If I had the money, I'd buy it!

Not because it would save the planet, but because it can 0-60 in 4 seconds AND do it without making any engine noise.  I bring you, THE TESLA:

Oh yeah, and it looks GOOD, too!

You want to save the planet by making electric cars?  Well, I am not going to debate the ecological and environmental aspects of it here.  They aren't relevant to this post.  What is relevant is this:

If you want to get people driving hybrid and electric cars, make hybrid and electric cars that people want to drive.  The Prius is a nice, comfortable, easy to drive car.  A lot of people will want it.  But there are a lot of people out there who would never be caught dead driving one - not because it uses electricity, but because it is a dork mobile.  Offer consumers choices like the Tesla, and you start to tap in to a whole different market.  This is a car a Ferrari driver could embrace.  Offer more models, increase production numbers, and costs go down.  Pretty soon, you have choices that begin to appeal to the Mustang crowd: people who can't spend six figures on a car, but would happily spend a third of that on a car that looks sharp and goes fast.

As for me, I don't give a rip if the car is good for the planet or not.  I want it to go when I hit the accelerator, stop when I hit the brake, turn when I turn the wheel, and do it all comfortably - while looking good.  Get the price tag on this baby down to about half what it is now, get the battery capacity up to about double what it is now - both feasible goals as production increases and technology becomes more sophisticated - and I'm buying one.

Comments

[Jim in KFalls]

The Googles are supposed to be coming out with a second car - codename "Whitestar" - http://www.teslamotors.com/media/press_room.php?id=257&

Still a little expensive, but I think the plan is to further develop the technology, and eventually make a $30-50K car for the average consumer.

Personally, I think once the technology becomes easier and cheaper to produce, there will be no reason they couldn't produce the roadster for $30-50K.

I also wonder why Ford, GM, Toyota and the others aren't jumping at the chance to team up with the Googles and make an Electric Mustang, Vette, or Tacoma.

[JustaDog]

I posted about the Tesla about a year ago. A little out of my price range and I'd have a feeling it would just be a target for the illegal alien trade that is growing in Oregon.

Think I'll wait for the new Toyota hybrid - the plug-in one. It's within my budget!

[Jeff]

It's nice, don't get me wrong... but what do you think the market is for those things, compared to maybe a 4-door pickup truck (or 4-door sedan with decent trunk space) with at least 6 hours endurance at 70mph?

[Boy Named Sous]

For a "Car a Ferarri driver can embrace", how about a Ferarri?

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:gALQGLBR8I8J:green.yahoo.com/index.php%3Fq%3Dnode/645+ferrari+hybrid&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us

And the Ford Escape Hybrid is a nice choice for the SUV crowd, my SIL has one and loves it.

[Gullyborg]

When a number of bloggers first posted about this a year ago, I commented then and I stand by it now:

If they can produce a four door family car that can make 400-500 miles per charge and cost about the same as a Corolla or Civic, they will have a product a majority of us can embrace.

This current car is NOT something a majority, or even a sizeable minority, could ever use as primary transportation. Too impractical, even with no gasoline.

If I had the money to burn, I would own something like an extra-cab pickup or SUV, so I could move passengers and cargo and not worry about where to plug in for long road trips - and then I would also own a Tesla for daily driving around town. I'd love to have a car that can perform like a Tesla AND stay pretty silent. As long as I wasn't hauling a lot of groceries or making a long trip, the impracticality wouldn't be an issue.

This could be the future of automobiles - if they continue to develop the concept. I have no doubt that, given the trend for technology to go down in price over time, the cost savings of mass production, and the laws of supply and demand, there will soon be practical Tesla's at a price the people can embrace.

Of course, if we replace all our gasoline cars with electric cars, it will overtax our current electrical power grid infrastructure... but that's another post.

[Pardon Me?]

"Of course, if we replace all our gasoline cars with electric cars, it will overtax our current electrical power grid infrastructure... but that's another post."

Even if most of the charging happens during off-peak hours?

No power source is 100% green, but my underestanding is that even if the electrical power is generated using fossil fuels, electric cars are still a net plus environmentally.

For one thing, it's easier to thoroughly scrub the exhaust of a few power plants, rather than the tail-pipes of millions of cars.

[The Cheezer]

When they figure out how to make cars out of 100% recycled materials and then return that vehicle to the recycle center, then we will be talking about earth friendly. The current generation of hybrid vehicles is more damaging to the environment to create than a H3
.
Future electric vehicle owners would benefit from personal windmills, or water wheels. With every house in the country having indoor plumbing, why can't we use water wheels connected to the sewage connection at the street or incoming water main? Any additional electricity we can create and use in our vehicles would help wouldn't it? How many gallons of water do large buildings use every day? Put a wheel at the end of it and see what we come up with. They already measure the usage with magnetism, would it reduce the flow enough to notice if that water hit a few wheels on the way in? Could we charge the cars in the employee parking lot?

[Pardon Me?]

"The current generation of hybrid vehicles is more damaging to the environment to create than a H3"

I doubt that. Do you have any documentation?

And even if it's "more damaging to the environment to create," that's different than the damage to the environment to operate, which is where most of the environmental damage from automobiles comes from.

For now, the most environmentally-friendly forms of transportation are walking and bicycling. Bicycles are actually incredibly efficient means of transportation, especially in an area with few hills.

[Gullyborg]

"would it reduce the flow enough to notice if that water hit a few wheels on the way in?"

Are you suggesting we let the shit hit the fan?

[Jeff]

Pardon Me? - I don't have the cite, but I've seen what The Cheezer is referring to elsewhere as well. It has to do with the cost to create and dispose of the batteries, mostly.

[Jim in KFalls]

I think the car is intentionally geared towards the elite, just as every other technological invention over the last 150+ years has been. When Ford came out with his first car, only the upper echelon could afford it, now almost everyone has a car (or will have sometime in their lifetime). Same thing with telephones, televisions, VCR,CD & DVD Players, Computers, and lightbulbs.

I'll make the wager now, that in 10 years the Tesla (or some other manufacturer) will be affordable to the masses, the technology will be more proficient, and the eco-impact will be lighter.

As for me, I'll be investing in energy companies for the long term. I hear Enron stock is on the rise... :-)

[Pardon Me?]

I remember the study now. But, as I recall, it assumes that the average Prius would last for 100k miles and the average H3 would last much longer.

Given the experience of Toyotas vs. GM, the opposite is likely to be the case.

Often when a study comes out that seems counter-intuitive, take a close look at their assumptions.

[Bob]

I would like to take some exception to your calling the Prius a "dorkmobile."

Perhaps because I bought one for my wife, who loves it and is not a dork.

[Albert Franklin]

Come on, these cars are starting to get a bit redundant! Why are there no SkyCars? http://www.moller.com/ Don't you think it's time for the Jetson Age?