It seems like we've been hearing about the Tesla Model S for a decade, but a report in Yahoo! states that the electric sedan is only a month away from production. That's about one month ahead of schedule, as Tesla is reportedly wrapping up crash testing fast enough to start making the hotly anticipated EV.
The Model S couldn't come at a much better time for Tesla, as the automaker just announced a first quarter loss of $89.9 million. The prospects aren't any better for Q2, but the second half of the year should be an entirely different story. Q1 revenue was only $30 million, and the first half revenue is expected to come in around $60 million. With the Model S around for the second half of the year, sales are expected to skyrocket into the $600 million range. Tesla plans to move about 5,000 units in 2012, even though the automaker currently has 10,000 orders in-hand.
Some of those 10,000 hand-raisers might have something more to get excited about, as Tesla announced that the top range Signature model, which features a 85-kWh battery pack, will be able to travel 320 miles on a two-cycle charge. That's 20 miles more than Tesla previously announced. The first 1,200 copies of the Model S will be Signature models with the largest-possible battery pack.
Tesla Motors is close to rolling out the first Model S electric five-doors from the company's Fremont, California plant, and customers who reserved the Model S Signature Series are already sending in their specification requests, indicating that the company will likely hit its July deadline for first deliveries.
Tesla has also added three colors - Piano Black, Lacewood and Banana Leaf - to its interior options and Internet connectivity will be an option on all cars, the company said in a letter to prospective customers that was posted on its blog last week. Tesla also said it would personally deliver the cars to the location of the customer's choice.
The Model S, the second model from Tesla after the Roadster, will be priced starting at $57,400 for a version with a 160-mile single-charge range before the $7,500 tax credit goes into effect. A 300-mile-range version goes for about $77,000. Read here for Autoblog's "First Ride" impressions.
Earlier this year, Tesla said 2012 sales may triple last year's revenue of $204.2 million and forecast Model S sales at 5,000 units for this year. That's more than double the 2,100 of the $109,000 Roadsters that Tesla sold over the past four years.
Tesla and the company's lawyers are nothing if not determined. After a judge smacked down the electric vehicle manufacturer's libel suit against the BBC and Top Gear for comments made about the range of the Tesla Roadster, the automaker rallied with a second, amended lawsuit. It didn't take long for the the same judge to nix the new case, too, saying the amendment was "not capable of being defamatory at all, or, if it is, it is not capable of being a sufficiently serious defamatory meaning to constitute a real and substantial tort."
That sound? It's the smack of the judicial backhand.
The judge went on to say drivers know a manufacturer's claim about range is dependent on driving conditions and habits.
The dustup, as you may recall, began when Top Gear put the Tesla Roadster through its paces on the show's test track. While Jeremy Clarkson lauded the car's acceleration, the segment claimed the vehicle ran out of juice after just 55 miles of abuse. That figure is far south of the 200 mile range Tesla claims for the vehicle. CEO Elon Musk called the show "completely phony" not long after the segment aired and brought out the legal guns. The rest, as they say, is history.
Yesterday's outrageous attack on electric vehicles didn't come from the GOP (for a change), but from a seemingly disinterested blogger, one Michael Degusta. His charges against Tesla include suggesting that its cars will have "eventual, inevitable, catastrophic battery failure," lambasting the company for poor warranty service, accusing Tesla of tracking its owners without consent, and intimating that the company is not only failing to provide owners with proper notice of this phenomenon but also covering up the whole sordid affair. Serious stuff, this post of his that's rippled through the automotive web with the force of a 185-kW electric motor.
Yet all may not be what it seems. Late yesterday, an e-mail surfaced on Green Car Reports, in which a disgruntled owner who bricked his battery pleads his case to Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The e-mail, sent by one Max Drucker, CEO of Santa Barbara-based Social Intelligence Corp, is a clear plea for assistance in the repair of his car. Drucker identifies his car as Roadster #340, the same car that serves as the primary example in Degusta's piece. Drucker has since spoken with Autopia about his car, admitting that he drove his Roadster down to a 25 percent charge, then left it parked for six weeks, something the owner's manual specifically warns against.
Now, let's turn our attention towards Degusta, who noted at the end of his screed, "No one has paid me to write this article" and pointed out that his blog is not advertising-supported. That's an important point, as it's clearly designed to give readers the impression that Degusta is an unbiased outsider, something of a modern-day Upton Sinclair, defending the poor, innocent owners of $100,000 sports cars from the uncaring electric car company and its billionaire co-founder.
Yet, a few minutes spent with Google shows that Drucker and Degusta are also business partners, having registered at least four corporations together in California, according to Corporationwiki. It also turns up this article, from the November 15, 2000, issue of Insurance & Technology magazine, a profile of Drucker, in which he is quoted describing Degusta as his "partner in crime." Indeed, we wonder if the famously litigious Tesla might be considering another libel lawsuit against this muckraking duo.
Here's a new worry for electric car owners: bricking your new, expensive ride.
Using a word taken from the computer world, to "brick" an EV means to make your electronic device inoperable. In the case of an EV, it would mean to run the battery state of charge so far down that nothing works anymore, thus requiring an expensive flatbed tow and an even more expensive battery pack - about $40,000 in a Tesla Roadster.
This is the charge of Michael Degusta, who wrote a detailed post on the matter in which he claims there have been five cases of Roadsters being bricked that he knows about. Since this is the first we've heard about it (and we imagine all those Silicon Valley Roadster owners know a thing or two about Internet communication), we're surprised we didn't hear about this before the alleged problem claimed five non-working cars. Thus, we figure there's more to the story, especially since some people are already poking holes in some of Degusta's statements. We've emailed Degusta and asked him to provide further proof of and details about these bricked cars, but he has not responded yet.
For its part, Tesla has offered AutoblogGreen a fairly noncommittal statement on the matter:
All automobiles require some level of owner care. For example, combustion vehicles require regular oil changes or the engine will be destroyed. Electric vehicles should be plugged in and charging when not in use for maximum performance. All batteries are subject to damage if the charge is kept at zero for long periods of time. However, Tesla avoids this problem in virtually all instances with numerous counter-measures. Tesla batteries can remain unplugged for weeks (even months), without reaching zero state of charge. Owners of Roadster 2.0 and all subsequent Tesla products can request that their vehicle alert Tesla if SOC falls to a low level. All Tesla vehicles emit various visual and audible warnings if the battery pack falls below 5 percent SOC. Tesla provides extensive maintenance recommendations as part of the customer experience.
It's also true that all vehicles will require some attention if they sit unused too long, and people know what happens if you leave your laptop unplugged for two weeks. In the owner's manual for the Roadster 2.0/Roadster Sport, Tesla does say that "Over-discharge can permanently damage the Battery" and that "If storing for more than 15 days, it is strongly recommended that you keep it plugged in" (see the full section on "Leaving the vehicle unplugged" after the jump, or download the manual in PDF here), but it doesn't specify what sort of damage that is, or how expensive it might be to fix it. Tesla spokesman Ricardo Reyes did tell AutoblogGreen that he is working to demystify the situation and will get back to us with more information.
Continue reading Tesla Roadster facing 'brick' battery problems?
Tesla and Daimler are set to collaborate on a new electric Mercedes-Benz. According to Gigaom.com, the fourth-quarter earnings report released by Tesla earlier this week revealed the company is set to supply a full powertrain for an unnamed electric Mercedes-Benz in the near future. Those components include a motor, transmission, inverter and all of the software necessary to keep the car whirring along. Funds from the deal are supposed to begin trickling in by the second quarter of this year, though no details about production timing or volume were available in the report.
The two automakers aren't strangers. Daimler is an investor in the small electric vehicle manufacturer, and Tesla already supplies battery packs for the low-production Smart ED. Mercedes-Benz made waves at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show when it unveiled the B-Class E-Cell Plus. At the time, the vehicle boasted a lithium-ion battery sourced from a joint venture between Daimler and Evonik, though it's certainly possible the German automaker has changed course on the five-door. Then again, the B-Class E-Cell Plus was an extended-range hybrid, whereas the Tesla earnings report seems to hint toward a full-electric model. Consider us curious.
Chicago Auto Show recap, Tesla Model X, BMW M6, Toyota Prius C
Episode #269 of the Autoblog Podcast is here with Chris, Dan, and Autoblog Green's Sebastian Blanco. Topics include a quick recap of the Chicago Auto Show, some chatter about the Tesla Model X and BMW M6, and we finish up with the Toyota Prius C. Your questions and comments power the end of the 'cast, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. We've embedded our Q&A module after the jump for you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #269:
Chicago Auto Show Recap
Tesla Model X
BMW M6
Toyota Prius C
In the Autoblog Garage
2012 Honda CR-V
2012 Dodge Durango Citadel
2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid
2012 Buick Verano
Hosts: Dan Roth, Chris Shunk, Sebastian Blanco
Runtime: 01:08:32
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If the prevailing opinion of a new design can be judged by initial sales, then the jury is in on the Tesla Model X. They like it. They really, really like it. From the time the electric crossover was driven out on stage at Tesla Design Studios late Thursday night/early Friday morning until Valentine's Day four days later, the company says it has received over $40 million worth of reservation love.
What that means is that over 500 people have plunked down a significant amount of cash - $5,000 for regular production version or $40,000 for a Signature package - to reserve a vehicle that won't even begin serious production until 2014. Think about that for a moment. Nobody, except a lucky few employees, has even driven the X prototype. Hell, barely anyone has ever taken the wheel of the Model S, with which it shares its platform.
While some of the orders did come from people switching their Model S reservation to the X, Tesla says sedan sales weren't cannibalized. In fact, the company says, sales of the S saw a boost of 30 percent following the big event.
Another indication of sentiment for publicly traded companies like Tesla Motors (TSLA) is its stock price. If you panicked and sold off shares a month ago when the price plunged 20 percent on news of the departure of a couple personnel, you may want to begin kicking yourself now. (Go ahead, we'll wait.) From that $22.79 low, it has climbed to $33.17 (as of this writing). Now, we're not financial experts, but that would seem to indicate that the market likes the company's outlook.
Make your way past the break to read the press release and, if you were unable to see the live presentation of the Model X on Tesla's website, we have that official footage waiting there as well.
Continue reading Tesla takes 500 Model X reservations worth $40M, Model S sales also spike
We record Episode #269 of the Autoblog Podcast tonight, and you can drop us your questions via our Q&A module below. We're joined by Sebastian Blanco tonight, so now's your chance to pepper us with those Green-focused questions and topics. Check out our discussion topics or chime in to help determine what else the crew chats about this evening. Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes if you haven't already done so, and if you want to take it all in live, tune in to our UStream (audio only) channel at 10:00 PM Eastern tonight.
Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode #269
Chicago Auto Show Recap
Tesla Model X
BMW M6
Toyota Prius C
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes
[RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator
With the demise of the Lotus Elise in the United States, the Tesla Roadster's fate was sealed. With no chassis rolling out of Hethel, Tesla had to end production of the Roadster and shift its focus to the Model S and the just-revealed Model X.
But some kind of Roadster successor has always been in the cards and as Tesla's SEC filings revealed two years ago, the new sports car was supposed to arrive next year. But according to Elon Musk, the release of the next Tesla Roadster could be as far as four years away. And probably longer.
Speaking with Inside Line, Musk said said that Tesla's next project will be its "Gen 3" electric car; a smaller, mass-market EV that will carry a more affordable price tag. Originally, this new model was going to launch in 2016, but Musk revealed that the automaker is now "thinking early 2015."
While the escalated timeline is good for EVs, it's not good for EV enthusiasts. According to Musk, the next Roadster won't be out until after the Gen 3 launches, and that means Tesla won't have another sports car until 2016 at the earliest.
