At the media launch Tesla founder Elon Musk said, "We're trying to accelerate the electric car revolution, and get us off oil as soon as possible."
Musk wants his company to build a mass-produced electric vehicle. Unlike the company's Roadster, the Model S will not be handmade, and Tesla says it wants to hit 20,000 units per year when production is in full swing. Musk indicated that the car and perhaps even the batteries themselves may be leased. Due to Tesla's improvements in cell technology, the batteries may be able to last between 7 and 10 years under normal usage. The car is expected to have a three- to four-year warranty, bringing it within the range of what consumers expect from regular gas-powered cars
The post-tax-credit price, just under $50,000, doesn't exactly make it the "people's car" of the 21st century, but it does put the Model S on par with premium luxury sedans from BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
Design
How do you squeeze five adults, two children and plenty of cargo into a sedan? The Model S has a unique architecture that places the drivetrain components below the floorboard and between the rear wheels. The aluminum chassis and body panels will be manufactured by Tesla, and they intend to keep running weight to a minimum while aiming for a five-star crash rating. Rear passengers are expected to have roughly 10 mm more headroom than in a Mercedes-Benz CLS—not exactly SUV levels of interior space—but considering that the Model S promises to swallow a mountain bike with its front wheel intact, or a surfboard and a 50-inch television, we're impressed.
The interior setup features two rearward-facing seats for small kids (like an old-school station wagon), and the instrumentation is intended to completely eliminate buttons and knobs—sort of like a utopian twist on BMW's iDrive. Control-wise, everything is reduced to two screens—an almost conventional TFT-style dashboard unit and a 17-inch touchscreen navigation unit in the center console. The central screen promises to be customizable, with Web-ready 3G wireless capability. Speaking of computer tech, the vehicle's system CPUs are designed to communicate with Tesla headquarters, and if customers give the okay for remote diagnostics, the car will be able to troubleshoot and download software patches.
Designer Franz von Holzhausen suggests that Musk's design goals initially sounded like a minivan layout to him, but the electric powertrain architecture enabled more flexibility than he anticipated. "I call it a skateboard," he says, "because it's a flat, open space with no motor up front." The setup not only opens up the cabin, it enables front and rear cargo space.
The Bottom Line
The mass-produced electric car has yet to become a reality. But Tesla seems to have weathered some serious technical challenges with its Roadster, and the Model S Concept looks promising. If they can deliver the specs and hit a price point that falls under $50,000, Tesla might be able to achieve what other carmakers have yet to accomplish.
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