Tesla has added another innovative smart feature to it’s on board software. The new function is called Cabin Overheat Protection” and will protect children, dogs, cats, and other macroscopic organisms you happen to serendipitously leave in your Tesla while you are on your daily frappachino run.
Other updates in the newest software include a new user interface and improved autopilot. What will they think of next at Tesla?
Electric and hybrid cars look set to be the future of the automotive industry. They haven’t yet been embraced on a global scale. But it doesn’t seem like it will be long before that happens. Technology is adapting and developing every year, so it’s an exciting time for drivers.
Tesla are very much market leaders in hybrid electric cars. Honda also announced they expect a release by 2018, and it could be available at www.harratts.co.uk. But for now it seems Tesla has taken further strides to dominate the market with its new Model S vehicle. Let’s have a look at reasons why this is the car for you.
Eco-Friendly
Of course, the principal reason to buy a hybrid or electric car is because it’s eco-friendly. Greener living has become important over the past few years. So people want to take steps to make their cars more eco-friendly. The Tesla Model S is one of the best electric models on the market. It’s from a market leader in eco-friendly hybrid cars. So if you’re conscious of the environment, this might be the perfect vehicle for you. Think about how much money you’ll save, and how much you’ll benefit the economy.
Style
If nothing else convinces you to buy the Model S then surely its style will? This is one of the most stylish and attractive vehicles on the market. Being a luxury motor it has been designed to evoke high class and opulence. The body work is sleek, shimmering and cat like. And the interior is jaw-droppingly elegant. Take one look at this car and you’re bound to fall in love with it at first sight.
Smooth Drive
When you’re thinking of buying a car, you need to pay particular attention to the way it drives. For a lot of people this is one of the most important factors. Well, Tesla’s new model is one of the simplest and smoothest drives on the market. You never need to worry about your handbrake again – there isn’t one! Instead, the car sense when you’re sat in it and turns it on. This efficient and effortless feature could become commonplace soon.
Versatile Charging Options
One of the best things about the Model S is the different charging capabilities it comes with. As we know, electric cars need to be charged in order to run. And this car comes with the standard cabling to allow you to charge from a wall socket. However, many electric car owners run into problems when they are out on the roads. And the good news here is the Model S comes equipped with a second charger type. This makes it simple to charge your vehicle while you’re on the move.
It’s clear that Tesla’s new luxury electric car has set a precedent for the rest of the industry. Other manufacturers are now going to need to up their game. The Model S combines the perfect mixture of luxury, high-end travel with a greener lifestyle. For this reason, it’s now perhaps the leading electric car on the market right now.
If you go to Google and type in “luxury cars” you will have a plethora of results returned back to you! As you can imagine, the luxury vehicle industry is vast, and there is more than enough choice for consumers.
But there’s one thing that all those “fully loaded” cars have in common: they aren’t very good for the environment! Some cars like the new Jaguar XE boast about having fuel-efficient diesel engines, for example.
Any internal combustion engine will emit toxic CO2 gases into the atmosphere. One obvious solution is to drive an electric car. After all; they don’t produce any emissions, right? The big issue with most electric vehicles is range anxiety.
A typical electric vehicle can only do a range of 80 to 120 miles before needing a charge. You might think that, in a luxury car, that figure might drop down to around 20 miles! But there’s one car on the market that has changed that problem forever. I am, of course, talking about the Tesla Model S!
It’s a luxury car that isn’t powered by an internal combustion engine. Nor does it have a hybrid drive system. It’s a plug-in electric vehicle that offers not just tens but hundreds of miles of range before needing a charge. So, what are the car’s selling points? They are as follows:
Two charging options
If you want to charge the Tesla Model S from a standard wall socket, it comes with the cabling you need. But what if you want to connect up to a “type 2” charger? That’s no problem; Tesla also includes a cable for that too. When you’re out on the road, you’ll find it easy to charge your vehicle without worrying about plug problems.
Tesla are expanding their range of branded public charging points, dubbed “superchargers.” Depending on the model you buy, you can use these charging points for free. It’s also possible to have a fast DC charging point installed at your home.
Lots of luxury
When we want to buy a luxury car, we might look at websites like www.hunterslandrover.co.uk. The high earners among us might even get tempted by a Range Rover Autobiography, for example.
Tesla wants those people to visit their website so they can check out the amazing luxury on offer with the Model S! Land Rover offer hybrid luxury models. And even Bentley announced a hybrid luxury concept car last year.
But what if you want a zero-emissions vehicle that caters for the discerning motorist, and you want one today? Well, until you can buy an electric Range Rover or Bentley, there’s always the Tesla Model S.
You can enjoy such features as electrically adjustable and heated leather seats. A massive 17-inch touchscreen infotainment system serves as the central hub of your car. You can also add extra options like DAB digital radio and extended Nappa leather upholstery.
As you can see, you get a lot of car for your money when you get a Tesla Model S. The only downside is that it’s a vehicle aimed at the premium end of the market. So if you’re thinking of buy a luxury electric car on a budget, you might want to consider an alternative vehicle.
Earlier this year, Elon Musk announced his plan to build solar powered, fast charging stations across America, available to Tesla Model S owners to use for free. A lot of my colleagues were very excited about this prospective announcement. To me, it seems downright impossible: high fixed capital costs, and no revenue from the stations. Additionally, these charging stations aren’t even compatible with Tesla’s other model, the Roadster, and you can forget about cross manufacturer compatibility. Solar panels are not just plug and play either, they require maintenance and cleaning if you want them to perform up to their specified manufacturer standards of efficiency.
Even if the solar panels operate at optimal efficiency, the fast chargers will draw more power than the solar panels can produce at one time, so unless Tesla has on-site electricity storage, the company will have to buy electricity at a higher rate than they can sell back to the grid.
Another challenge is the fact that utilities will often charge a hefty “demand charge” per month because of the high load these chargers can put on the grid, says Arindam Maitra, a senior project manager at the Electric Power Research Institute. Fast charger owners will have to pay that fee even if no one uses the station. At least one DC fast-charging system charges $7 per charge, which is more expensive than buying gasoline for the equivalent range in a conventional car. –Technologyreview.com
Despite the economic pitfalls, Tesla charged on this year. They built 6 charging stations in SoCal and have already begun their electric corridor in the northeast. The station pictured at the top is in Milford, Conn. Whether anyone has actually used it for its purpose remains to be seen. These stations will charge between 4 to 6 cars and the initial capital investment ranges from $100,000 to $250,000 This could be a substantial financial liability for Tesla, which has already announced that it needs to raise more money to keep operating. When you think about the infinitesimal amount of people that actually own the Model S currently, and then they have to be driving on that specific route, the logic seems ridiculous. Yet they are still building charging stations, and they need to sell a lot more cars for this plan to be remotely logical or we will get another Solyndra ordeal. Project Better Place seems to be turning in a bad direction in the final quarter of 2012, asking for emergency funding from investors and laying off hundreds of employees.
Fast charging is a great idea in theory. You can drive a few hours, stop, have lunch or stretch your legs and browse a shop, then get back on the road. Existing rest stops and commercial centers will see the value in drawing electric vehicle owners to their area for 30 minutes. Drivers can plug their car in for free, and businesses can lure in generally higher income patrons that buy electric vehicles. There is a possible business model to building fast charging stations that provide free or cheap electricity. However, that is not Tesla’s business model. They hope to increase the value a very expensive car by creating a free charging infrastructure for one specific model.
I just don’t think this type of widespread endeavor can possibly work, given that only one luxury model is compatible, and given that Tesla will not receive revenue to sustain the service. Provide me one example of a capital intensive, widespread, exclusive, free service that has worked in America. But this is what Elon Musk does: he creates things before we appear to need it (PayPal, SpaceX). I would like to be proven wrong. So if Elon or anyone has a brilliant defense of the plan, please feel free to discuss in the comments
Sources:
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/429348/teslas-fast-chargers-could-be-a-financial-liability/
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/21/tesla-begins-east-cost-fast-charging-corridor/
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/429283/will-fast-charging-make-electric-vehicles-practical/
http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1081336_teslas-supercharger-fast-chargers-spread-to-east-coast
http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1079383_tesla-supercharger-fast-charging-system-has-landed
Since 2008, we have been covering the electric vehicle market, and things have certainly changed since then. Back in the day, an electric vehicle startup, Tesla Motors, perked international interest with the Tesla Roadster. Then dozens of concepts, specialized automakers, and eletrofitters rolled in. I remember when it was only the little guys like ZAP, Think, Tesla, Zenn, etc. We’ve seen exotic supercars and concepts like the Eliica, Aptera, and Lightning GT, and low speed, neighborhood electric vehicles like the BG-100 and REVA. Some came to fruition, some did not. This international attention garnered the interested of the major automakers like Ford, GM, Nissan, and Mitsubishi. These majors not only created concepts, but have begun delivering electric vehicles in mass. Here are a few fully charged, highway capable 2012 models for the masses that you can order for delivery right now. In the US, these all qualify for a $7,500 federal tax credit.
The 2012 Ford Focus EV is one of my favorites because, from the outside, you can’t even tell that it is an EV. The Ford Focus EV is built on the same glider as the third generation ICE model. The EPA rated its range at 76 miles per charge and a fuel economy of 105 MPG equivalent. Production began in December 2011, in Wayne, Michigan.
I had a chance to drive the first model of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV at the 2010 New York Auto Show. I preferred it too the Mini-E, because it had more natural coasting and braking, and the battery was tucked under the carriage instead of being jammed in the back hatch area. On the Japanese test cycle, the vehicle has a 100 mile charge, but the EPA, the harsh critics they are, rated it at merely 62 miles. Over 20,000 of these little buggies have been sold worldwide. Prices vary widely regionally and so do tax incentives. In the Japanese market, the i-Miev is only $23,000 after subsidies, in Europe and the US it’s about $30,000, and $50,000 in Australia.
I have already spotted a few 2012 Nissan Leafs in the wild already. Although, I don’t know why so many people choose the seemingly trademark, “blue ocean” color. The EPA rated this hatchback at 73 miles-per-charge. After tax incentives in the US, the price is solidly below $30k at $27,000. Nissan is claiming an increase in range and a pretty significant decrease in price in the next model year.
We are all still wrapping our heads around a company from Palo Alto, California won the Motor Trend Car of the Year with the 2012 Tesla Model S. Not Detroit, Japan, or Germany, but essentially a company founded by a guy who made his first millions from PayPal. The award really means something though: that technology, innovation, and thinking outside the box in the automotive world can really evolve the industry in ways not possible through traditional thinking. Motor Trend states the $50,000 supercar (after US tax credits) “smoothly effortless as a Rolls-Royce, can carry almost as much stuff as a Chevy Equinox, and is more efficient than a Toyota Prius.” This simply was not possible before.
Tesla has become world renown for their superior performance electric vehicles. The Roadster put them on the map as the first production electric car that was actually refined, cool, and exciting. The heir to the awesome electric car throne, the Model S, will finally be delivered in 2012. The Model S sedan is targeted at electric vehicle fans with funds and maybe a couple kids. Remarkably, the base model will remain under their original target price of $50,000, at $49,900 after the $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles purchased in or after 2010.
Tesla is providing a slew of classes and options for this electric sedan in hopes of capturing the absurdly rich and the upper middle class market share, so read closely. There are four classes of Model S: the Model S (plain, vanilla), the Model S Performance, the Model S Signature, and the Model S Signature Performance. On top of that, the plain Model S version has three, liquid cooled, lithium ion battery options, at 40, 60, and 85kWh. The other three classes (Performance, Signature, Signature Performance) all have the 85 kWh battery, standard, which pushes their ranges to a whopping 300 miles per charge. The 40 kWh option gives 160 miles and a 0-60 of 6.5 seconds, the 60 kWh battery puts out 230 miles and 5.9 seconds. The 85 Kwh pack gives you a 0-60 in 5.6. With the performance option that drops down to 4.4 seconds. The Signature label doesn’t necessarily enhance performance, but they are limited edition and available mid-2012, a few months earlier than the non-Signature class. They also carry about a $30,000-$50,000 premium over the base model.
All of the Model S classes will feature a 17-inch touch screen monitor which will contain media, GPS, and communications. The 200 watt stereo system will have radio, satellite radio, and USB ports. No CD player though, that’s so 20th century.
If you opt for the Signature series, you get the Tech Package standard, which includes xenon lights, keyless entry, LED foglamps, turn by turn navigation, power rear liftgate, back camera, rear USB ports, homelink, and electrochromatic side mirrors. A premium stereo system is also standard in the Signature class, and 1,000 bucks otherwise.
All Model S cars plug directly into 110 and 240 volt outlets with the Universal Mobile Connector and adapters. The High Power Wall Connector, which installs in your garage, enables cars equipped with Twin Chargers to charge twice as fast as cars equipped with a Single Charger. Cars equipped with a 60 or 85 kWh battery can use Tesla’s network of Supercharger stations.
Hope this helps clarify the many options and models of the Model S. For more information, visit Tesla’s Specifications page.
