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Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced that his company's "mass market sedan", the Model 3, can be pre-ordered in March 2016 for $35,000. The cars will not be available until 2017 at the earliest. From CNBC:
What's taking so long, you ask? Right now, the batteries that would power the Model 3 would cost about as much as the car is slated to. Tesla is building an enormous lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility in Nevada to make its own batteries for far less money — the "Gigafactory" mentioned in Musk's tweet.
Not much more can be revealed about the Model 3 except that, as Musk mentioned cryptically during a Q&A session on Reddit, "It won't look like other cars." What does that mean, exactly? We'll find out in March.
In the meantime, you can order yourself a new Model X — if you have the cash. The entry level model will cost around $5,000 more than a Model S with the same options, Musk wrote in yet another tweet — though you can easily spend well into the six figure range for the "Signature" high-end series.
Tesla customers will begin receiving their Model X "all-electric SUVs" beginning on Sept. 29.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 04 2015, @03:49PM
Can these things operate at -30 degrees? What is their range and charge time like at that temperature? If they can't compete in the worst conditions the continental US can throw at them, there wont be much demand outside of luxury buyer markets and pristine weather locations. The extra weight of the battery pack would be nice for more traction where it is needed but I am also concerned about what happens when these sorts of vehicles meet local wildlife. An ICE can take a hit from a large ungulate and a rodent nest will only result in dead rodents. What happens when an electric vehicle hits a deer or a herd of deer or have an animal crawl up into the motor because it is warm?
While I am a far better electrician than mechanic, I do not see these as anywhere near viable in my area yet. They are competing with the good weather crowd which includes things like motorcycles, convertibles, mopeds, and bicycles.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Phoenix666 on Friday September 04 2015, @04:29PM
Teslas are very popular in Norway [cnn.com]. Are your driving conditions more extreme than Norway's?
Tesla in snow on 14% grade defeating other cars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eObSjtU6YXc [youtube.com]
What does ICE have to do with it? Are you referring to the presence of an engine? Well, what about ICEs whose engine is in the back? Are you mortally afraid of VW Bugs too? Is it the carbon fiber body? Is that why nobody buys Ferraris or Lambos, too, too afraid of deer strikes?
Here's a pic of a guy with a Tesla who hit a deer [teslamotors.com]. It was 35mph but it looks pretty good to me, certainly no worse than any other kind of car.
Sorry, but your post reads like silly, shallow FUD. If you're spreading FUD for fun or out of ignorance, you ought to go test-drive a Tesla or a BMW i3. Electric cars are fun to drive, instant linear acceleration that is totally quiet. Braking power is great, too. But if you're spreading FUD because you're being paid to, tell your bosses to try harder to come up with something better.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by hemocyanin on Friday September 04 2015, @04:35PM
A single car does not have to meet every usage scenario. It probably won't tow a 15,000 pound boat, climb a sand dune, or wade through three feet of mud. But then, those aren't usual scenarios for the vast majority of drivers. Honestly, if it functions fine above 20F, it'll be fine for the 90% or more of the population who don't live someplace where it gets down to -30.
(Score: 3, Informative) by bryan on Friday September 04 2015, @04:44PM
As an owner of a Nissan Leaf for the last two years, I can attest that battery life under extreme conditions (below freezing in the winter and triple digits in the summer) will indeed affect the car's range. However, the difference isn't really that much as the speed and aggressiveness of your driving matters far more than environmental factors. The Leaf does have a small radiator with a coolant loop and will maintain the battery pack at a reasonable temperature. One nice side effect on cold winter days is that the interior cabin gets warm almost immediately by using the same heat pump as the AC (previous models used a resistive heating element) on summer days - no waiting for a combustion engine to warm up first.
Although, again, the temperature isn't very important due to the car automatically maintaining the battery pack at an ideal temperature, the charge time of electric vehicles does need to be accounted for. The uninitiated simply don't realize that it takes 18+ hours to channel 75 miles worth of electricity into your car using a standard 120v outlet. I have both the 120v and the 240v chargers, with the 240v being a bit more than twice as fast, but I can understand how some will not want to rewire their garage and only use the 120v charger.
Identical to an ICE car.