Tesla rolls out new sedan

[Niels Bohr 72]

• Story Highlights
• Tesla says manufacturing plant will be in California; hundreds of jobs possible
• The all-electric Model-S sedan will go for a base price of about $57,400
• Tesla's challenge: Will consumers pay that much for a car in recessionary times?
• The company hopes to make 20,000 Model-S sedans a year

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- While automakers lay off staff and shut down plants in response to the economic downturn, one automaker announced Thursday that it will open a manufacturing plant in the United States, potentially creating hundreds of jobs in the area eventually chosen.

Tesla Motors, maker of a high-end electric sports car, says it will build an all-electric sedan in Southern California.

Thursday's announcement was made in Hawthorne, California, where Tesla unveiled the Model-S sedan at a base price of $57,400. That's about half the price of its first model, the Roadster.

Started in 2003 and bankrolled by PayPal millionaire Elon Musk, Tesla has attracted investments from the Silicon Valley elite, among them Google founder Larry Page.

It is widely believed that the Model-S sedan will be built near the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation facility in Hawthorne. That aerospace company, more commonly known as SpaceX, was founded by Musk in 2002.

SpaceX recently won a NASA contract to deliver cargo to the international space station when the space shuttle program is retired next year. That contract, worth $1.6 billion, was won over such industry mainstays as Boeing and Lockheed.

The promise of a high-performance, all-electric vehicle became a reality with the startup's first model, the Tesla Roadster, a car with the look, speed and price tag -- a steep $109,000 and up -- that rivals other high-end, high-performance vehicles.

Recently though, the economic downturn has forced Tesla to delay production of their would-be flagship Model S until 2011. They've also had to lay off more than 80 workers, which is about 25 percent of the company's staff.

Nonetheless, Tesla predicts it will manufacture 20,000 Model-S vehicles a year. That would make it more of a mass-market vehicle than the Roadster; only 1,200 of which are produced yearly.

The company faces many challenges, the foremost of which is convincing consumers to pay almost $60,000 for an all-electric sedan when they could pay around half that for another brand of upmarket sedan or a gas-electric hybrid.

[mawilson 2,133]

Some photos:

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

Wooooow

[Amby 490]

I dunno...to me the look is kinda like a combo of a Jag from the front, a Lexus from the side, and the back of a Mercedes.

[SuperDuper! 230]

I dunno...to me the look is kinda like a combo of a Jag from the front, a Lexus from the side, and the back of a Mercedes.

I agree. They ripped off styling cues from well known cars, ending up with a car with an identity crisis and non-original looking.

Meanwhile, 600K Hybrid cars are gathering dust on inventory lots in the US.

"Hey Mike, Look at that cool car driving by!"

"Yea, I see it. Its a Lexus. No, wait, Itz a Jaguar. No, I'm sure it is a Mercedes."

Edited March 27, 2009 by itzallgood

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

First of all it looks more like a Maserati than a Lexus, Jaguar or Mercedes,

Edited March 27, 2009 by TävôLuDô

[Amby 490]

I must be blind, I really don't see it. The lines are way different. Maybe I need to put the pics next to each other instead of scrolling back and forth.

[HAL 9000 96]

How dare you tease me so with that Maserati...

[mawilson 2,133]

First of all it looks more like a Maserati than a Lexus, Jaguar or Mercedes,

I agree. I thought the same thing when I first saw it.

I must be blind, I really don't see it. The lines are way different. Maybe I need to put the pics next to each other instead of scrolling back and forth.

You are blind

[Amby 490]

I can't find the Lexus...I think I'm thinking of one of the GS300 or something.

I'm thinking front of Jag XK

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

I must be blind, I really don't see it. The lines are way different. Maybe I need to put the pics next to each other instead of scrolling back and forth.

Edited March 27, 2009 by TävôLuDô

[Amby 490]

First of all it looks more like a Maserati than a Lexus, Jaguar or Mercedes,

I agree. I thought the same thing when I first saw it.

I must be blind, I really don't see it. The lines are way different. Maybe I need to put the pics next to each other instead of scrolling back and forth.

You are blind

I agree...I put the pics next to each other and I am blind.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

If it's made in the US it must be junk. Only cars from Japan are good.

[Niels Bohr 72]

This car can achieve 160 miles per charge. A typical charge is about 4 hours long. I like this car based on the economy.

[mawilson 2,133]

First of all it looks more like a Maserati than a Lexus, Jaguar or Mercedes,

I agree. I thought the same thing when I first saw it.

I must be blind, I really don't see it. The lines are way different. Maybe I need to put the pics next to each other instead of scrolling back and forth.

You are blind

I agree...I put the pics next to each other and I am blind.

The two pictures that TaVo posted next to each other were of Tesla and Maserati.

They look virtually identical so you thought they were both Maserati.