2012 Tesla Model S
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Porsche and other cars video collection
My wife and I are going to Chicago at the end of August to drive a Model S and make our final color and option selections. We should have it before the end of the year.
Mike
Carrera GT + Tesla Roadster 1.5 + Panamera Turbo + BMW Z8 + BMW 3.0 CSi + Bentley Arnage T + GT3 RS 4.0
way past Henry Ford, he is today's Howard Hughes with Paypal, Tesla, SpaceX, and Solar City under his belt. Plus I think he is dating an actress, taken govt, money and succeeded ........................ many parallells, let's hope he can keep it together. This country needs more guys like him that want to build things and improve society instead of bitchin and moanin about taxes all day. He wants to go to Mars and has the brains and drive to do it.
I have seen the pic of the day he found the warehouse that would become SpaceX, it shows his Mclaren F1 parked in the empty space.
Jul 7, 2012 4:33:01 PM
Dan Neils in his WSJ column today reviews the car and loves it. Here is a short video of him regarding the car. Incredibly the car sells for $50,000 with the small battery 160 mile range and more for the larger battery 300 mile range.
http://live.wsj.com/video/tesla-model-s-silent-but-supercool/2EF88AAA-B292-4D7B-A8AA-9AB29EC7F132.html#!2EF88AAA-B292-4D7B-A8AA-9AB29EC7F132
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I love it. I would buy one in a heartbeat for commuting to work. Unfortunately it's not yet feasible as a long distance tourer, so can not really replace a normal limousine just yet.
I recently drove the Roadster S and the sensation of driving an electric car with such phenomenal performance is just mind-boggling. This truely is driving 2.0.
Well, I suppose it's their way of getting cheap loans and having a positive cash flow. You can't really think of them as a normal car manufacturer- they're still in their infancy. So this is probably the price you pay for being an early adopter.
I do hope they keep their pricing aggressive when they come to Europe, but I have a feeling they will try to milk European customers...
They should really strive for market share, use their first mover advantage and try to establish themselves as THE electric car company before the big boys (BMW, Mercedes etc) come into play. Otherwise this will be a short ride.
you'll get milked alright but it will be your Govt. and locals doing it. There is nothing the big boys can do to Tesla that I can see.The model S is a beautiful car that would compete even if it had a gasoline engine. I would also add that Tesla has not only created a new car company from scratch but also new tech and done so in a MUCH leaner manner than any existing car company ever could.
Its a pretty funny car.
You get the looks, acceleration and price of a Jag XFR but the top speed of a Chevy Sonic.
In full Tesla glory its about the same price as the Jag, but instead of a motor that you can refuel in 10 minutes you get a tray full of cell phone batteries that take forever to recharge.
Aug 28, 2012 3:58:06 PM
My wife test drove an early Model S at an event in Chicago to help settle her ordering options and color preferences.
She should take delivery in November. It's a blue w/tan interior, performance-package pretty well loaded, except no panoramic glass roof.
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Mike
Carrera GT + Tesla Roadster 1.5 + Panamera Turbo + BMW Z8 + BMW 3.0 CSi + Bentley Arnage T + GT3 RS 4.0
JimFlat6:
Its a pretty funny car.
You get the looks, acceleration and price of a Jag XFR but the top speed of a Chevy Sonic.
In full Tesla glory its about the same price as the Jag, but instead of a motor that you can refuel in 10 minutes you get a tray full of cell phone batteries that take forever to recharge.
At our house, it'll take 2 - 4 hours, depending on how depleted the charge is from its daily use. We have BIG electricity at home
Mike
Carrera GT + Tesla Roadster 1.5 + Panamera Turbo + BMW Z8 + BMW 3.0 CSi + Bentley Arnage T + GT3 RS 4.0
Sep 12, 2012 10:08:32 AM
W8MM:
My wife test drove an early Model S at an event in Chicago to help settle her ordering options and color preferences.
She should take delivery in November. It's a blue w/tan interior, performance-package pretty well loaded, except no panoramic glass roof.
I'd love to hear when you receive it. It sounds wonderfully specced.
Sep 12, 2012 10:09:33 AM
Here's a new 10min MotorTrend video driving the production S fast for 30+ min and a sort of factory tour.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUg-BZAR5ro
Sep 12, 2012 10:12:13 AM
From Autoblog:
Proof That An Impressive Sport Sedan Doesn't Need To Burn Dead Dino Juice
By Michael Harley RSS feed
Posted Sep 11th 2012 11:57AM
One-hundred years from now, the Smithsonian museum at our nation's capital will host a display of history's most revolutionary automobiles. The collection will include the 1866 Dudgeon steam wagon (one of the earliest self-propelled vehicles), the 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen (the first combustion-powered automobile) and the 1908 Ford Model T (the first automobile mass produced on an assembly line).
Most certainly included, among the dozen or so other pioneering automobiles, will be a 2012 Tesla Model S.
Slightly more than a few years after the first prototype debuted in March of 2009, Autoblog was able to spend an evening with an early production model of the innovative all-electric sedan touted as "the next step to accelerate the world's transition to electric mobility." Much has been said and written about Tesla's enormous undertaking, but we brushed off the hype, ignored the rumors and cut through the layers of misinformation. It was time to drive.
After several inquisitive hours behind the wheel, we were smitten – the Tesla Model S really is the world's first practical, no-compromise, non-combustion automobile.
When ordering his Model S, Jason went click-happy on the options and purchased just about every accessory. Base price of the Signature Performance is $97,900 – Nappa leather with carbon fiber interior accents, active air suspension and 21-inch alloy wheels are all standard. The black paint is a no-cost item, as is the black upholstery with contrasting piping and gray wheel finish. However, add-ons such as the all-glass panoramic roof ($1,500), anti-chip paint armor ($950), rear-facing seats ($1,500) and high power wall connector ($1,200) will push the price into six-figure territory. As configured, Jason's car was about $103,050 before incentives and credits. (Jason ordered the third row option, with two rear-facing seats bringing total passenger capacity to seven, but the module has not been installed in his vehicle yet.)The Model S cheats the wind with a stunningly low .24 drag coefficient.
Unlike the RAV4 EV, Honda Fit EV, Coda sedan or even Tesla's own Roadster (itself built on a modified Lotus platform), the Model S was engineered from the onset to be an electric vehicle (EV), it's not constructed on a modified internal combustion engine (ICE) platform. Instead of putting the battery down a spine, or eating up space in the trunk, the four-inch thick battery pack is bolted beneath the chassis. This location keeps the space-devouring energy storage below the passenger compartment. It also delivers more room for passengers and cargo.The center stack's stunning 17-inch capacitive touchscreen flat panel captures everyone's attention.
As mentioned, the operator does not "start" the Model S in the traditional sense of turning a key or pressing a button. Instead, proximity sensors acknowledge that a fob is within the cabin and that an adult's derrière is in the driver's seat. Once these two requirements are met, the vehicle automatically boots up, just like a quick computer. It's a bit awkward unlearning decades of conditioning about how to start a vehicle (and a real pain-in-the-ass when moving a car around for a photo shoot), but after a dozen times, we became comfortable with the process.Unlike most of the EV models we've recently piloted, the Model S has no "creep."
While the Roadster makes muted electric motor gear noises, like a zippy golf cart on steroids, the Model S is eerily silent. Only the g-forces of acceleration and the blurring outside scenery give hint of the change in velocity. The single-speed fixed gear (with a 9.73:1 reduction ratio) makes quick work of accelerating the sedan off the line. There is no exhaust note, or even an electric whine, to mask the sound of the rubber tires squirming under the stresses of torque. It is indisputably quick whether pitted against EV, hybrid or ICE vehicles (recent testing by Motor Trend pegs the Performance Signature Model S at 3.9 seconds to 60 mph). Top speed, according to the automaker, is 130 mph.It is indisputably quick whether pitted against EV, hybrid or ICE vehicles.
Thanks to the powertrain's rear-mounted configuration, the five-door boasts a very favorable weight distribution for handling (about 52 percent of the vehicle's mass is over the back wheels). We didn't have a chance to tackle any canyons, but we did dart through plenty of traffic effortlessly. The chassis felt heavy and solid, like the large sedan it is. Body roll was minimal and the sedan felt very stable and comfortable regardless of how quickly we transitioned from one lane to the other.Chassis flex is non-existent and we didn't hear a single panel utter a peep or squeak.
Unlike most EVs that are fitted with undersized brakes to take advantage of regeneration, Tesla has engineered its Model S like a high-performance sports car. All four corners feature thick ventilated disc rotors, with massive multi-piston monobloc calipers clamping down on each. Braking is a non-event, especially with sticky high-performance Continental Extreme Contact DW summer compound tires (size 245/35ZR21) at all four corners.The ICE-like range of nearly 300 miles completely eliminated our EV anxiety.
But skeptics of the Tesla Model S need just to take one for a spin.Tesla's all-electric sedan excels at being an impressive and engaging sport sedan first.