Tesla states that they will start delivering the first Model S cars in the Summer of 2012, somewhere end of June, beginning of Juli.
On the official Tesla forum I found this thread: Projected Delivery Dates | Forums | Tesla Motors
A lot of speculation is going on there
Ok, that is just the point of one person, but I have a theory:
Tesla is a new company, they did a great job with the Roadster, but the Model S is survive or die for them. They have shareholders which they have to satisfy, so if they don't make the promised delivery dates, those shareholders will be pissed off.
They want to produce 5000 cars in 2012, let's say they start at May 1st and produce 5 days a week. From May 1st until December 31st you are looking to somewhere around 150 working days. That would be 33 cars per day.
Production will slowly ramp up, starting with maybe 10 cars per day. 10 cars per day, that is 10 x $80,000 (Signature!) per day. Every day Tesla starts their production earlier they make $800,000. That would make shareholders happy and could give a boost to their value.
This is pure speculation, but my idea is that they will start earlier than they are announcing, but they want to have some margin in case something goes wrong. Delays are expensive here.
Again, I know, pure speculation, but hey, we have some time to kill, don't we?
On the official Tesla forum I found this thread: Projected Delivery Dates | Forums | Tesla Motors
A lot of speculation is going on there
michiganmodels | August 19, 2011
"I am Signature Reservation 249.
My Tesla rep said I can anticipate delivery by mid to late April 2012."
Ok, that is just the point of one person, but I have a theory:
Tesla is a new company, they did a great job with the Roadster, but the Model S is survive or die for them. They have shareholders which they have to satisfy, so if they don't make the promised delivery dates, those shareholders will be pissed off.
They want to produce 5000 cars in 2012, let's say they start at May 1st and produce 5 days a week. From May 1st until December 31st you are looking to somewhere around 150 working days. That would be 33 cars per day.
Production will slowly ramp up, starting with maybe 10 cars per day. 10 cars per day, that is 10 x $80,000 (Signature!) per day. Every day Tesla starts their production earlier they make $800,000. That would make shareholders happy and could give a boost to their value.
This is pure speculation, but my idea is that they will start earlier than they are announcing, but they want to have some margin in case something goes wrong. Delays are expensive here.
Again, I know, pure speculation, but hey, we have some time to kill, don't we?