Has anyone heard of the Tesla?

I never heard of this movie until now, is it fiction or a documentary? Seems pretty interesting.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1413496/

 

I see one or two Model S's a day. They've become much more common in my area. I'm looking forward to seeing the Model X's next year.

 

Thanks, I think I am going to get it too, I love this documentaries where a revolutionary idea faces installed interests...

 

Finally got the documentary and started to watch it, pretty interesting indeed, but I got puzzled right at the beginning, why GM dropped their first electric car? I didn't quite get that!

 

GM pointed out that when gasoline prices drop, people pick gasoline cars over electric ones. And at the time, it looked like there was a good chance interest would diminish. The fact that the test drivers loved them was a nonissue to them because the test drivers were not average consumers. Also, the public opinion is not always right. American auto makers found that out years ago when the American public was clamoring for diesel cars, only to abandon them when gas prices dropped. And auto makers were left holding the bag.

But now times have changed. Gasoline is even higher, pollution standards are stricter, and the Fed is pouring in money to compensate automakers and consumers.

The other thing with Tesla is the guy behind them is very clever. He saw a market nobody else saw. He presold cars to people who wanted (and were willing to pay for) a cutting edge exoticar. Then before delivering them he raised the price to get more money. And when he saw government funding appear to support consumer level electric cars, he announced that he was making a consumer car too. And he got the funds. I just visited the web site and the only car they post a price for is the 60KWh Model S, which costs $69,000. The Fed incentive gets you back $7500. The State incentive (where I live) gets $2500. That brings the price down to $59,000. That's out of the price range of most buyers.

 

Outside of the upper management, what do you mean by this? Yes, I saw DeVito pretty upset to have let the car go lol.

 

If I could have any car in the world, I would have a Tesla ! The more I read about them, the more impressed I am. Right now, the price is high, but once they get into more production, there will undoubtedly be more affordable models for the general public.
I love the idea that they handle like a sports car, and yet are totally electric. Once the charging stations are in place, it will simply revolutionize driving. Before, electric cars didn't perform well, and didn't go very far before needing to be charged. From what I have seen, the Tesla goes over 200 miles, so it can easily make it from one charging station to the next one. And if you are just driving locally, you can recharge it every night if you want to. If you set up solar panels on the carport/garage, you could even charge it for free at home.

 

The concept is proven, I just don't get why they didn't start with a car for the masses, that would give them more money I suppose.

 

YES. I really like it and it brings the future of the cars. Unfortunately, the Big Oil companies prefer to shut it down and make some more money out of their valuable oil .

 

Yes, those guys really run the world, but Elon Musk is putting up a fight, let's see if his fortune is enough to make Tesla and electric cars mainstream...

--- Double Post Merged, May 6, 2014 ---

Sure, not many can afford two cars, but there are quite a few super-chargers so that makes long trips possible. I am not questioning their strategy, I'm sure they have all planned out, it's just hard to understand for me. Look at Nissan for example, they made a car for the masses. Not much success had it though?

 

The Tesla is definitely an unique car with wonderful features. If I had the money and the good location, I'd definitely choose to buy this car. It is the future of vehicles, after all!

 

That's true, that's why it didn't had success along with other strange electric models like the Renault ones. I wonder if this is just a campaign from the big car companies do discredit electric cars? Sounds like a conspiracy theory right?

 

I actually quite like it and by far the best electric car there is. Its also one of the only electric cars I would ever own myself.

 

Tesla has really been building the charging stations, and right now, there are almost 100 charging stations around the country. A person could actually take a road trip and go from coast to coast in their Tesla car, and not pay a penny for fuel. The map shows a lot more by the end of this year, and almost doubled by the end of next year.
Since the Tesla goes over 200 miles on a charge, you could really do a lot of free travling. Imagine being able to take a summer- long vacation just wandering around the United States, and not spending any money for gas, is that awesome or what ??
Here is the webpage showing the charging stations, and where they will be adding them in the next few months, and by the end of next year.

http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger