Way to go Tesla! They already proved themselves with the Tesla roadster built on the Lotus Elise shell. A Tesla sedan built on a Audi A8, Jaguar XJ, Maserati Quattroporte, Mercedes CLS or even Cadillac SLS shell would be sweet. Project WhiteStar: Tesla Announces Plans for High-Performance Sport Sedan Date posted: 01-26-2007 ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. — Electric-vehicle maker Tesla Motors used the opening of its new technical center here on Friday to announce the launch of Project WhiteStar. Its goal is to develop and produce a five-passenger high-performance sedan, expected to reach the market around 2009. The company said the new tech center, which is hoping to lure laid-off automotive engineering talent from the Big Three, will enable it "to bring high-quality products to market quicker than traditional manufacturers. "This tech center will be home to the engineering, quality and supply chain staff working on WhiteStar and other Tesla cars coming down the line," said John Thomas, Tesla's Michigan Technical Center general manager and senior director of the WhiteStar program. The Michigan technical center is Tesla's fourth facility. The company is headquartered in San Carlos, California, and has facilities in England, where the Tesla roadster is assembled, as well as Taiwan. The company also announced that more than 270 customers have already reserved a Tesla roadster, which delivers the equivalent of 135 mpg and goes 250 miles on a charge. The roadster, Tesla's first electric car, will make its debut in the fourth quarter of 2007. At the same time, Tesla CEO and co-founder Martin Eberhard responded to President Bush's State of the Union address on Tuesday in the company's blog. "I was blown away that he actually acknowledged the existence of plug-in vehicles," Eberhard said. But he added: "I am not enthusiastic about government spending on battery research. Much better would be incentives that encourage consumers to buy an electric car. Imagine if you got a $25,000 tax credit for buying an EV for your 'business' like you can for a Hummer. This would drive the right behavior throughout the industry and would spur development." What this means to you: If all goes according to plan, you'll be able to buy a sweet-looking electric sedan by 2009. Then again, Tesla may find out that building a couple electric cars is easy; building thousands for public consumption is a whole new ballgame. Find this article at: http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=119384
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(allargon @ Jan 27 2007, 05:56 AM) [snapback]381620[/snapback]</div> While you'll find that I'm one of Tesla's biggest cheerleaders, this is over-stating the case a bit. Tesla hasn't "proved" themselves quite yet. They have some awesome prototypes. REAL cars that really drive and perform as advertised (as contrasted with GM's Volt, for example). But Tesla has not built the production cars for which they have orders. I have little doubt that they'll deliver.. but they still haven't done it. And THAT will be the proof I'm looking for.
Darell, Just to clarify, are you saying that Tesla has not delivered the 100 roadsters that have been ordered? My impression was that there were some "out there" now. Is that not correct?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tripp @ Jan 29 2007, 06:56 PM) [snapback]382598[/snapback]</div> There are ZERO production Teslas in the hands of owners. And there are almost 300 ordered now. I am close friends with some of the people who ordered the very first units, so I'll know just as soon as deliveries begin! The hope was to have them out this year, as Nate mentions. They had trouble with the 2-speed transmission (I would have left it off, but they figure that the buyers of $100k cars wouldn't want to be limited to 120mph) and they've gone back to the drawing board on that one. I will be pleasantly surprised if deliveries begin in 2007 to tell you the truth. All indications point to early 2008 at this point. The sooner they come out, the sooner I get to drive one.
They should drop the transmission. 120 is pretty damn fast. Plus, performance is best measured in terms of acceleration, cornering, and braking. I'd worry more about battery longevity than top speed. I bet a day's worth of phone calls would reveal only a few dropped orders if they polled the owners about eliminating the transmission. Nate
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(naterprius @ Jan 29 2007, 08:21 PM) [snapback]382644[/snapback]</div> Nate - Well, you and I are on the same page. But then you and I aren't the ones risking 10's of millions of dollars. The thinking is that the buyers of these cars will want to take them to the track. And the buyer would not be happy to hit the speed limiter well before the 1/4 mile. While I do understand that, I'd probably pay EXTRA to leave the transmission out. Less weight, less complication... and still blistering acceleration, and more than enough top speed for me!
Thanks for the interesting information. I think people that are willing to spend $100.000 on a car have different priorities then us. If you wanted to be green there are cheaper alternatives. I think a lot of these people are sport car enthusiasts at heart and they probably want a car they can show off at the track. I really hope they succeed, seems like CEO Wagner was inspired by Tesla to create the Volt, and seemingly push it forward. I hope to see the Tesla Sportster on the road soon, followed by project WhiteStar (I'm REALLY interested in this one) and the Volt (also quite interested). It's an interesting future, looking more and more positive each day /Robert
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SomervillePrius @ Jan 30 2007, 06:00 AM) [snapback]382749[/snapback]</div> Agreed. The beauty of the Tesla is that you can justify it as a "green" toy. And still beat cars at the track - cars that cost two and three times as much. It is the perfect "rich-tightwad-gearhead" vehicle. Absolutely. And yes, I'm all excited about the WhiteStar as well. They've apparently begun to set up shop on that project already. If they can pull that (~$50k vehicle) off, they also have plans for a Prius-priced EV after that one. The future of EVs hasn't looked brighter since about 1994 when I first drove the EV1 prototype - the "Impact."
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Jan 29 2007, 08:10 PM) [snapback]382637[/snapback]</div> Doreen, at Tesla sales, told me that if I ordered one now, I could expect delivery around march of 2008. I take that with a grain of salt. But that would appear to be the official line at present. She also told me they expect to build about 1,000 per year once production begins. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(naterprius @ Jan 29 2007, 08:21 PM) [snapback]382644[/snapback]</div> I agree with you Nate. But their target buyer is a sports-car buff, not an EV buff. I'd much rather have no transmission to cause future problems. FWIW, it's an electric device, analogous to the electric transaxle on a big truck. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Jan 30 2007, 05:13 AM) [snapback]382728[/snapback]</div> I agree with this also, except that the price is already about as high as I would consider going, and depending on what I see on Monday (when I visit them) it might already be too high, considering the waiting time and the uncertainty
