Friday 27th March 2009

Tesla Model S Revealed

Official pictures of Tesla's five-door electric car

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The wraps have finally come off Tesla’s new Model S – a ‘sporty’ $50k five-door billed as the world’s first mass-produced electric vehicle.

The vehicle was unveiled in the US yesterday, with Tesla claiming its new model has a 120mph top speed, will do 0-60 in 5.6secs or will drive 300 miles on a single charge.

According to Tesla’s press release, the new

Model S has a liquid-cooled 9-inch motor, floor-mounted battery pack and a single-speed transaxle gearbox delivering ‘effortless acceleration, responsive handling and quiet simplicity – no fancy clutchwork or gear-shifting required.’

Wrapped up in a swoopy body that will actually seat seven (with two rear facing kiddie seats in the boot), the Model S will be built primarily from aluminium and weigh in at 1800kgs.

The predicted 300 mile range will be possible because the Model S has 8000 battery cells against the Tesla Roadster’s 6000. With a 220v domestic outlet, you’ll be able to recharge the car in 4 hours for around $4 at current prices, and Tesla is reportedly working with the US government to set up battery changing stations. Apparently technicians will be able to swap power packs in 6-8 minutes, which Tesla says is quicker than filling a car with petrol.

If that all sounds too exciting for words, don’t get carried away just yet. The ‘world’s first mass-produced electric vehicle’ isn’t in production yet, and won’t be until late in 2011.

[CypherP]

I really like the look of this. KInda ripped off the SLR style wheels though, and looks almost RX8-ish from the front end, but still a really good looking saloon.. Again, will be interesting to see if it retains the power/performance figures quoted.