Fuel efficient cars have a luxury counterpart in the Tesla electric car.
Talk about timing! Tesla Motors just unveiled their new offering, the new Model-S sedan which retails at a base price of $57,400 (note to self: it’s the same price as a Lexus GS 450h, a luxury hybrid). Well, times couldn’t be more interesting than they are now for automakers — while many of the well-known car manufacturers are struggling to stay afloat during this recession, Tesla just announced that they’ll be opening a new manufacturing plant in Southern California (despite having to cut 25% of their work force recently). Great, we need the jobs wherever we can get them.
The Tesla Roadster
These high-end electric cars represent the wave of the future for luxury car owners: Tesla’s sporty $109,000 Roadster has a waiting list a mile long for the 1,200 units manufactured yearly. I guess they represent the status symbol for the nouveau riche, especially in Silicon Valley. The new Model-S is a sedan that will begin to see production after the economic recession is expected to be over, sometime around 2011.
I suppose if you’ve got deep pockets, you can certainly be early adopters of such awesome new eco-friendly technology regardless of the price. It would be nice if the wealthier amongst us embraced such environmentally friendly initiatives — well, since they can afford it.
So what do you think. Does the new Tesla strike your fancy? By the time you drive a brand new car out of the lot, you’ll be $60,000 lighter. I personally see it as the choice for status symbol seekers because if you’re after an environmentally-friendly car, there’s always other gas-electric hybrids or fuel-efficient cars available out there for half price, like the Toyota Prius (at $22,000) and the 2010 Honda Insight ($19,800).
Who would buy such a thing? I’m not a car fiend, so to me, the Tesla Roadster looks just like any other car like a Miata or a Porsche maybe, except for the fact that it’s electric. Still, it seems like there’s a market here for these vehicles, a market which may see some expansion if gas prices decide to escalate again.
For more affordable fuel-efficient models, you can check out these small hybrid cars.
In a heartbeat…If only I had the cash. Electric, no gas, no emissions, and it looks better than 99.9% of cars on the road. (Other than $150K+ Ferraris) I just don’t get why car companies say they cannot build this type of product, yet a VC funded company can do it in just a few years.
The hood of the Tesla Roadster looks, erm, strange. Other than that, I think it looks pretty cool and even if I’m not a fan of two-door cars, this is something I wouldn’t mind having in my garage. I’d change the hood to a custom one though, lol.
i absolutely would if i had the money. but i’m especially baised towards electric cars because my parents actually had 2 when i was learning to drive (they were lease only and there was the whole who killed the electric car debacle where the car companies absolutely would not sell the cars at the end of the leases for any amount of money)
Love the Tesla. They just released the new sedan a few days ago. I am also liking the Aptera.