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2012 Tesla Model S Electric-Car Deliveries To Start Today Page 2

 
3,161 views Jun 22, 2012
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2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011

HI-RES GALLERY: 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
  • 2012 Tesla Model S Charging Connector

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That pack was made up of 6,831 individual "commodity" lithium-ion batteries similar to those used in mobile phones and laptop computers.

But the Roadster made converts out of many disbelievers owing to the sheer acceleration delivered by that battery to an electric motor with peak power of 185 kilowatts (248 horsepower) driving the rear wheels.


A 0-to-60-mph time of 3.9 seconds took modern electric cars out of the "golf cart" category forever. It even led members of the grumpy middle-aged automotive press to acknowledge the potential of electric performance cars.

Only 2,600 Tesla Roadsters were built, with the rolling bodies assembled by Lotus in England and then shipped to California.

The battery pack, power electronics, and traction motor were added in a large service bay behind Tesla's Menlo Park dealership, one of the more unlikely final assembly locations in the industry.

Now what?

While Tesla employees, owners, supporters, and customers enjoy today's ceremonies--view the webcast here starting at 3:30 pm Pacific today--the company is likely to enter a period of growth unlike anything it's seen so far.

2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011

2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011

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Expanding its network of Tesla Stores, making its target customers aware of the car, and supporting a vastly larger pool of owners and cars than it's had to deal with before, all of these challenges hold potential pitfalls for the company.

Most analysts continue to believe that Tesla Motors won't remain independent, but will be purchased by one of the dozen or so largest global automakers.

The best time for a sale may be in the two years starting today, assuming that Tesla launches the Model S smoothly, racks up sales according to plan, and rolls out its 2013 Model X crossover on schedule.

But meanwhile, it's probably appropriate for our fans and readers to congratulate the company on its achievements.

Assuming the new owners of those 2012 Tesla Model S Signature Series cars drive them smoothly out of the factory and 250 miles or more beyond, one of the world's more unlikely carmakers will have entered a new phase of its life.

Many observers, analysts, and armchair critics said the company would never get this far.

So, let us toast Tesla today--and watch to see how this next phase of the electric-car company's life plays out.

Well done, Tesla!

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Comments (19)

  1. fb_100001133620618 avatar Roy Harvie Posted: 6/22/2012 5:51am PDT

    One of Tesla's great achievements has been effective use of the internet for advertising. All major auto companies still spend hundreds of millions on TV, magazine and newspaper advertising. The enormous amount of money saved goes to lower the price of the car and give the purchaser better value.

    Most independent auto dealerships are excellent, but unfortunately there are a few bad apples that have hurt GM severely with a reputation of poor service and gouging. GM has been powerless to completely stop this because of state dealership laws. Tesla has decided to avoid this possibility by owning their own outlets. Until these antiquated laws are repealed, Tesla will avoid having outlets in these states.
     
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  2. john_v avatar John Voelcker Posted: 6/22/2012 6:42am PDT

    @Roy: I suspect you will have a very, very long wait for any of those "antiquated" laws to be repealed in any state. Though I'd be eager to see any evidence to the contrary.

    And I'm skeptical of the notion that Tesla will choose to sell only in the few states that do not have laws requiring cars to be sold through independently owned third-party businesses, e.g. dealerships. CA does not have such a requirement, but too many states with affluent, forward-looking residents do. We shall see.
     
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  3. fb_100000005296979 avatar Kent Beuchert Posted: 6/22/2012 6:55am PDT

    Having some familiarity with GM's behavior towards their dealerships over the past decade, the word I would use to characterize GM's behavior is that of scum. Pure scum. Dealerships that had been with GM for decades were tossed out due to GM's intense desire to satisfy the pols that held the pursestrings to their survival. For 40 years I only bought GM products. Now I even refuse to buy any of their used cars. Giving GM the ability to screw their dealerships by removing laws protecting independents is anti-competitive. We don't need to resurrect the GM monopoly that existed during the 50's and 60's. GM mostly provides jobs for our Asian competitors.
     
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  4. fb_799475006 avatar Pat Bahn Posted: 6/22/2012 4:44pm PDT

    it's essentially an issue of sales channels. Franchise dealers vs direct sales. Apple and Sony are moving into a direct sales model, GM may well have to do so as well. Dealers may become more like Best Buy or may become obsolete or have to represent smaller makers like Kia or Cherry.
     
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  5. john_v avatar John Voelcker Posted: 6/22/2012 5:37pm PDT

    @Pat: See my comment above Kent's. In most states, dealer groups got laws passed--decades ago--making it ILLEGAL for GM to sell you a car directly. Electronics retailers have never been able to do such that, but car dealer groups have done it in most states.

    Auto companies have concluded that changing those laws is pretty much a nonstarter. GM would love to do as you say. But, legally, it can't.

    And it is unlikely to be able to do so in the future. There's a lot of bad blood left over from the number of dealers that were closed by GM & Chrysler during the bailouts.

    Dealers have no desire to do automakers any favors--and why would they? What reason is there for dealers to support that?
     
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  6. ev_enthusiast avatar EV Enthusiast Posted: 6/23/2012 9:23am PDT

    that seems like a huge over-stepping by the govt.

    what is the reason given preventing gm or any car company from selling directly, should they choose to do so ?
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  7. CDspeed avatar CDspeed . Posted: 6/22/2012 5:55am PDT

    The wait is over, congratulations Tesla!
     
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  8. fb_100000005296979 avatar Kent Beuchert Posted: 6/22/2012 6:44am PDT

    For many pessimists, their underlying logic was that it is very difficult to start an auto company: high cost of entry and plenty of cutthroat competition. Which is certainly true. But Tesla avoided a lot of those issues - without the need for a very complicated modern gasoline engine and transmission, their cost of entry was relatively low. And although they haven't seemed to have taken advantage of it, Tesla had access to M-B and Toyota's parts bins. One of the great advantages an established automaker has in turning out a new model is the fact that most of its parts
    they are already building.Tesla will have that advantage (in spades) when they build their Model X, and beyond. It actually will get a lot easier for Tesla from here on out.
     
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  9. fb_100000877654561 avatar fb_100000877654561 Posted: 6/22/2012 7:07am PDT

    Where's Kent today? ;-)
     
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  10. jeffhre avatar Jeff Hre Posted: 6/22/2012 8:03pm PDT

    Regardless of your opinions about him, it wasn't right to steal Kent's online identity... And I read an article today that said MB fans will recognize the electric window switches and shift boot.
     
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  11. fb_100002494343393 avatar Jason Hendler Posted: 6/22/2012 7:27am PDT

    The introduction of the Fisker Karma shouldn't have been more risky. The conversion of the Lotus Elise using AC Propulsion and Tesla Motors' technologes is little different from combining the chassis expertise of Fisker Coachbuild (http://www.fiskercb.com/), the low production propulsion technologies Quantum Technologies (http://www.qtww.com/) and the battery technology of A123 (http://www.a123systems.com/). If it weren't for the battery pack problems from A123, people would only complain about fit / finish and infotainments system issues. I would put the relative difficulties on par, especially since Tesla Motors and Lotus Engineering had to redesign the Lotus Elise aluminum frame and replaced 90% off the parts.
     
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  12. fb_100001444034909 avatar Richard Marks Posted: 6/22/2012 10:56am PDT

    John, very positive and up beat story. You certainly raise critically important issues relative to Tesla's long term success. I wish them lots of luck because they are going to need it. Tesla website latest Q1 SEC filing states as of March 31, 2012, 2,250 Roadster have been sold & remaining ones will be sold outside of US. I think 2,600 is too many.Small point.
    There is too much Hollywood in their videos. How many cars are they delivering today? It's great when you deliver to investors who will only tell you behind closed doors how the car is doing! When do the $40,000 depositors start getting cars!
    You should read their Q1 filing. Warranty costs for Q1 up to $869,000 from a year ago at $576,000. Something is going on and you find out.
     
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  13. fb_1134791105 avatar Mittar Khalsa Posted: 6/22/2012 1:40pm PDT

    Too Hollywood? Really? We know when the deposit holders will start getting their cars, this year, starting today. How about judging their SEC filings for Q3 and Q4 of this year, instead of Q1, which is all about ramping up testing/production.

    I guess haters gotta hate, it's what they do.
     
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  14. fb_799475006 avatar Pat Bahn Posted: 6/22/2012 4:46pm PDT

    I would expect warranty costs to rise, as Tesla sells more cars, they will naturally have more warranty claims. the key is the $Warranty claims / $ total revenue of cars under warranty... i ahve no idea what that should be and what their warranty reserve is
     
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  15. fb_100001639676833 avatar Timothy Lam Posted: 6/26/2012 10:54pm PDT

    Richard, here is your Commented On: "Betting Tesla's Elon Musk $1 Million, Dan Neil Hopes To Lose" just 10 short months ago, quote " Musk is all talk and has little knowledge of automotive... Tesla may go bankrupt before Neil collects his due." I think you owe Elon an apology for being wrong. What do you have against Tesla? You seemed to support EV in general.
     
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  16. Chris O avatar Chris O Posted: 6/22/2012 11:09am PDT

    Such an important day in EV history, yet such negative reporting on Tesla,oozing scepticism and sadly lacking vision on Tesla's possibilities.

    Oh well, we can't all be fans and at least the author acknowledged, though reluctantly that congratulations are in order and I heartily agree with that.

    So: congratulations Tesla!
     
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  17. fb_799475006 avatar Pat Bahn Posted: 6/22/2012 4:47pm PDT

    this is a milestone day for tesla and yes they have to prove production and work out bugs and still make money but it's a milestone, much as the Volt, the Leaf and the Prius are milestones
     
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  18. fb_1001015277 avatar John Briggs Posted: 6/24/2012 1:53pm PDT

    Looks like journalists are starting to get to drive the model S.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qjt2pPlgNGU GigaOM
     
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  19. fb_1001015277 avatar John Briggs Posted: 6/24/2012 2:01pm PDT

    The full event, 26 minute of it anyway, is here.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMgzCnspapo
     
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