Reality for Tesla “True Believers”

The following headline is one of the first to catch my eye this morning.  Tesla beckons to the true believers.

If you hit the link to the story, you’ll read that Tesla Motors has finagled a $50 million dollar cash infusion from Toyota Motor Corp, and that Tesla is hoping to soon float an IPO.

I’ve previously written about Telsa in posts here and here, but this morning I’d like to address the following questions which the “true believers” are evidently asking, because unlike The X Files: I Want to Believe, the answers are out there.

Are the cars reliable? What’s their driving range? Do they require a network of recharging stations to keep them on the road? And do they offer the kind of basic, bottom-line transportation value needed to attract mainstream buyers in a tough market?

Question number one asks, are the cars reliable?  Well, they are for at least 244 miles, as that is the driving range for the Tesla, which also covers question number two in the list.  Question number three asks if Tesla vehicles require a network of charging stations.  Not necessarily, but owners of the vehicles will definitely need to plug them in to charge up the batteries, and it might be wise to for Tesla owners to carry around a long, heavy duty extension cord, a good book, a computer or some other time passing activity, as it can take over ten (10) hours for the vehicles batteries to recharge.

But question number four, “And do they offer the kind of basic, bottom-line transportation value needed to attract mainstream buyers in a tough market?”, is the most important question, and with a starting price of around 60K, running up to 130K, I think the answer to the question is a emphatic “No.”

Here’s Car and Driver’s take on the Telsa.

So, true believers, there is some reality for you to chew on, or you can click on the X-Files link and enjoy the show.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/22 at 06:46 AM

  1. I don’t think that a DC motor shoved into a Lotus Elise 2-seat mid-engine roadster has a single thing to do with “basic, bottom-line transportation value”, any more than does the gas-engined Lotus Elise on which it is based.

    Posted by Tam  on  07/11  at  05:09 PM

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