back to article Tesla 300-mile e-car UK debut set for 2013

CES 2012 Week The Model S – Tesla's new electric five-door family hatch – will arrive in the UK with the steering wheel in the correct place early in 2013. Tesla Model S family e-car Deliveries to US customers will begin in April 2012, but the first 12 months' production run of 5000 cars is already sold out, Tesla said. …

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  1. Tom_

    2103?

    I might see if anything more impressive beats it to market.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Would really help

    to have range @ speed calculations. Can it do 300miles @ 70mph or 300 miles @20mph, it can't be both.

    1. Chemist

      Well....

      If it's like the electric beetle (85kW electric motor and 28.3kWh lithium-ion battery pack.) if you could manage to drive it flat out it would last ~20mins.

  3. Modjo30
    FAIL

    Wow 2103 that's a long wait

    I would have hoped by 2103 we would be in flying cars

  4. Swedish Chef
    Pint

    Finally a realistic estimate...

    The article's title says "Debut set for 2103." It's easy to blame a typo but it's obviously just the first time that Tesla have given a realistic release date.

    Have a beer on me, realistic Tesla PR person.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Power requirements

      of 1.21 jiggawatts, it seems.

  5. Goldmember

    Decent looking motor

    Looks kind of like a cross between a modern Jag and Mondeo, with a Maserati-style front grille. Quite pretty, and seems like they're improving the range. Although with price translation what it is, I reckon you won't get much change out of £40k if you want an increased range when it arrives here, even with the government discount (if they haven't cut it by then).

    Also, surely those back boot seats are a safety concern? Looking at the shape of the boot, the heads of passengers sat in there look like they'd be VERY close to the back window, facing it. I wouldn't like to be driving round with kids sat there. They'd get a great view of any car rear-ending you.

  6. Sweeping Brush
    Happy

    Only 89 years to wait

    Tesla 300-mile e-car UK Debut set for 2103

    Excellent, by then we should be able to drive it using a direct brain to car interface

  7. GitMeMyShootinIrons

    Is it me but...

    ..does that massive touchscreen look like a massive eyesore? It might be a bit too geeky for its own good - wouldn't a *mere* 15" suffice?

  8. Is it me?

    Now all we need is...

    An electric car that's around the size and price of a Golf with the same sort of range, without any subsidy.

  9. Alex King
    Thumb Up

    Me likey

    Yes, there are some things that are wrong on this - I prefer controls that I don't have to look at as I drive along, and I wouldn't want to put anyone I particularly cared about in those rear-facers (though it's hardly a new idea).

    However, they've got the most important stuff right - it's practical, looks good without being self-consciously futuristic and - by far most importantly - has swappable batteries.

    I don't think a £40k price tag is too much of a problem either, if the fit and finish are up to snuff. A car of this size can wear this sort of price tag much more comfortably than the likes of the Leaf (Jag don't seem to struggle shifting XFs, for example), and it shouldn't suffer the murderous depreciation of a car with a fixed limited-life battery pack.

    The car I drive at the moment cost it's first owner over £65k (~$100k) when it was new, before I picked it up four years later for a third of that.

    IF they can hit their target dates and IF there's a feasible battery swapping infrastructure being set up, I could seriously see myself in one of these in 3-4 years time.

    Not perfect, but comfortably the best attempt I've seen at a pure EV so far.

    1. ChrisC Silver badge

      "I don't think a £40k price tag is too much of a problem either, if the fit and finish are up to snuff"

      And looking at the photos in this article, that's a fairly big if IMO. Aside from the in-yer-face visual impact of that touchscreen, the overall look of the interior doesn't sit quite right in my eyes - reminds me a bit of some other American cars that try to ape the European luxury manufacturers but despite using the same sort of materials and the same basic styling cues still end up just looking a bit cheap and a bit nasty. You mention Jaguar having no difficulty shifting XFs at that price tag, but I think if the XF cabin looked like this then things might well be different.

      Oh yes, and if that bright yellow/red industrial emergency stop button between the front seats isn't just there for prototyping/debugging purposes, then say goodbye to even more looks-driven sales.

      1. Alex King

        I don't disagree at all - the interior in the shots does look fairly shonky from the photos. I'm willing to believe that the show car is a pre-production prototype and this may be fixed, or that the photos are unflattering, until it's shown otherwise though.

        Having said that, the Americans have pretty poor form on interiors, so this may be what they're planning on putting into production. If so, they probably need to get someone in from VAG to rework it, sharpish.

        The more I think of it, the more that big screen seems daft. Surely conventional controls and gauges draw less juice?

    2. Jedit Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Swappable batteries

      A great idea, but it depends on how swappable they are, how expensive they are, and if they can be charged while not in the car. If the answers to these questions are "as easily as your mobile phone battery", "less than £1000" and "yes", then there would be a lot of mileage (excuse pun) in keeping a couple of spares charged at home and packing them into the car when you need to make extra-long trips.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    New measuremtns required

    As with cars you have the Urban cycle etc elec cars also should come with a range.

    The "Real world" measurement.

    At least 10% up & downhill

    25% start stop

    50% of jouney in rain, night and cold weather (so heaters, wipers and lights are on).

    As most motorists know its winter that tends to kill batteries on normal cars, so lets see the effect on leccy cars.

    That said, at least this is getting there.

    So how much for the "300" mile option?

    1. wiggers
      Coat

      In the 'Real World'...

      it'll go three and a half times round the Top Gear test track...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Solar

      Has no-one thought of putting a solar panel on the roof of these things? That would increase range a little bit, or maybe give you a tiny bit of "emergency" juice to get you round the corner to the charging station when you run out.

      Or is the cost prohibitive?

      1. Alan Firminger

        A sail would be better.

      2. Antony King
        Boffin

        A one square metre solar panel will give you roughly 100W if you park it in the sun. So to charge your 85KWh battery would take about a solid month of sunshine - ie, a whole year if you live in the UK :-) If you're lucky a full day of sunshine might get you to the end of the street, assuming that 17" panel doesn't draw more than 100W of course.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        LEAF

        The LEAF comes with a solar panel on the back spoiler as an optional extra. But that only gives 10W - just enough juice to charge the auxiliary 12V battery which powers the onboard computers and the lighting.

  11. Big_Boomer Silver badge

    Errrr, are they the same car?

    2013 Tesla, 2013 Mondeo.

    Separated at birth (or at least they will be).

    http://www.reghardware.com/2012/01/09/ford_unwraps_2013_mondeo_foundation_the_fusion/

    I know that modern cars are getting samey but this is ridiculous, or did Ford buy Tesla?

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Mushroom

    Until an electric car can get 500 miles before needing a charge...

    ...then be recharged in under 5 minutes...I'll be burning old dinosaurs.

    1. Alex King
      WTF?

      Well, this can be filled up with new batteries in less than five minutes, and has better range than either of my current dead-dinosaur cars, so I think you're being a little unfair. You really should be expecting to stop for a few minutes every 2-300 miles anyway for safety's sake or a pee...

      1. ItsNotMe
        Thumb Down

        "Well, this can be filled up with new batteries in less than five minutes..."

        Where? On EVERY road in the world where there are now petrol stations? And how much is it going to cost me? Probably more than a tankful costs now.

  13. Mouse_Nightshirt
    Facepalm

    All lovely, but that interior is absolutely horrid. It's like someone has vomited liquorish allsorts and moulded it into some kind of blocky mess.

  14. Sartori
    Mushroom

    How safe are these huge batteries?

    How many times have we seen truly scary video clips of laptop batteries turning into a fireball? Scale this up to the ones in these electric cars and I'm not sure I'd want to be paying a small fortune for what could be a WMD. I have no idea what safety is in place so it's a genuine question.

  15. Dave Mundt

    exactly right about the interior.

    Greeting and salutations....

    Not only do I think the 17" touch screen is both ugly and awkwardly placed, there is not a single cup-holder in sight! Impossible!

    pleasant dreams

    dave mundt

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