tesla blue star

[Hells]

Yes, the quote may have included the rebate, but he has previously said he wanted bluetar to be a car for the masses and pricing between "$20k-30k. I really doubt he will be able to sell the volume required if it's above 30k

[Tempus]

i still think it's about educating the masses about what that 30k really means. Heck, just do the exercise of taking a 30k car with monthly payments over 5 years, and ZERO gas bill, and compare it to a 20k car with 2k a year of gas... seems pretty straightforward to me. And you could do that at any price point.

[NigelM]

I don't think it is supposed to necessarily make a difference for the consumer. It's meant to offset battery cost.

Then cut out all the bureaucracy and give the money straight to the company that makes the EV....

[Norbert]

Then cut out all the bureaucracy and give the money straight to the company that makes the EV....

Sounds much more practical to me... I don't know why the Bush administration made it a tax credit for the buyer. But the amount is more or less proportional to battery size, it just has a ceiling at $7.5k for 16 kWh. If they increase it to $10k, I'd say that should be for batteries > 16 kWh only.

[Norbert]

Originally the statement was third " $30,00 car". That makes it more hopeful that "$30,000 range" is lower rather than higher. The leaf shocked everyone with it's pricing. The Mitsubishi I had to match. More units will also bring the price down and the batteries will get cheaper. $32,995.

Don't forget that the Leaf doesn't make profit (yet)(as far as we know).

[Doug_G]

I don't know why the Bush administration made it a tax credit for the buyer.

Probably because politicians usually want new taxes to be invisible and new tax credits to be very visible...

[Norbert]

Probably because politicians usually want new taxes to be invisible and new tax credits to be very visible...

Maybe currently they want both to be invisible.

[Grendal]

Just to reiterate, 200k volume is "blockbuster" volume. Lots of things have to go right to get to that volume. I can only assume talk of 200k or half a million by 2016 is just bluster from Elon - not a serious business plan.

I'd agree with this. 200K, while possible, is overextending a lot for a new car company. I'd feel a lot more comfortable if the target number for the Bluestar was 80-120K. Which is quadrupling the scale/sales for the Model S.