How would you like to zip from Los Angeles to San Francisco in less than 30 minutes, on the cheap and on your own schedule? Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk says it can be done, and he’s going to tell us how next month. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Space.com
By Rich Smith
Is solar power “the fuel of the future”? Elon Musk thinks so.
The co-inventor of PayPal, now turned alternative energy rock star, has built two companies — solar power utility SolarCity (SCTY) and electric car company Tesla (TSLA) — around the idea that solar-generated electricity is the way to power our cars and save our environment. He’s also working on a third company — SpaceX — which aims to bring mankind a bit closer to that ultimate clean-energy source, the sun.
But is solar power truly the solution to our energy needs? Not necessarily.
“Free” Power Can Be Awfully Expensive
Last month, alternative energy analyst Gordon Johnson at Axiom Capital crunched the latest numbers out of the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and published a report on his findings.
The upshot: When it comes to “alternative” ways to generate electricity, solar energy is just about the most expensive form of energy you can get.
Calculating the cost of generating a kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity by tallying the cost of building a facility, operating it, and paying for the fuel it consumes — then amortizing all this across all the electricity it’s expected to produce in its lifetime — Johnson points out that solar photovoltaic power costs about $0.22 per kWh. Solar thermal power, where sunbeams are reflected and concentrated on a heat-retaining medium such as salt or graphite to store heat for later use in generating electricity, costs even more — about $0.32 per kWh.
What forms of energy are cheaper than these? Pretty much any that you might think of.
Motley Fool contributor Rich Smith does not own shares of any solar or electric car company named above. (Go figure.) But The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Tesla Motors.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Micheline Maynard, Contributor
Fearful that his car company is being left behind in innovation, Bloomberg News says General Motors’ CEO Dan Akerson has assigned a team to study Tesla Motors, the electric car company launched by billionaire Elon Musk. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
The techno geeks are buzzing about Tesla founder Elon’s Musk’s plan for a hyperloop between Los Angles and San Francisco. Sample designs …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
Filed under: Facebook, Earnings, General Motors, Market News
Caterpillar misses, and Boeing gears up for a re-launch.
The major averages last week suffered their biggest losses since last June. The Dow Industrials and the S&P 500 both fell 2.1 percent, and the Nasdaq dropped 2.7 percent.
But Barron’s annual survey of money managers shows record levels of bullishness, despite ongoing concerns about the European financial crisis and Fed policy. The poll indicates the Dow could hit 16,000 by the middle of next year.
Quarterly earnings are set to dominate the action again this week, and there has to be some concern with the numbers from one bellwether company: Caterpillar’s (CAT) profit and sales came in short of expectations. It also forecast that sales for the full year will be below target levels, because of slow growth in the world economy.
Hasbro’s (HAS) operating net and sales both topped expectations. The company pointed to strong sales of games, as well as toys intended for girls.
After the close, we’ll hear from chip-maker Texas Instruments (TXN) and from Netflix (NFLX).
Boeing (BA) is installing its re-designed battery packs on its troubled 787 Dreamliner today. It could start carrying passengers again next month after the FAA late on Friday approved the new battery system. The worldwide fleet of 787s was grounded in mid-January.
A trial starts today in a trademark infringement case against Facebook (FB). A company named Timelines sued Facebook back in 2011 after the social-networking giant introduced the timeline feature on its user pages.
General Motors (GM) says it will build four new manufacturing plants in China over the next three years. The goal is to increase production capacity to 5 million units a year.
Ameriprise Financial (AMP) is reportedly preparing a bid for the asset management unit of Lloyd’s Banking of the U.K. According to the Sunday Times the bid could be valued at $1.2 billion dollars.
And Orbital Sciences (ORB) sent a rocket on its first test flight last night. The company is competing with a firm owned by Elon Musk to take cargo to the International Space Station.
%Gallery-185699%
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/on/caterpillar-profit-sales-earnings-stock-market/
Don Yeomans and Elon Musk made Time Magazine‘s list of the most influential people this year.
From: http://www.space.com/20721-elon-musk-don-yeomans-time-100.html
By Danny King
Filed under:
Fear not, Tesla drivers. When you take your Model S into the shop and need a loaner car, you’ll get… another Model S.
Tesla chief Elon Musk tells USA Today that the all-electric vehicle maker will set aside about 80 Model S vehicles specifically for customers who need to take their cars in for some work. And wait, there’s more. Not only will Tesla make sure the loaners are the top-of-the-line, 265-mile single-charge range variety, but the company will even have Tesla folks bring them to customers’ homes or offices to eliminate the need for the dreaded drive to the shop. Musk credits Lexus with the idea of making sure customers don’t have to downgrade when they take their cars to the dealer garage. Considering you’re paying $600 a year for Tesla’s service plan, it’s the least the company could do.
Earlier this month, Tesla said it had its first-ever profitable quarter for the first quarter and that it sold 4,750 cars through the end of March, 250 more than its sales target.
Tesla readying fleet of 80 Model S EVs to use as service loaners originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
From: http://feeds.autoblog.com/~r/weblogsinc/autoblog/~3/wQCexIqG9UE/
By Danny King
Filed under:
Tesla Motors gained a legal victory in its continuing efforts to expand sales across the US now that New York Supreme Court Justice Raymond J. Elliott III decided that local dealers will not be allowed to cite the Franchised Dealer Act as a reason to sue competitors, Automotive News reports.
Tesla has been embroiled in a legal tussle in the Empire State (and others) since last October, when New York dealers sued Tesla in an effort to get the California-based company to shutter the state’s company-owned stores. Tesla operates three stores and two service centers in New York.
Tesla has long argued that it should be allowed to operate its own stores because of the different nature of cars like its Model S and the fact that servicing those vehicles is simply different than working on conventional vehicles. Traditional laws dictate that car sellers be franchises that are independent from automakers.
Tesla chief Elon Musk was in Texas this week lobbying for a law that would allow electric vehicle companies to sell their cars directly to the public. He hinted Tesla could build a factory in Texas, the state with the second-highest number of publicly accessible charging stations to (after California), at some point in the future.
Tesla gains legal ground in New York dealer fight originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sat, 13 Apr 2013 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
From: http://feeds.autoblog.com/~r/weblogsinc/autoblog/~3/Ah4PdSjfbj4/
By John Rosevear, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Is Tesla Motors really planning to build a new factory to make electric trucks — in Texas?
“Planning” probably overstates things some. But the Silicon Valley-cool maker of electric cars seems to have a pickup in its future plans — and its CEO said this week that a factory in Texas could be in the cards.
Tesla needs a favor in Texas
As always with Tesla, there’s more to the story.
Here’s the background: Tesla’s rock-star CEO, Elon Musk, was in Austin this week, pressing Texas state lawmakers to pass a measure that would allow his company to sell its cars directly to consumers.
Most automakers sell to their U.S. customers via franchised dealerships, which are usually locally owned. That system has been in place for many decades — and those local dealer-owners have encouraged their local politicians to pass laws protecting their franchises over time.
Many states have laws that, shall we say, strongly encourage automakers to sell via dealer franchises. But Tesla doesn’t play from that rulebook. Taking a page (several pages, actually) from Apple and its wildly successful retail strategy, Tesla sells directly to its customers via factory-owned stores.
In several states, Tesla’s stores have taken heat from local dealer associations and state legislators. Some of that heat has ended up in court: Earlier this year, Tesla got Massachusetts courts to dismiss a lawsuit that sought to shut down a Tesla store there.
But Tesla doesn’t have a store in Texas, because Texas’ rules about car-dealer ownership are probably the strictest in the country. That lack is probably costing Tesla quite a few sales. That’s why Musk went to Austin to lobby state legislators for an exemption — and that’s why he dangled the possibility of a future Tesla truck factory in Texas.
Was this just a carrot for lawmakers? Or a real plan?
Musk might actually have a chance of winning this battle. Texas Gov. Rick Perry said last month that he would support allowing direct sales of electric cars, if legislators were to approve such an exemption.
But the exemption faces stiff opposition from the Texas Auto Dealers Association, which howled predictably about how an exemption for Tesla would “limit free enterprise” and somehow inflate the cost of new cars. (Their case may sound dubious, but dealers’ contributions to local legislators’ re-election campaigns probably speak louder than any argument the dealers’ association might be able to make here.)
That’s probably why Musk felt the need to drop a carrot. He told Automotive News that Tesla would start investing more in Texas if the company won the sales exemption. Those investments would include new Tesla retail stores, of course, but Musk said they might include something else in a few years — a second Tesla factory.
And what would that second factory make? A “really advanced electric truck,” Musk said. He says he has an idea in mind for such a vehicle, and that it might make sense to
From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/13/will-tesla-motors-really-build-trucks-in-texas/
Yes, you read that headline correctly: Elon Musk is essentially calling himself a Freedom Rider, comparing Tesla’s push to sell all-electric vehicles to America’s Civil Rights Movement. CEOs say the darndest things. TESLA, TEXAS, AND TESTIMONY As we reported on Monday, Musk has spent the past week in the Lone Star state, lobbying legislators to…
By Tim Beyers and Erin Miller, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Good news, United Continental Holdings investors: Your company’s 787 fleet may be back in the air next month. The carrier has penciled in May 31 for its first domestic flight of the jetliner since January.
Why the confidence? Earlier this week, Boeing stock rallied on news that the company has completed its final flight test of a new battery that appears to include changes publicly suggested by Tesla Motors chief Elon Musk. Ironic given how Boeing rebuffed Musk’s offer to help with a redesign. United is the first U.S. carrier to take delivery of the 787.
Regulators still have to approve the battery system, which could come within weeks. There’s also expected to be a certification period before United or any other carrier is permitted to fly the 787 on certain long-haul routes.
Even so, the test has to be welcome news for owners of Boeing stock, says Motley Fool contributor Tim Beyers in the following interview with The Motley Fool‘s Erin Miller. At the very least, Tim says, efforts to fulfill backlogged orders should begin anew.
Does this news make you more bullish on Boeing’s prospects? What about United’s? Please watch this short video to get the full takeaway, and then leave a comment to let us know whether you’d buy or sell Boeing stock now, and why.
Boeing operates as a major player in a multi-trillion-dollar market in which the opportunities and responsibilities are absolutely massive. However, emerging competitors and the company’s execution problems have investors wondering whether Boeing will live up to its shareholder responsibilities. In our premium research report on the company, two of The Motley Fool‘s best minds on industrials have collaborated to provide investors with the key, must-know issues surrounding Boeing. They’ll be updating the report as key news hits, so don’t miss out — simply click here now to claim your copy today.
var FoolAnalyticsData = FoolAnalyticsData || []; FoolAnalyticsData.push({ eventType: “TickerReportPitch”, contentByline: “Tim Beyers and Erin Miller“, contentId: “cms.31169”,
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Tim Beyers, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
If history proves anything, it’s that leadership matters. In government. In military affairs. In education. And certainly in business. Think of how bringing back Steve Jobs helped turn around Apple . Or how Elon Musk has stiff-armed skeptics on the way to creating billion-dollar companies in Tesla Motors and privately held SpaceX.
Then there’s Marissa Mayer, the former Google executive who’s brought equal doses of enthusiasm and controversy to Yahoo! . Employees love her for the most part, and for good reason, says Tim Beyers of Motley Fool Rule Breakers and Motley Fool Supernova in the following video.
Thanks to moves aimed at profiting from the rising use of smartphones and tablets, Yahoo! has seen its stock roughly double the market‘s return year to date, and it’s up nearly 50% since Mayer joined the company last July.
Tim says to expect further gains. Do you agree? Please watch the video to get his full take, and then let us know what you think about Mayer’s strategy in the comments box below.
For a closer look at the company Mayer left behind, try our newest premium research report in which we dissect Google’s sprawling empire and tell you what the search king is worth, and whether the stock deserves a place in your portfolio. Access your report now by clicking here.
var FoolAnalyticsData = FoolAnalyticsData || []; FoolAnalyticsData.push({ eventType: “TickerReportPitch”, contentByline: “Tim Beyers“, contentId: “cms.29442”, contentTickers: “NASDAQ:AAPL, NASDAQ:YHOO, NASDAQ:TSLA”, contentTitle: “Why the Yahoo! Stock Rally Is Justified”, hasVideo: “True”, …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
With the help of two banks, federal tax credits for EV purchases, and math that even Wall Street would find fishy, Tesla now has an official loan program for the electric Model S sedan. Company founder (and noted pugilist) Elon Musk announced the news himself earlier this week, calling the deal a “revolutionary new finance product,” enabling buyers to get a $79,995 Model S for just $500 per month. Apart from the misrepresentation of the monthly price, there’s little that’s revolutionary about the loan deal—including the presence of hidden costs. If, then, Tesla truly is the car company of the future, one might call the company’s new financing offer the three-card Monte of the future.
Other than the buyback program, this is a pretty standard bank loan for a new car—including the decent 2.95-percent interest rate. Note, though, the fact that US Bank and Wells Fargo essentially are advancing tax credits, using them as a down payment now, and then collecting buyers’ money later from Uncle Sam. This sounds like a giant payday loan.
The crux of the problem is Tesla’s use of an interactive calculator to determine what it calls a “true cost of ownership” for the Model S. This fatuous little feature allows people to enter their own variables—cost of gasoline over the next three years, how many miles they drive per year, what their time is worth in dollars per hour—and should your numbers match those Tesla has preselected as defaults, the company figures the real expense of a Model S is $500 per month. This isn’t just a “you’ve got to read the fine print” issue, nor is it really a problem with trying to assign a dollar value to minutes saved by driving in carpool lanes. The website setup could be misleading to most readers, makes fine print hard to find, and the calculator itself can be contradictory and makes unreasonable price comparisons.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Car & Driver
By Hannah Elliott, Forbes Staff
Last night after Tesla announced it will offer a leasing program for Model S drivers Elon Musk spent some time on the phone with me explaining a bit more about his plans for the future, the battle with auto dealers in Texas and what a cryptic tweet about “the 2nd in a 5 part trilogy” really meant. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
By David Hanson and Matt Koppenheffer, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Yesterday, Tesla Motors announced its new financing product for its Model S, which partners with megabanks Wells Fargo and U.S. Bancorp . While the deal is certainly more impactful to Tesla’s overall business, the partnership highlights the brand power of these banks.
In this video, Motley Fool banking analysts David Hanson and Matt Koppenheffer tell investors why investors in these banks should be excited and optimistic about the deal.
Warren Buffett and Elon Musk are firmly standing with these banks. With big finance firms still trading at deep discounts to their historic norms, investors everywhere are wondering if this is the new normal, or whether finance stocks are a screaming buy today. The answer depends on the company, so to help figure out whether U.S. Bancorp is a buy today, I invite you to read our premium research report on the company. Click here now for instant access!
var FoolAnalyticsData = FoolAnalyticsData || []; FoolAnalyticsData.push({ eventType: “TickerReportPitch”, contentByline: “David Hanson and Matt Koppenheffer”, contentId: “cms.29484”, contentTickers: “NYSE:WFC, NASDAQ:TSLA, NYSE:USB”, contentTitle: “Warren Buffett and Tesla Motors Love These Banks “, hasVideo: “True”, pitchId: “74”, pitchTickers: “NYSE:USB”, …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Roland Head, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
LONDON — Stock index futures at 7 a.m. EDT indicate that the Dow Jones Industrial Average may open a nominal five points higher this morning, while the S&P 500 may open up by about one point.
European markets slipped lower this morning ahead of today’s U.S. economic reports. At 7:15 a.m. EDT the FTSE 100 was down 0.44%, dragged lower by a broad sell-off of mining stocks and a 1.9% fall for telecom firm Vodafone after Verizon denied yesterday’s rumor that it is putting together a bid for the firm in conjunction with AT&T. In the eurozone, inflation fell from 1.8% to 1.7%, while the International Monetary Fund suggested that additional taxation measures may be necessary for Cyprus to meet the terms of its 10 billion euro bailout. Investors may remain cautious ahead of tomorrow’s meeting of the European Central Bank and Bank of England policy committees, at which potential changes to current monetary-easing programs may be discussed.
The ADP private-sector payroll data for March will be released at 8:15 a.m. EDT. The measure is seen by some as a lead indicator ahead of this Friday’s key nonfarm payrolls report, and consensus forecasts suggest that 192,000 new jobs may have been created in the private sector in March, down slightly from 198,000 in February. Today’s other main data item is the ISM nonmanufacturing index for March, due at 10 a.m. EDT. Analysts’ forecasts suggest that the nonmanufacturing index may drop slightly to 55.8, down from 56 in March. However, the ISM manufacturing index came in below expectations on Monday, so investors may be cautious ahead of this report.
Two major earnings reports are due before markets open today, with both ConAgra Foods and agricultural giant Monsanto set to update the markets. ConAgra is expected to report third-quarter earnings of $0.56 per share, while Monsanto is expected to post second-quarter earnings of $2.56 per share, according to analysts’ consensus forecasts. Other companies due to report before the opening bell include Acuity Brands, Conns, and Schnitzer Steel Industries.
Tesla may also continue to be actively traded ahead of the “big announcement” promised today by founder Elon Musk. Last night, the electric-car maker said it would be partnering with Wells Fargo to create a financing package aimed at improving the affordability of its electric-car models. Meanwhile, online-gaming company Zynga could be one of the day’s biggest climbers after it said last night that it would introduce real-money online gambling in the U.K. Zynga shares were 12% higher in premarket trading.
Finally, let’s not forget that the Dow’s daily movements can add up to some serious long-term gains. Indeed, Warren Buffett recently wrote: “The Dow advanced from 66 to 11,497 in the 20th Century, a staggering 17,320% increase that materialized despite four costly wars, a Great Depression and many recessions.” If you, like Buffett, are convinced of the long-term power of the Dow, you should read “5 Stocks to Retire On.” Your long-term wealth could …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Michael Lewis, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Tesla Motors has delivered an in-your-face to its naysayers with the announcement that the coming quarter will be its first foray into profitability. With a full earnings release not due until May, we only know that the company sold more Model S sedans than it projected. That wasn’t enough to deter Mr. Market, though, as the stock skyrocketed to all-time highs on the news. What do we know about the state of the company, other than its profitable first quarter? Is now the time to get in on this auto-industry disruptor?
Pump the brakes
Though the message will probably fall on deaf ears, investors shouldn’t rush in to Tesla solely because it had a profitable quarter. Yes, the company is growing its sales every quarter and pumping out more of its limited model lineup, with a-sold out backlog going many months forward. The thing is, though, there are many ways to reach a bottom line that’s in the black — and they don’t all signal continued profitability going forward.
We know the company has made and sold twice as many cars as it did a year ago in its first full quarter of production. But one of the biggest hurdles for the company is its weekly production. It needs to get the manufacturing process down to the point where it can sell its cars for more than it costs to make them — you know, real profitability. We don’t know if it has done this yet, and investors should be careful not to take this impressive, though ultimately inconclusive, piece of information too seriously.
Stop whining
Tesla permabulls will probably say I’m trying to dampen a crucial milestone for the company — but that’s not my intention at all. I think Tesla is an incredible company that has accomplished unprecedented things in its relatively short lifespan. Elon Musk, in my opinion, may be the single most influential technologist of our time. My sole point here is that this quarter’s profitability shouldn’t be taken as a sign that Tesla is out of the weeds. It may be headed that way; we just don’t yet know.
Foolish bottom line
Regardless of Tesla’s growth prospects, the valuation remains far too high to warrant any fundamentals-based investment. Since all trailing earnings are negative, let’s use a sales basis for measurement. Tesla trades at a trailing price-to-sales ratio of more than 12. That number will, without doubt, come down in future quarters and years as the company continues to race toward scale. Still, it is far too much to pay given the downside risk — not achieving scale, competition, and so on. For comparison, Ford trades at a price-to-sales of 0.38 and has a far, far more stable business to forecast. Cheaply valued and on the brink of a new product cycle, General Motors trades at a ratio of 0.25.
Tesla’s valuation will trend down as the company’s …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Hannah Elliott, Forbes Staff
A source close to Tesla just forwarded me an email Elon Musk sent to all employees of the company earlier today. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
By John Divine, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
April’s first day of trading got off to a rocky start, as Wall Street showed its lack of enthusiasm for the most recent domestic manufacturing numbers. March’s Institute for Supply Management factory index came in below expectations, nearly showing a contraction in U.S. industry. Despite this, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended only modestly lower, losing five points, or less than 0.1%, to close at 14,572.
While the Dow traded sideways, some components still saw some pretty wide swings. Health-care providers rose across the board today, and UnitedHealth Group was one of them, adding 3.1% in anticipation of Medicare Advantage rate announcements after the bell. Rising as much as another 3% after hours, investors were pleased with the profit potential the new prices imply for health-care providers like UnitedHealth.
One sector that didn’t have such a bang-up day was technology, and Hewlett-Packard epitomized that sluggishness, falling 2.2%. One of the chip maker’s top executives, Senior Vice President Ajei Gopal, is leaving the company to take a job with Silver Lake Partners, the private equity firm that’s taking Dell private. For a company in the middle of a turnaround, losing valuable members of its leadership team isn’t exactly what you want to see.
Shrugging off the dismal performance in the rest of tech today, shares of BlackBerry rallied 4.6%. The company, despite losing 3 million subscribers in the last quarter alone, recently came out with new software that’s still fresh on the scene in U.S. markets. It also didn’t hurt that a Wells Fargo analyst hiked estimates for BlackBerry sales in the current quarter by a cool 1 million phones.
But even BlackBerry’s rise was no match for Tesla Motors , which rocketed 15.9% higher today as the company confirmed that it will finally turn a profit in the first quarter on better-than-expected sales of its Model S. Some of the run-up was also due to speculation. Tesla founder Elon Musk tweeted last week that there will be a major company announcement on April 2.
The article Tesla Surges Higher as Dow Sputters Along originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor John Divine has no position in any stocks mentioned.
You can follow him on Twitter
@divinebizkid
and on Motley Fool CAPS
@TMFDivine
.
The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Tesla Motors and Wells Fargo. It also recommends UnitedHealth Group. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Filed under:
Elon Musk has promised he will make an “exciting” announcement tomorrow, but Tesla Motors issued two bits of news late last night to add to whatever we’ll learn about on Tuesday. First off, sales of the Model S have “exceeded the target provided in the mid February shareholder letter” by 250 units. Second, sales of the low-end 40-kWh Model S were so low that the model has been scrapped.
In February, Tesla said in a shareholder letter that it expected “about 4,500 deliveries in
Q1″ of 2013. It has instead sold 4,750 and it is thus “amending its Q1 guidance to full profitability, both GAAP and non-GAAP.” The company is now delivering 500 vehicles a week, up from 400 not too long ago. We now have to wonder it the original estimate of 20,000 sales in 2013 will also change.
“Only four percent of customers chose the 40 kWh battery pack, which is not enough to justify production of that version.”
It was just about two months ago that Tesla started delivering (what had been) the mid-level Model S, which has a 60-kWh battery. The top-of-the-line version uses an 85-kWh pack. As of this writing, the 40-kWH model remains listed on the Tesla website, but apparently, “only four percent of customers chose the 40 kWh battery pack, which is not enough to justify production of that version.” What about those four percent? They will get a 60-kWh model that “will be software limited to 40 kWh. It will still have the improved acceleration and top speed of the bigger pack, so will be a better product than originally ordered, and can be upgraded to the range of the 60 kWh upon request by the original or a future owner.” Originally, the 40-kWh model was supposed start deliveries in the middle of 2013.
Lastly, Tesla revealed that every 60-kWh Model S – where Supercharging was supposed to be an optional upgrade – has the Supercharging hardware built in. The company calls this a “small Easter egg” (it is based in Silicon Valley, after all) and says it “is taking a slight cost risk that ultimately all customers will want to buy the Supercharger upgrade and receive unlimited, free long distance travel for life. Even for those that never drive long distances, this will improve the resale value of their car to people that do.” This means that every Model S out there will have Supercharging, and Tesla has already said all future vehicles will have the fast-charging technology as well, so it is a technology the company believes in.
So, after all this, what will Musk’s big announcement be tomorrow?
Continue reading Tesla Model S demand exceeds expectations, 40-kWh model nixed
Tesla Model S demand exceeds expectations, 40-kWh model nixed originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 01 Apr 2013 10:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog
