本帖最後由 letsrock 於 2012-3-29 07:46 編輯
FRom WSJ
Jerome Guillen wants to gun a prototype Tesla Model S up a steep, twisty road on the outskirts of Silicon Valley, but a Porsche blocks his way.
Once Mr. Guillen, the Tesla Motors Ltd. manager in charge of readying the Model S for launch by July, gets some running room, he hits the electric car's accelerator. With only a soft rumble from the tires, the Tesla lunges up the steep curving road as effortlessly as any petroleum-fueled German machine.
The Tesla Model S and a Porsche 911 represent opposite poles of the automotive universe. The 911 is the peak of internal-combustion sports cars. The engine growls. The dashboard dials dance as the gears shift.
The Model S is something else.
The dashboard is dominated by a vertically oriented, 17", high-definition screen—an iPad on steroids. Mr. Guillen says drivers will be able to download apps and news with a mobile link, and the exterior is sleek and aerodynamic, with narrow headlights and a glass, "panorama" roof.
The prototype's interior is trimmed in a subdued, dark lacewood. There is room to comfortably seat as many as five adults, plus two small children in optional rear-facing jump seats. Rear legroom is surprisingly ample, since the electric motors are mounted behind the rear axle and the 1,000-pound battery is merged flat into the floor. And with no engine noise, the Model S rolls with a quiet coolness.
But a Porsche and a Tesla Model S are alike in one important way. They are both luxury cars, priced well above most of the cars sold by mass-market brands such as Chevrolet, Ford or Toyota.
The goal of making an affordable electric car is one rationale for the Obama administration's 2009 decision to grant Tesla a $465 million federal loan. The co-founder and chief executive of Tesla, Elon Musk, says he still intends to make a car he can sell for $30,000—close to the average price of a new car today.
The Model S isn't that car.
Instead, the Model S, ranging in price from a $49,900 base model (after a $7,500 federal tax credit), to a $97,900 "Signature Performance" model, extends Mr. Musk's bet that the best way to make electric cars a mainstream product is to follow the path taken by cellphones, video recorders and computers: Start by selling expensive gear to enthusiasts, and get them to finance the breakthroughs that make the technology affordable for the masses.
An affluent audience appears to be taking Tesla up on the first part of that formula. Tesla said in its annual report that it held more than $90 million in deposits for Model S sedans, and $1.8 million in deposits for Roadsters as of the end of 2011. The total amount of deposits was up $61 million from a year earlier, the company said.
It got its Fremont, Calif. factory for cheap from a failed joint venture between General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp., and It stocked it with production equipment bought for pennies on the dollar from industry fire sales during the recession. It is now turning out "Beta" versions of the Model S and executives last week said the July launch is on schedule.
Mr. Musk says production is sold out through March 2013.
One of those with a deposit down—two, in fact—is Marcus Frasier, CEO of Idle Media Inc. of Leesport, Pa., a company that owns several online-music and social-gaming franchises.
Mr. Frasier says he and his wife own a trio of Audis: an A6 sedan, a Q5 sport utility and an R8 sports car. But he is attracted to the idea of freeing himself from fossil fuels, and to the high-tech style of the Model S and the recently announced Tesla Model X sport utility, due on the market late next year or early 2014. Mr. Frasier says he put down $40,000 deposits to get one of each.
"The big thing for me was the performance and the technology in it," Mr. Frasier says. "You hand me a car with a big old iPad in it, I am all over it."
Larry Chanin, a retired utility-company engineering manager who lives in Sarasota, Fla., says he had a deposit down on a Chevy Volt, when: "I discovered the Model S and it was instant lust." When Tesla brought a prototype to the Sarasota Yacht Club, he put down a $5,000 deposit. That smaller deposit means he'll be behind "signature" customers and owners of Tesla's earlier Roadster in line. Mr. Chanin says he is trying to form a Florida Tesla owners club.
The electric-vehicle cause, supported with billions of dollars in federal loans, tax subsidies and other forms of public aid, has suffered tough hits in recent weeks. GM last week shut down production of its plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt for five weeks after sales fell far short of expectations, despite rising fuel prices. The Volt also got a black eye when federal safety regulators raised alarms that the car's batteries could catch fire—concerns GM addressed by installing additional protection.
Nissan Motor Co. sold on average just 577 in each of the first two months of the year of its all-electric Leaf. And Fisker Automotive Inc., maker of the luxury plug-in hybrid Karma, has suffered a series of blows, such as being denied further funding under a Department of Energy loan after falling behind schedule in its effort to develop a U.S.-made sedan that would compete with the Model S. A Fisker spokesman says the company has raised $262 million toward a $400 million goal and expects to close it by month's end.
Tesla has had troubles of its own, catching a volley of flak last month over charges that it failed to properly warn some early Roadster customers that their cars' batteries would die—or "brick"—if left uncharged too long.
"It's a complete red herring," Tesla Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel says of the battery "bricking" flap. He says the Model S is designed "so you can drive it until it stops, and then you can wait a month to plug it in." If customers allow, Tesla has systems to enable remote monitoring of the battery so service technicians could alert the owner if the car is in danger.
Mr. Musk said on a recent conference call that the company is working to set up leasing and financing programs to make Teslas easier to own. He is also working on a plan to install fast chargers along major highways.
In Tesla's factory, presses and molding machines and welding robots are still in testing mode. To save money, manufacturing vice president Gilbert Passin says, Tesla programs its robots to do multiple jobs, and uses low-tech solutions, such as red push carts to move car bodies instead of conveyor belts.
Keeping the factory frugal is one way in which Tesla hopes to survive even if sales volumes remain relatively low. Another is doing high-tech engineering work for larger auto makers such as Daimler AG or Toyota. Porsche uses a similar strategy.
"It's pretty cool driving with no tailpipe," says J. Craig Venter, the biotechnology entrepreneur and a Roadster owner. Mr. Venter says he is in line for a Model S because he wants an electric car he can drive from his institute's campus in San Diego to Los Angeles, and bring some other people along. The Model S will join a collection that includes some motorcycles and a 2006 Aston Martin convertible, Mr. Venter says.
The Aston "doesn't get great gas mileage," he says. But "it sounds great." |
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