AUTOS AND VEHICLES

2012 Tesla Model S Revie and Pricing

Its only the second act from Silicon Valleys only automaker, but the recently revealed 2012 Tesla Model S is generating more buzz than even the slick battery-powered Tesla Roadster. Unlike many pure electric vehicles (EVs) that resemble glorified golf carts and run out of juice after a few miles, the Model S is a midsize luxury sedan that can carry five to seven passengers at least 160 miles on a charge and will blast 0-60 mph in a claimed 5.6 seconds. You can recharge it in as little as 45 minutes, or swap out its advanced lithium-ion (LI) battery pack in just five. And of course, it emits not a whiff of planet-warming carbon dioxide or any other gases.

Moreover, the 2012 Tesla Model S is a looker. Some liken the styling, penned by former Mazda designer Fritz van Holzhausen, to Jaguar XF-meets-Maserati Quattroporte. Yet the sleek lines disguise a practical hatchback design with a 60/40 split-fold rear seat and enough claimed total cargo volume to tote a surfboard, a 50-inch flat-panel TV and a mountain bike all at once. Theres also a separate trunk under the hood, where an engine would normally be, reflecting the compact electric drivetrain with batteries tucked beneath the seats.

All very impressive, but is the 2012 Tesla Model S too good to be true? Well, the price is rather steep at $56,400, though a $7500 "green car" federal tax credit trims that to $49,900. More crucially, production is over two years away and depends on--you guessed it--federal funding. Shades of Chrysler LLC and General Motors. Yet despite the deepening recession, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is confident that Washington will approve at least one of his companys pending loan applications: A $250 million grant under a 2005 clean-energy appropriation and a separate $450 million request from a 2007 authorization for EV ventures.
However that plays out, Musk declares the Model S "will be manufactured, it will come to market. You should have zero doubt about that." Assuming the feds come through with fair dispatch, production should be underway as planned by the third quarter of 2011, with initial deliveries slated for early 2012.

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