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So I have been gone for a while and reading posts here every so often. I am wondering if someone could give me a quick update on any developments with the Model S.

Has there been a factory site identified ?

Has the loan been approved?

Has construction started?

Have they built a second prototype ?

Are they waiting for the factory to be completed before moving on to the second car ?

etc etc.....
 
Welcome back Kevin.
  • Factory sites narrowed down to two locations in CA: Downey & Long Beach (hence construction not started)
  • DOE $465 million in low-interest loans approved in June. $100 million of the total loan amount is to help set up manufacturing for battery packs, electric motors and other components.
  • From what we know at this point, there are only two prototypes - White and newly painted Red (formerly Silver). This does not include the dk. gray clay model.
Are they waiting for the factory to be completed before moving on to the second car ?
This is a good question, particularly if they are still on target for a Fall 2011 rollout of the Signature edition.
 
The red is a drivable prototype
White is referred to as an aero buck (not driveable)

The push appears to still be on Roadster and new Roadster Sport.

Must be some progress on Model S. We are just not aware of it. I reserved a Model S in October. Was told it would be ready Q1 2012!
 
WOW .... so nothing has really changes in the past 6 months ?!?!?!?!

Must be some progress on Model S. We are just not aware of it. I reserved a Model S in October. Was told it would be ready Q1 2012!

Well, they did said they withdrew from the auto x prize to work on the Model S.
Tesla Pulls Model S Out of Mainstream Automotive X Prize : TreeHugger

I'm hoping they have more done behind the scenes (it's hard to imagine the company just being idle for so long). I'm guessing the back and forth in selecting the factory is holding things back. Once they choose the location I think Tesla probably will update people on the progress.
 
Well it is never a good sign for little communication but its not like Chevy talks about the Volt everyday either.

Personally I think Telsa is waiting for battery and other technologies to jump ahead a little bit before they lock in stone the design and such.

Alo a plant to build it would help :)

Jim
 
"Well it is never a good sign for little communication but its not like Chevy talks about the Volt everyday either."

The Chevy Volt has been in development for years already. I don't recall GM being as open as they are now in the first year or so of developing the Volt. Besides, GM needs to publicize the Volt much as possible to salvage their image - something Tesla need not worry about.
 
Though I agree that Tesla has less reason to play up their image than GM, they are still a small manufacturer and getting the work started on the factory seems to be pretty urgent considering that within less than 24 months they should have Signature Model S in the hands of their customers. Hopefully the Detroit Auto show will give some more information?

Cobos
 
VFX do you care to share your source ? Will it be closer to production spec or stilll based on the same platform as the grey/red one?

Cobos

My source(s) is well placed in the company but I don't know any more than that.

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.
 
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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. :mad:

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.:confused:
 
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.
 
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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!