Archive for Tesla Motors

Daimler AG has taken up a 10% stake worth US$50 million in electric car maker Tesla Motors, a move that depends their already pre-existing relationship where Tesla would equip 1,000 Smart cars with their electric motor and battery technology. According to Daimler chairman and Mercedes-Benz head Dieter Zetsche, Daimler wanted more than a supplier-customer relationship with Tesla.

“We are in a time of change. This industry is going through a kind of paradigm shift, and has to reinvent itself ultimately to be independent of petroleum and without CO2 emissions. We need fast technology change,” said Zetsche, and it seems that he sees Tesla’s technology as a way to achieve that fast technology change.

Of course this is a big score for the electric car camp. Any big manufacturers who votes yes for electric cars will steer the industry more towards electric motors and batteries instead of fuel cell cars or extended range hybrids as the defacto method of car propulsion in the future. Daimler has also invested in German battery company Li-Tec, and founded a battery production JV with Evonik Industries. These might end up supplying batteries for both Tesla and Daimler electric cars.

This could also mean Mercedes-Benz platforms could be used for future Tesla like a replacement for the Model S (shown above) in the future, but then again with the versatility in packaging with an electric car, a platform designed for a combustion engine might not be the completely optimal solution.

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Tesla Motors has revealed that it has garnered a total of 1,000 bookings for its second model, the Tesla Model S. Tesla calls it a 4-door electric sedan with 5+2 seating – that’s something new! 3 rows in a sedan, with the +2 referring to child seats hidden somewhere way at the rear somehow I guess.

To make a booking you have to place a US$5,000 booking fee that is refundable but that means US$5 million in Tesla’s hands right now. The base model will cost US$49,900 after a tax credit because of the car’s zero emissions. The tax credit is quite substantial at US$7,500.

Tesla claims a 300 mile (480km) range (160 miles for the baseline model and another 230 mile model) and a recharge time of 45 minutes from a special external 480V QuickCharger line, or several hours (overnight) with a regular electrical outlet between 120V to 240V.

The company also claims the car’s floor-installed battery packs can be swapped out in less than the time it takes to fill a full tank of petrol, so in the future you could actually go to “battery stations” and swap out your batteries for a freshly fully charged new set instead of stopping and waiting for a full charge.

0 to 100km/h takes only 5.6 seconds which is pretty rapid for a sedan, and power goes to the rear wheels via a single speed transmission, but there are plans for the future for all-wheel drive models. For the US market the cars will naturally be left hand drive but right hand drive models will also be available later.

Look after the jump for a video and photo gallery!

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A new teaser image of Tesla’s latest product; the Model S has emerged on the Internet. We were recently teased with another image which gave us a bellow-shoulder line sneak peak. Looking at the teaser above which reveals a glass roof, you can definitely tell that the four-door fully electric sedan will be a pretty handsome automobile. The sexy side profile reminds me of the Aston Martin Rapide four-door coupe.

The Model S will make its debut on March 26th next month in California and potential buyers should be able to place orders with a US$ 10,000 deposit. Selling price should be figured at US$ 60,000 (approximately RM 220,000) while it should be able to deliver 386 kilometers in terms of driving range.

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The future of Tesla and its upcoming Tesla Model S sedan is still doubtful, but that doesn’t stop us from getting excited about this new teaser image that the company have released, leading up to the official unveiling scheduled to be held on the 26th of March 2009. The profile shows a 4-door sedan but with sporty proportions, perhaps what an enlarged Mazda RX-8 would look like.

This will be interesting as we’ll get to check out what design language path Tesla is treading down, because its first model the Tesla Roadster has too much influence of its base model in it, the Lotus Elise. The Model S was first referred to as Project WhiteStar, and is expected to have a range of about 386km, with a price tag of US$60k, much cheaper than the Roadster’s US$109k pricetag.

While the Tesla Roadster is being assembled at a Group Lotus PLC factory in Hethel, Tesla is preparing the production center for its next model, a zero-emissions luxury sedan. Tesla is building a $250 million facility that will include a production plant for the new sedan as well as its corporate headquarters and R&D center. It will be located in San Jose, California.

The new Tesla sedan was previously referred to as “Project WhiteStar” and is currently referred to as the “Model S”. It will feature 4 doors, 5 seats, and zero emissions. It will use lithium ion batteries for a maximum range of 386km and its base price will be about US$60,000 or about RM204,000, much cheaper than the Roadster’s US$109,000 price tag.

A more expensive version will come later equipped with a range extending internal combustion engine to charge the batteries when you are unable to get the car to a plug-in charging point – this is much like the concept of how things work with the Chevrolet Volt.

The first Tesla Model S is expected to roll off the production line in late 2010. Both the Roadster and Model S will be priced far out of reach of common folk, but Tesla hopes the profits from the Roadster and the Model S can fund a third car – an affordable electric car currently known as Project BlueStar.

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.

Tesla Motors is a Silicon Valley start-up founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning which set out to to one thing – to design a sports car that would go as fast as a Ferrari or Porsche, but run on electricity.

The name Tesla is a tribute to genius inventor Nikola Tesla, a Serbian-born American inventor, electrical engineer, and scientist whose many inventions include the induction motor and alternating-current power transmission. He also did experiments with wireless power transmissions. Anyone here who has played C&C: Red Alert would have been warmed up to the name.

Their first production vehicle is the Tesla Roadster, which looks so much like a Lotus Elise that people have begun calling it an electric Elise. What makes the Tesla tick? More details after the jump.

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