When I had first heard about Tesla Motors in 2007, I said they’ll never going to bring a fully-fledged electric vehicle onto the market. It was the era of cheap gasoline and nobody had thought about what was about to come.
Now, Elon Musk, Tesla Motors’ CEO, has declared himself super-optimistic about their chances to produce an electric SUV and show it to us this year, as a concept. The Tesla Model X, as he called it, is set to go onto the production lines and to the market in about four years, way after the Model S sedan will have grown in popularity.
Moreover, Musk says his Model X will be “cooler” than any of today’s gasoline SUVs, and that four years from now the company will be able to bring a “mainstream” EV costing somewhere around $30,000.
The Model S, though, programmed to be shipped in late 2012 or 2013, is designed to be “the most advanced car in the world,” and will feature a Better Place-like battery system that will allow it to get changed in under a minute, instead of charging it.
Musk is also optimistic about the battery technology getting cheaper each year, and says that by 2020 we’ll be able to purchase an electric car battery with a fraction of the money we’d need today (and he was referring to a long range one).
Tesla’s CEO also runs a private space rocket company, SpaceX. He ironically mentioned that rockets aren’t going to get electric – not even by 2050, when all of the cars will have batteries and electric motors inside, in his vision. He spoke at the Cleantech Investor Summit in Palm Springs, California on Wednesday.
[via gigaom]
Why is this using a fan made image when the car was fully shown off at the announcement a year ago?
@gtgitech because the article had been written in 2011. 🙂
@gtgitech because the article has been written in 2011 🙂
@OvidiuSandru Seeing the “launch by 2013” without thinking about it just made me subconsciously think it was written in 2013.
@gtgitech We have even had an exclusive e-mail exchange with the man himself on the Model X since 2011: https://www.greenoptimistic.com/2012/09/08/elon-musk-model-x-doors-accident/
@gtgitech updated the picture
I like Tesla cars. I really liked the Tesla Roadster when I saw it in car dealer a few months ago while on vacation. Sometimes I think that they do not get the recognition that they deserve. I would like to see more pictures of their SUV.
“Moreover, Musk says his Model X will cost around $30,000, just as much as some of today’s gasoline SUVs.”
I believe you may have your facts a bit off. Elon Musk said that Tesla was planning to bring to market the Model X SUV by 2014 as well as an unnamed passenger vehicle for 30k by 2015. This is not the same as a 30k Model X.
Sources:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/01/tesla-plans-electric-suv.html
http://www.auto123.com/en/news/green-wheels/tesla-to-create-an-suv-for-2011-and-a-30000-small-peoples-car-for-2015?make=Tesla&artid=127175
Sorry, folks, I messed up some info here – everything is now corrected and revised. Thanks for paying attention (it happens to larger houses, too)!
I have to assume that Sandru is confused. The Model X to be revealed later this year is to be built on the Model S chassis and cannot possibly be priced at $30K. The affordable EV he is referring to is way down the road.
Nor is the fast change Tesla S battery pack connected in any way with Better Place, an idea which has
failed because of longer range and faster recharging batteries. The notion of swapping batteries every 70 to 90 miles on a trip in the vast U.S. is totally absurd. Only in Israel or a very small country would Better Place make any sense at all, and not much there either at this point. The viability of Better Place depdended entirely
(like the now-obsolete Chevy Volt) on the notion of very expensive, very slow recharging, very heavy and weak
battery packs. Those days are gone forever.