A Tesla In Your Future?

[IDemo]

PayPal's cofounder hopes to produce a practical $30,000 all-electric car in four years.

By Fareed Zakaria
NEWSWEEK
Jul 21, 2008 Issue

The electric car has been pronounced dead many times, but Elon Musk is out to resurrect it. The South African-born Musk left home at age 17 for North America and made a fortune when PayPal, a company he cofounded, was sold to eBay in 2002. One of his new companies—he's chairman of three start-ups—is Tesla Motors, a San Carlos, Calif.-based electric-car manufacturer. Its first model, the Tesla Roadster, is a sleek, high-end sports car with an eyepopping price tag. It'll start rolling onto streets this summer. NEWSWEEK's Fareed Zakaria spoke to Musk about the future of transportation in an oil-constrained world. Excerpts:

Zakaria: What's your goal in producing the Tesla Roadster?
Musk: This car itself is not going to change the world—it's a $100,000 sports car being produced in quantities of about 1,800 a year. Where it really becomes meaningful is when we produce the next models, which will be lower-cost and higher-volume. Our second product is a sedan that is about half the price and will be produced in late 2010 in 20,000 units a year.

And your third model will be even cheaper.
Yes. As a rough rule of thumb, when you increase the production quantity by a factor of 10, you can reduce the price by a factor of two. In the early 20th century, cars were initially something for wealthy people. It took quite some time for the cost to be optimized and become accessible to a broader population. It's the same thing here—we'll see the traditional technology learning curve. We're trying to push it as fast as we possibly can, and we think we could either directly or in partnership with a major auto company actually get to a car that is under $30,000 in four years.

Your car runs exclusively on electricity, but GM and Toyota are working on so-called plug-in hybrids, which also feature a gas tank to extend the range. Why didn't you do the same?
We spent a lot of time last year looking at plug-in hybrids and ultimately concluded that it would not be a very good car. You're forced to compromise. Because you need both a gasoline-powered engine and a big battery, neither can be very good, and the engine will be a weak engine. It's just not where the future lies. We'll be able to offer a car with a 305-mile range roughly three years from now.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/145876

[sui generis]

1. I think we all have Fred Flintstone-mobiles in our future.

yabba dabba dooooo!

[Shine]

2. I'd certainly consider it.

$30K ain't too bad, considering the savings on gas...which will only go UP.

[Xenotime]

3. These cars should really hold their value.

[TlalocW]

4. Yikes, I have issues with paying over 15K for a car.

There better be some damn good payment plans with that thing.

TlalocW

[cabbage08]

5. I would consider buying one for 30K or less n/t

[madokie]

6. We would too and we are not big gasoline users

kinda love our world though

[MindPilot]

7. What a difference a year makes

I recall posting about this over a year ago and being harshly criticized for it. The car was ridiculed for being everything from a silly idea that could never be commercially viable to nothing more than a rich boy's toy.

In fact the negative reaction to it here so disturbed me I had to take a DU time out. My, how things have changed.

[Juche]

8. Its good but

Andrew Frank, professor at UC Davis, claims to have finished a kit that can convert any car into a plug in hybrid for $10,000. With more technology and better production, maybe the cost will go down to $5,000 or so.

http://www.thegreenmotorist.com/index.php/professor-creates-hybrid-conversion-kit/

Keep in mind the energy equivalent of a gallon of gas is about 70-80 cents, so you are saving $3.20 or so for roughly every 30 miles you drive.

Poulson hybrid claims for $5,000 they will be able to convert a car into a hybrid that has the electric motor take over at cruising speeds.

http://www.poulsenhybrid.com/

[IDemo]

9. The Poulsen Hybrid kit looks like a great deal

Definitely something to look into for anyone not ready to pay for a new hybrid or EV.