Tesla Model S .. New EV Gold Standard or Vaporware?

[LI-ghtcycle]

I want to say that if everything I am reading is true, this truly looks to be the first practical Electric Car I have seen yet!

I am cautiously optimistic, but I wanted the opinions of the experts here to show me how true the claims are of this vehicle:

http://www.teslamotors.com/models/facts

Thanks!

 

[neptronix]

Why do you think it's vaporware?
I've seen the chassis, shell, and motor in person at Denver, CO's Tesla store. It's coming out very soon. Not vapor at all.

Really impressive car, as close to an internal combustion equivalent as you're gonna get for the time being. The price is reasonable too when compared to other autos. Select a few options on a mid-level Cadillac, BMW, or Lexus model and you're right within the price range of the base Model S. For example, a BMW 535 starts out at around $52k.

I think this car will do really well, and seeing electric cars come down in price is always a good thing. Not a fan of the cells they are using, but.. if they have a big warranty on em.. that's their deal.

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

Why do you think it's vaporware?
I've seen the chassis, shell, and motor in person at Denver, CO's Tesla store. It's coming out very soon. Not vapor at all.

Really impressive car, as close to an internal combustion equivalent as you're gonna get for the time being. The price is reasonable too when compared to other autos. Select a few options on a mid-level Cadillac, BMW, or Lexus model and you're right within the price range of the base Model S. For example, a BMW 535 starts out at around $52k.

I think this car will do really well, and seeing electric cars come down in price is always a good thing. Not a fan of the cells they are using, but.. if they have a big warranty on em.. that's their deal.

I'm not saying it's Vaporware, I'm saying I want to believe it's not Vaporware, because, lets face it, how many EV's of the past were talked up as the next big thing, and turned out to be either impossibly expensive to produce, impractically short lived with the battery cycle life, or numerous other problems, I am saying from where I am sitting this IS the first Electric Car that I have seen that appears to be the real deal, however, I am wanting to know everyone's opinion and information that they have seen heard/experienced about it.

I am sure there is a dealer or will be soon in Portland that will have them to look at, if not test drive, but I'm cautious because of all the past failures making similar claims.

 

[neptronix]

Ok, got it.

The EV vaporware extravaganza seemed to have ended around 2009, when gas prices started heading down again. Out of dozens of companies who proposed the car of the future, only Fisker and Tesla survived.

I am glad that was over, the constant tease / hype got real old.

 

[Hillhater]

. Out of dozens of companies who proposed the car of the future, only Fisker and Tesla survived.
...

The real question is ...how long will they survive ??
Even the big companies ( GM, Toyota, Honda, etc) with established markets, and good products are finding it hard to make a buck these days.
Fisker's sales have fallen dramatically short of targets, and Tesla is a big business with few products available currently.

 

[RallySTX]

Top Gear.UK did a segment featuring the Tesla Roadster in detail. This was a year or so ago. They broke both cars! but not before proving that it is balistically fast, and wonky in the corners, mainly due to the battery pack. Anyone with Netflix can see the episode, mabye even on Youtube. Shame both cars failed, but that's new tech for ya, gotta work out the bugs. I keep holding back the urge to send a nasty letter to GM, for not buying into Tesla when they had the chance, instead of letting it fall to Toyota! I can see they still have the foresight of a snail.
Brian L.

 

[spinningmagnets]

Two minute video of the Model-S assembly line, mostly robots...(saw a human employee riding a bicycle in the background)

http://vimeo.com/43083157

 

[Hillhater]

so, June 22nd is the first customer car delivery .. is it one of us ?? :lol: