, 2006 @ 10:20 pm

    “Electric 4-seater luxury sedan from Tesla”

    the key word here is “luxury sedan” n its gonna be based on a 5 series beemer n its gonna be made from lightweight steel… very few of us will be able to afford it. n by the time it reaches malaysia with its tax n all…. god bless the vision of an average malaysian driving an all electrical car in the near future. hopefully no proton basher comes up to spoil this thread.

  3. protonGL said,

    December 6, 2006 @ 10:42 pm

    silent world……

    dont wory artificial engine sound c.d. will be sold after this,

  4. ryan_foong80 said,

    December 6, 2006 @ 11:37 pm

    Paul nice job my purposely just wanna congrate to you coz your website starting growing up bigger and bigger nice job!!!! why i wanna said is coz even proton also post advertising at your website …. good!!! kept this kind of job happend i sure one day your website will more people will came and visit …TQ

  5. raybrig85 said,

    December 7, 2006 @ 5:39 pm

    interesting…

previous post: Lexus M3 competitor to be called Lexus IS-F
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