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Hot Wheels! The Car of the Future
March 03, 2009 3:24 PM
ABC News' Stu Schutzman reports:
What a neat ride I took last night. It was in the cockpit of a Tesla Roadster. The roadster is a space-age looking version of one of those small Italian, very expensive sports cars (click here for a look). It's rocket fast -- for you car nuts out there -- it goes from 0 to 60 mph in under 4 seconds -- that's screaming fast. When the car accelerates, there is so much force you can't reach forward enough to turn the radio on. You know you're going super fast, but because it's so smooth and quiet, it's hard to tell just how fast. And the fuel efficiency -- zero miles to the gallon; the roadster is totally electric. It's motor (it's not an engine) is the size of a watermelon. The battery, says Tesla's resident genius, guru, designer and CEO Elon Musk, is clean recyclable and delivers nearly 250 miles per charge. Musk says it can power your whole house for 24 hours.
The car has no gears only forward and reverse. It runs absolutely silent, no "engine" noise whatsoever. It sells for $109,000 -- no haggling. But, as Musk points out, you get a tax credit if you buy one, which brings the price down to a manageable $102,000.
We went to the Tesla facility, which is inside a giant hangar at a local LA airport, to get a sense of some of the innovation going on here in California, the place many consider the epicenter of innovation.
"Innovation is in Californians' DNA," said another local entrepreneur. California, by most estimates, was on the leading edge of this recession; the question we've been asking here is can California be on the leading edge of digging us out of it.
Many of the techies here, like Elon Musk and the venture capitalists who fund their ideas and schemes, firmly believe that the "high-tech revolution" in California's Silicon Valley was borne out of the recession of the early 1980s. They did it then so it follows, why can't they do it now with innovation in energy and other new technologies. For many here these are risks worth taking. Especially at Tesla.
Another Tesla innovation we snuck a peek at last night was their newest sedan to be unveiled at the end of the month. It as in a word, gorgeous -- to my eye a combination of a Lexus and a Bentley which would cost about $50,000. It is fully electric with a 160 mile range. It has 3G internet inside. Eventually, says Musk, you will be able to call it on your cell phone to unlock it, turn on the lights and start the motor. The 3rd generation says Musk, will be more affordable in the $30,000 price range.
And at Tesla they dream on. In the same plant where we saw the cars, Tesla is building parts for a rocket ship they say will someday carry passengers to Mars. That may not solve the economic crisis...but it sounds like a great way to leave it in the rear view mirror.
March 3, 2009 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (54)
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A manageable $102,000? No wonder ABC News is so anti-Obama! Everyone working there is rich!
The Tesla is great... except no one can afford it, they can't even make more than a few dozen of them, and the company is being sued by their investors...
But, besides all that, the Tesla is great! (rolls eyes)
Posted by: Mike | Mar 3, 2009 3:48:28 PM
I'm going out on a limb and guessing they were jesting about $102k being manageable.
Posted by: factscount | Mar 3, 2009 4:05:32 PM
I think the real Nikolai Tesla tried to marry a pidgeon - this was on a History Channel show. He did a lot of sane stuff too, like invent radio (no, it wasn't Marconi), and the AC version of electricity so we didn't all have to have 6 inch diameter copper cable coming into our houses.
Hopefully the car is named after the brilliant side of Tesla, not the whacked out one..
Posted by: Steve From NH | Mar 3, 2009 4:17:55 PM
102k, comon telsa we arent all that rich! this car is not going to save the economy. It might save the rich the feelings of being anti-environmentalists, but as for the rest of us, nope.
Posted by: adam | Mar 3, 2009 5:07:38 PM
Totally unproven technology at this point. I would like to know how long before those batteries last before they need to be replaces and then the big question is how much will that cost?
Posted by: edlaw | Mar 3, 2009 5:54:40 PM
This article is typical of Socialist Societies. Some small number of "Geniuses" at the top, the "Elitists", think they know better than the population what is good for them. Clue to the libs: ITS BEEN TRIED AND IT HAS FAILED EVERYWHERE. I guess in the end it is like talking to your children. Sometimes you can talk and talk until you are blue in the face but they still have to try it out for themselves. Well we are trying it and when it fails, and it will, don't forget CONSERVATIVES told you so!!!!!
Posted by: A Great American | Mar 3, 2009 5:58:02 PM
Runs on electricity....Still need to burn coal to generate electricity. Isn't coal a fossil fuel? I think those innovative Californians need to go back to the drawing board....
Posted by: Jessie | Mar 3, 2009 5:58:41 PM
Runs on electricity....Still need to burn coal to generate electricity. Isn't coal a fossil fuel? I think those innovative Californians need to go back to the drawing board....
Posted by: Jessie | Mar 3, 2009 5:58:43 PM
They run the same story about Tesla every year. They have for the last 5 years. When they finally get these on the road it will be impressive.
Posted by: Andy | Mar 3, 2009 6:02:03 PM
Electric cars are not free energy...someone is burning coal to fuel that car. And the test of an electric car is not 0 to 60...but how long it takes to charge the battery. It takes me ten minutes to refuel my gas car...most electric cars do it in about ten hours. That's why they fail.
Posted by: Elrogg | Mar 3, 2009 6:06:52 PM
Another point to consider here is “where’s the fun”? No engine noise and no gears to shift in a sports car? This is a car designed by the types to design and play video games not drive sports cars. This car is for poseurs who really don’t want to be bothered with driving or perhaps no one ever taught them how to shift a car.
Posted by: edlaw | Mar 3, 2009 6:16:12 PM
This car does what Detroit is trying to do for far less. There are some on the road here in California.
If you read the full article you see that they are coming out with a sedan that will go 160 miles on a charge and sell for $50k to start going down to the $30k range once they get some volume. The finishes are comparable to a Lexus and performance will be better than almost any car on the road. Sounds like a home run.
Compare this to the Chevy VOLT which you and I are subsidizing for GM which will cost more than $45K and go up to 40 miles on a charge. Time to give some bailout money to a company that wants to make a product we want and need.
Posted by: ACONROY | Mar 3, 2009 6:49:40 PM
The author here is a bit confused. The design studio the the Tesla sedan (Model S) is located in the SpaceX facilities. Elon Musk is currently CEO of both Tesla Motors and SpaceX. However, Tesla Motors (the company) is not involved with "building parts for a rocket ship."
Posted by: Doug | Mar 3, 2009 6:50:04 PM
OMG, 102K with tax credits. I think all of those forest fires burned more than brush and Californians just inhaled. Are you kidding me? Not a realistic price tag for the majority of the people who do work and do pay taxes. Next we'll have to pay per minute just to refuel our 102K car at those government run "fuel" stations along the freeway. What a deal.. Good job fella's; try again.
Posted by: RunnHMCM | Mar 3, 2009 6:58:43 PM
The guys at Tesla are doing sometning. They are building cars. they have orders ahead of their production. They have plans for reducing costs. A lot of the negative comments I've read could have been leveled at Henry Ford when he first started. Never ceases to amaze me that people who don't do didiley feel they are the source of expert comment.
Posted by: joe hall | Mar 3, 2009 7:44:52 PM
Would like to talk to officials about building these units here in Atlanta Ga. I think this will be something good for Atlanta and Tesla. I will put together a team of investors,contact city officials and set thing up. We have two automotive plants that shut down within the last ten years. Those facilities are still available and can be used to produce these vehcles.
Posted by: VICTOR HOWELL | Mar 3, 2009 8:09:20 PM
would be great, except for the person like me who drives a thousand miles 3 times a year to see my grandkids. at 250 mile range and 10 hours to recharge
it would take me 5 days to get there instead of a day and a half. do not know of anybody that will let you charge your batteries without a substantial amount of payment also.
Posted by: brian | Mar 3, 2009 8:10:38 PM
The Tesla sounds like the most advanced idea in electric cars to date. When the price decreases to the $30,000 range
and the car travels 200 miles plus between charges, the automotive industry will be truly revolutionized.
Posted by: Stanley Strickland | Mar 3, 2009 8:16:44 PM
what is the stock symbol for tesla?
Posted by: Bill gabriel | Mar 3, 2009 8:33:51 PM
"would be great, except for the person like me who drives a thousand miles 3 times a year to see my grandkids. at 250 mile range and 10 hours to recharge"
The answer is in your own statement. 3 times a year. EXACTLY. The cars mucking up the environment and keeping us addicted to oil are being driven day in and day out as commuter cars, sitting in traffic, coughing up fumes. Its NOT the people who visit their relatives 3 times a year. What do you do the other 362 days of the year? That's where the electric car will save you (and no gas money too!).
Also, it would only take a dozen or so charging stations across major highways to supply high powered chargers to electric drivers that charge the car in 3-4 hours, not 10. You can't make a 1000 mile journey in one day anyway, so you could easily charge it at night in a motel. Also, you don't have to drive it until the battery completely dies; basically every time you stop for a break at all, you top it up a little bit.
Anyway, despite the inaccuracies, great article. EVs are the way of the future!
(Forgive my soapbox enthusiasm)
Posted by: boo | Mar 3, 2009 9:15:35 PM
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