doug

I don't think it's necessarily harder, but given the expense of the batteries and the increased weight of a 4 door sedan over the Roadster, it's probably difficult to get a good balance between range and cost.

Hunter

Kardax and doug, sure, I follow the expense and range problem. But it's a problem whose solution lies in parts of the vehicle that both models (EV and REEV) will share anyway. They are still designing the REEV to be as efficient as they can make it while keeping expenses down. So they have to do the hard parts of the EV even if they don't make one. So at that point, even if your goal is just to build an REEV, you don't lose anything by leaving the ICE parts out of some of them and putting in as many batteries as the customer will pay for. And since you get to do that without all the fancy ICE development, you might as well do it first while you get the other one ready.

That was the read of things I got from hearing that the BEV would come sooner, and that the intention was to release at least two models with wide price differences. I kind of figured the BEV would come first and cost $20k more, with the REEV being the more mass-market option once the ICE dev was done and the costs had crept down a bit more. I suppose time will tell...

Cobos

I'm hoping they will announce in reality 3 cars. A medium range BEV, a long range BEV and a "unlimited" range REEV. That way you can get a pretty short range "cheap" model and more expensive version more in line with their Roadster target of 200+ miles range. I'm pretty sure a 100miles range BEV would be me fine and I wouldn't be able to afford anything from Tesla with a longer range in the near future at least... That way the shorter range version could use some cheaper and heavier materials to cut costs perhaps.

Cobos

doug

Yeah, I think the plan is to come out with the BEV version first. Sorry if my last post repeated Kardax. I hadn't seen his when I left mine.

doug

Actually, IIRC, before all this REEV talk, the original Whitestar plan was to have two different trim levels differentiated primarily on range. I'd also like it if they honored that original plan by offering 3 versions of the car.


I would guess to keep manufacturing simple, the majority of the materials would be the same between versions of the car. Most of the price difference would be from the size of the battery pack. It would be nice if they came up with a modular design, such that a car delivered in one version could be easily converted/upgraded in the future.

vfx

I too think the 3 version idea is a good one.

The inexpensive one would be a total stripped down version (like a Blue Star tease). It would sell to the hardcore green buyers and those who know that they realistically only need 40 or so miles a day.

Mercedes is doing it

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Cobos

My ideal low-end Whitestar is not a stripped down version. It should be able to get most of the same "features" as the more expensive version, and hopefully a bit more range than 40 miles. 70 miles would be enough for me I beleive. Then mostly any driving I would realisticly do I would need to recharge at my destination but otherwise it would work fine. They are selling a luxury sedan after all, that's kind of the big selling point IMHO anyway.
Anyway I'm glad there are more people like me that want 3 versions of the Whitestar, then it's more likely Tesla will have thought of this as well.

Cobos

Kardax

I can't see Tesla doing a 40-mile range car. Ever. For Tesla, it leaves practically no margin for profit, and for the customer, it leaves practically no margin for error, especially as the battery ages.

My advice for someone who can't afford a new 200-mile (or whatever) WhiteStar, simply wait a couple years and get a used version for half price, that still has 150+ miles of range.

-Ryan

doug

Someone with better internet research skills than I may be able to find it, but I think the proposed ranges for the two Whitestar trim levels were something like 150 and 250 miles. Again this was long before the Volt concept was unveiled and before Tesla started hinting at a REEV solution.

vfx

" I think the proposed ranges for the two Whitestar trim levels were something like 150 and 250 miles."

Well then 40 does seem a bit low. 75 (half of 150) seems like a good low end distance for the number 3 car.

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The world loves to be deceived.