Tesla Model S News

  • 2012 Tesla Model S body-in-white

    Colin Chapman is remembered for many things in the automotive world, but if there's one thing auto journalists have to thank him for, it's an endless stream of column inches dedicated to the weight of cars. All the calls for lighter vehicles aren't based solely on theory, but a back-catalog of light-weight sports cars that did a great deal with very little. It's no different these days, only weight is now the enemy of fuel efficiency. Or battery efficiency, if you're Tesla. The 2012 Tesla Model S may seem portly at up to 4,600 pounds with the largest 85 kWh battery pack, but were it not made...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S
    2012 Tesla Model S To Get One-Hour Recharging Next Year?

    With at least a dozen 2012 Tesla Model S all-electric sport sedans now in the hands of buyers--and, Tesla says, 5,000 more to follow by the end of the year--attention is likely to turn to the car's real-world range. The high-end Model S that makes up the bulk of early production is rated by the EPA...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S Signature
    2012 Tesla Model S Tests: 1 Hour Or Less Is Not A Review

    Following its launch of the 2012 Tesla Model S, the Silicon Valley startup is now giving test drives to depositors who've put down $5,000--or more--for the all-electric luxury sport sedan. What Tesla hasn't done, as far as we're aware, is to provide Model S cars to automotive media outlets for...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
    How Much Space IS There Inside A 2012 Tesla Model S Anyway?

    It can be hard to work out which cars the 2012 Tesla Model S electric sport sedan competes with. Would it be largest German luxury sedans, which it roughly matches in price with the longest (265-mile) range and the introductory limited-edition Signature Series models? If so, those would be the...

  • 'Revenge of the Electric Car' premiere: Elon Musk arrives in a Tesla Roadster
    Elon Musk Wins His 2012 Tesla Model S Bet, Dan Neil Pays Up

    It may be that no one has been happier to lose a bet and write a check for $1,000 than Wall Street Journal auto writer Dan Neil. The bet he always said he wanted to lose was over the date Tesla Motors would deliver its first production 2012 Model S electric cars to paying customers--which it did at...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
    Why Is Tesla Scared To Release Its Electric-Car Sales Data?

    Frankly, we understand why Fisker Automotive and Coda Automotive might not want to release their sales data. Both companies have struggled mightily with delayed rollouts of their first plug-in electric cars. But Tesla Motors just nailed its promised late-June first delivery date for the Model S...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S Signature

    Normally, when a new car launches, it takes a few weeks before owners start posting their own thoughts and ownership experiences online. But although official deliveries of the 2012 Tesla Model S Sedan started less than a week ago, it hasn’t taken long for Model S owners to evangelize online about their new cars. Take Model S recipient and venture capitalist Konstatin Othmer, who posted a video yesterday listing the 10 things he loves the best about his new $97,900 2012 Tesla Model S Signature Performance Sedan. The resulting YouTube video, as you might expect, has the feel of a nicely...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
    So How Many 2012 Model S Electric Cars Can Tesla Really Sell?

    The 2012 Tesla Model S has launched, short drive reviews are coming in, and new owners are taking delivery every day. So what's next for Tesla? We know what the company plans to launch for its future vehicles--the 2014 Model X crossover, a Roadster replacement, and down the road, a smaller, less...

  • GigaOm's Katie Fehrenbacher behind the wheel of a 2012 Tesla Model S (video screen capture)
    2012 Tesla Model S All-Electric Sedan: Drive Reviews Roundup

    On Friday, Tesla Motors delivered its first production Model S electric sedans to retail customers, an event the company webcast live. Watch the 26-0minute video above if you want to relive the glorious event. While Green Car Reports wasn't there, we've watched the deluge of coverage and read the...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S Signature
    Tesla CEO Elon Musk: Half Of New Cars Will Be Electric In 15-20 Years

    Last time Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk made a bet, with journalist Dan Neil about several aspects of the Model S, he won it. That same confidence and ambition has now led him to make another--that by the late 2020s, more than half of all new vehicles being manufactured will be electric. If you're...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S Signature
    2012 Tesla Model S Electric-Car Deliveries To Start Today

    They said it couldn't be done, but it looks like Tesla Motors has indeed pulled it off. If all goes to plan, at 3:30 pm Pacific today, CEO Elon Musk and other Tesla executives will hand over the keys of a new 2012 Tesla Model S to the first retail buyer to take delivery of the all-electric luxury...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S display screen [Photo: Flickr user jurvetson]
    What's On A 2012 Tesla Model S Screen Display? First Owner Shows His

    While the first official 2012 Tesla Model S deliveries start tomorrow, a few individuals have been lucky enough to get theirs early. One, perhaps unsurprisingly, is Elon Musk. The other, and owner of Model S number one off the production line, is Tesla board member and venture capitalist Steve...

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

    Friday will be a big day for startup electric carmaker Tesla Motors. On that day, it will deliver its first 2012 Model S luxury sport sedans to retail customers in a big webcast event at its Fremont, California, assembly plant. But a couple of days beforehand, the EPA has issued the eagerly awaited range and efficiency numbers for the high-end Model S version with the 85-kilowatt-hour battery pack. The car has a rated range of 265 miles, and an efficiency of 89 miles-per-gallon-equivalent, a measure based on the distance the car can travel on the amount of energy contained in one gallon of...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S
    2012 Tesla Model S: 'Opportunity Console' Details Revealed

    If you've ever climbed into a car and struggled to find a place to put that one item you like to carry around, then Tesla might have the solution for you. Tesla Motors has announced details of its 'Opportunity Console', a new concept for the console between the front seats that will allow owners to...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S Get Amped Tour
    Tesla Plans 5,000 Model S 'Test Drives' In 45 Days, Starting June 23

    This morning we told you about Tesla investor Steve Jurvetson, who, alongside Tesla CEO Elon Musk, became the first two official owners of a 2012 Tesla Model S. Up to this point, Tesla has been particularly guarded about giving test-drives of its all-electric sedan, with the only experiences to...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
    First 2012 Tesla Model S Delivered To Earliest Depositor Steve Jurvetson (Video)

    Deliveries of the 2012 Tesla Model S electric sedan will officially begin on June 22. But the very first production Model S off the line has already been handed over to its new owner. It went to none other than venture capitalist and Tesla board member Steve Jurvetson, who is now driving it around...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S
    Want A 2013 Tesla Model S Signature Edition? Too Late, They're All Gone

    If you were hoping to get your name down for one of the exclusive 2013 Tesla Model S Signature Editions, you've now left it a little too late. According to Tesla, the company has sold every one of the initial run of cars, all of which are packed to the roof with equipment, use the larger 85 kWh...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S prototype
    Buy Luxury House, Get Low Tesla Model S Reservation Number!

    Less than 30 days hence, the first 2012 Tesla Model S sedans will be delivered to paying customers. Now, one Model S buyer who holds a low reservation number for the all-electric luxury car is using it as a lure to sell a million-dollar home in an upscale Illinois suburb. Not only has the home...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S body-in-white

    Tesla Motors has released the first installment in its series of "Inside Tesla" articles, whetting the world's appetite in the run-up to the first 2012 Model S deliveries in only 22 days time. Tesla's George Blankenship shares some insights into the Model S production process, the first aspect of which is stamping. The Model S is one of an increasing number of cars using aluminum to reduce vehicle weight. As we all know, excess weight is detrimental to multiple aspects of a car, and in an electric vehicle it's even more critical, off-setting the extra weight of large battery packs. A large...

  • 2012 Nissan Leaf electric car - net pricing shown on Nissan website
    Electric-Car Prices: Tesla, Nissan, Chevy Should Be Ashamed--Here's Why

    Always read the fine print. That's a lesson every car buyer should take to heart. Especially since Nissan, Chevrolet, Tesla, and Mitsubishi all now engage in a pricing practice of which they should be ashamed. It's so-called "net pricing" of their electric cars, in which the price appearing in...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
    2012 Tesla Model S Deliveries To Start June 22

    It’s official: in one month, Tesla will deliver its first 2012 Model S electric sedan to customers in the U.S., webcasting the whole ceremony live on the Internet. A few weeks ahead of schedule, Tesla’s engineering team have been working hard to ensure that production is up to speed at...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S
    2012 Tesla Model S: Coming In June, Projected 250-300 Miles At Highway Speeds

    Tesla motors has announced that it is on schedule to deliver the first examples of its Model S electric sedan by June. The company is also set to use all of its $465 million Department of Energy loan within the next six months, though Elon Musk says Tesla is still on target to turn a profit in...

  • Tesla Model S Alpha build
    2012 Tesla Model S Factory Secret: Bargain Price, Ikea Furniture

    If you ever studied business at school or college, one of the first things you probably learned is about profit and loss. In order to maximize your profits--and avoid making a loss--your aim is to maximize revenue while minimizing costs. Someone at Tesla Motors was paying attention in class, as its...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
    2012 Tesla Model S Winter Testing Video Mashup Released

    Over the past few years, it’s become almost customary for Californian automaker Tesla to release regular videos detailing the final developmental and testing stages of its 2012 Model S Sedan. So far, we’ve seen pretty videos of it moving under its own power, and even a trio test-track...

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