Photo by Ken Bensinger
Remember when the Chrysler PT Cruiser came out? Well it took a long, long time folks and the anticipation from both dealers and customers hurt Chrysler considerably, in my opinion. People put deposits on the PT Cruiser and some died waiting for the car to hit their dealership.
Tesla's CEO Elon Musk revealed their Model S electric car in Los Angeles with a promise to have us green eager drivers in them by year end 2011. Sure. Tesla has been down this road of promises before when a deal with New Mexico's Governor Bill Richardson fell to the wayside.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California has higher hopes for Tesla, probably because he already owns a $109,000 Tesla Roadster, but the "Terminator" can afford it I guess. Plans to build a great big factory in southern California is the here and the now says Elon Musk.
But who will be able to afford the Model S? Not me folks. Not with a price tag of $57,400! The base model can go 160 miles on one charge and they say can be recharged in only 45 minutes. Added options (that means more money people) are a 230 mile or 300 mile battery but Tesla won't tell us how much that will cost. They won't tell us because it's embarrassingly frivolous!
Poor old Tesla told the LA Times that they couldn't come up with private investors for the Model S so they applied for $400 million in US government grants that I, for one, hope they don't get. They already have tremendous interest and deposits on their $109,000 Roadsters so why not use some of that money to build the factory?
Before you send me nasty comments, sure I know a factory will bring jobs, but what happens when the wealthy people of the US, which is about 1%, decide "wow, that was fun, what else can I buy?" The factory closes and people like you and me get a pink slip. If indeed the government has $400 million dollars in grants to give, why not try and help the Big Three? That would be too easy people!
General Motors is expected to introduce their electric Volt by year-end 2010 and I think I'll wait for that model to come out. Sure the Big Three have some pricey hybrids, but they also offer ones we could actually afford instead of taking out a second mortgage on our house (if we still have a house).
It gives me great pause when President Obama tells us we have some of the greatest technological minds anywhere in the world. If we do, can't we invest these minds into the Big Three to create an affordable electric car where we don't have to be movie stars (or Governors) to afford them?
If you do want a Tesla Model S, you can take that $5,000 you have laying around and put down a deposit, but don't hold your breath people, it is Tesla after all and their track record of promises isn't that great.
Comments
The first VCRs cost $1500. The first big screen TVs cost $10,000. The first cell phones cost $2500. The first DVD players cost $1200. The first microwave ovens coast $5000. You had to be pretty well off to buy any of those products.
All of those products were expensive when the technology was new and the prices came down as they matured.
You don't have to be a movie star or a governor to buy any of those products now.
Electric cars are the same, right now the technology is new and it will take a few generations to get them down to the same cost as ordinary dino-burning cars.
Do the math. You can probably afford it.
There's a $7500 federal tax credit. In my state there's also a $2000 tax credit. There's a $5000 voucher for trading in a low-efficiency gas car. You'll save at least $1500 per year in gas and $200 per year in oil changes and other regular service.
Add all that up, and over 8 years the equivalent price of the Model S, as compared to a gas car, is $29,300.
You talk about not trusting Tesla to deliver...and you place your trust in the Big Three. When was the last time the Big Three delivered on a promise to their workers, their customers or their investors? For as long as I can remember it has been boom and bust with them with the taxpayer or investors bearing the brunt in the end. Tesla is innovation, Tesla is hi tech jobs and a down payment on American leadership in a new auto market. If we take your logic and attitude the Model T would have been panned by you as well. Things are expensive when they come out for the first time. And last I checked there isn't a shortage of people willing to pay 60k for a car in this country (BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, Infiniti, etc). Your attitude and ideas died with the Bush administration. Stop writing.
Readers,
I am guessing no one here lives in Detroit where 22% of the population are unemployed and probably can't even afford to read this story.
Internal Combustion Engine RIP
The author is an idiot! You put more faith in the big 3 which has been wasting money on pricey big engines when there's an innovative company like Tesla with solid ideas. Is the author an idiot or just looking for a backlash?
COMMENT:
The author does not seem to understand how market economy works !!!
According to her some 20 years ago the production of mobile phones should have not been supported since it was only for rich people !!!
Nowadays even 3-rd World Country citizens can afford mobile phones and it has had tremendous impact on their lives and guess what none of this would have happened if the first comers would have bought the first bulky , ugly and yes indeed very expensive mobile phones.
The automobile industry partly and the whole fossil fuel industries shake of fear because of the electric car revolution , which was started by Tesla, because they know what will happen to them by the history from the PC industry.
After 10 years one would be very stupid to drive a fossil fuel powered car, simply because the electric one will be faster, need less maintenance and will have longer range and yes indeed it will be cheaper.
The Tesla just paves the way to the inevitable.
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