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My source(s) is well placed in the company but I don't know any more than that.Originally Posted by Cobos
An total guess is that they need one for Europe. I also remember back in the day, that the engineering dept. and marketing were always fighting over who gets the Roadster prototypes any given week.
It would be a logical conclusion that it would be built with new ideas. Franz was making changes on the first prototype up to the last second the curtains opened.
Last edited by vfx; 12-26-2009 at 09:35 AM.
The world loves to be deceived.
OK... then at what cost does Tesla make an executive directive and move forward? Keep in mind that the Model S is creating the niche and not following.It would be a logical conclusion that it would be built with new ideas. Franz was making changes on the first prototype up to the last second the curtains opened.
It would seam to me that at this point Tesla is way behind schedule. From an engineering prospective there is always things to do behind the scene's and The only constant is change, so I would expect things to be changing until the day parts need to be ordered. It's that way in every engineering organization I have worked for.
What concern's me is that they have so few prototypes. To me that mean's they aren't even close to being ready for prime time in the next 2-3 years. I am concerned as to why there is no crash testing beta's or display car's being built. Have they even designed or selected a chassis? I know a production date can't be set in stone until a place to manufacture the cars has been selected but why on earth are you only building 1 new car! I would think that they are beyond the Alpha stage and should be producing a half dozen engineering prototypes? To me it all seams to say that cash is tight and they want to design the Model S on profit from the Roadsters. I fear that the sales of the Roadster will have a direct connection to the development of the model S. Look's like we will be waiting a whole lot longer for details on when deliveries will start.
Does the DoE money start coming through before the factory location is finalised?
I would not really worry about the Model S or lack of news. From the list of available engineering jobs, Tesla is clearly hiring and expanding their work force specifically for the Model S.
What sort of news are you expecting? There is nothing to reveal until something is set in stone. Develoment will likely be going on for all of 2010. They will only start determining the final details in 2011.
For cash flow reasons, they are only focused on selling the Tesla Roadster right now. That is the product they have available. They are not even trying to sell Model S reservations.
I was in Vegas at CES and took advantage of the Roadster Sport test drive. It's an amazing car and wish I was getting one.
Anyway, I asked the sales guy about the Model S and he seemed to indicate things were still on track. I also said some of the main features I wanted were keyless entry and start, solar panel to help keep car cool when parked and an iPhone app and he said these were all being planned. I hope that's accurate.
The sales guy said if things stay on schedule, the latest we would know what the options will be is March 2011 when production will be locked in.
Tesla Chairman lays out map to mass market - MarketWatch
Tesla Chairman and CEO Elon Musk showed off the Tesla S electric prototype in Detroit on Tuesday, saying he expects to launch the sedan within two and a half years with a price tag, after federal rebates, of just under $50,000.
Tesla drives roadster cross-country and sells 1,000th vehicle
Musk said the company is still pushing ahead with development of the Model S sedan. He noted it is still about 2.5 years away from dealer showrooms, but is on track with the company's original development schedule.
Last edited by dpeilow; 01-12-2010 at 11:43 AM.
two and a half years ... that's a long time for us to wait, but realistic.
I'm just hoping my old car holds out until then!
This seems like good news -- 2.5 years is the middle of 2012, when the backlog of pre-orders would be expected to be cleared out and Model S's could start showing up in showrooms.
This should also allay concerns about them not picking a location for the factory yet -- they'll need to have all of the production factors and material lined up before manufacturing starts, so they have some time before they need to pick the location. Once selected, and once they have everything else they need finalized, the process of putting the factory together to build the production version of the S should be relatively quick and should not cause them any delay. Delays, if they are to occur, would be in transforming the prototypes into production versions of the car that actually work!
2.5 years? So does that make the model a 2013 or 2014 model year car?He noted it is still about 2.5 years away from dealer showrooms
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