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Tesla Model X Launch, Tonight 8pm PST
- nextparadigms 15y agoIs this the model that's supposed to be $30,000 and ship in 2015? I love Tesla's strategy of releasing a new model every 3 years for half the price of the previous model. Does this mean they will have a $15,000 model in 2018? That would be great. Starting with 2020 electric cars should start going mainstream, which is not too bad. I think many people wouldn't have expected this until 2050 (when we'd be really running out of oil) about 5-10 years ago.
- Flemlord 15y agoI remember reading that they were working on an SUV body with essentially the same mechanics as the Model S. However, the back-lit profile in my email looks like another sedan.
- bhousel 15y agoThe Model X is supposed to be a crossover (aka hatchback), not a full SUV.
- jasonjackson 15y agoModel X is their SUV.
- MikeCapone 15y agoYes, based on same platform as Model S.
- jmaygarden 15y agoSubtract about 100 years and a similar statement could have been made about petroleum-based cars potentially replacing electric cars in the near future. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_car#1890s_to_1900s:_Early_history http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_car#1890s_to_1900s:_Ea...
- tmh88j 15y ago>Does this mean they will have a $15,000 model in 2018? That would be great. I wouldn't want Tesla to release a car even at $30,000. It takes away the from the rarity and coolness. Electric cars certainly do need to evolve and Tesla has done an incredible job, but there are dozens of other manufacturers out there that are just as capable. If you could buy a Bugatti or Koenigsegg for $75,000 they would certainly be less attractive to auto enthusiasts. It's human nature to want what we can't have. If Prada (not knock-offs) started selling their bags at $50 a pop do you think girls would still worship them?
- mladenkovacevic 15y agoIf caring about the environment and going electric becomes a high-priced elite-tribal-consumerist trend just take me off this planet; I'm not interested in it anymore.
- tmh88j 15y agoYou must have missed when I said "Electric cars certainly do need to evolve and Tesla has done an incredible job, but there are dozens of other manufacturers out there that are just as capable." Are you trying to argue that you're not paying for a brand? If so, by your logic then stores like Saks Fifth Avenue's "green" brands or high end auto manufacturers with hybrid vehicles have no place in America.
- mladenkovacevic 15y agoI get what you were saying, but this is (one of?) the first commercially available full-electric car manufacturers and it would be really depressing if it turned into a Ferrari-like club where only millionaires can afford to own it. It's a specific type of market where either you're all in, or you're out. Bugatti doesn't make a point-A to point-B winter-beater and never will. The FIRST EVER electric-car company becoming one of those luxury brands would push the democratization of electric-car ownership that much further into the future. The Tesla S is great because it seems that upper-middle class folk will be able to own it, and I hope they continue down that path bringing electric cars to everyone. EDIT: Also the other large manufacturers weren't interested in investing in electric because their analysis showed them they wouldn't see enough return. Tesla is there to prove them wrong. (Some large car-companies are only now building electric cars but it feels rather like a green-washing campaign - it's usually only one model, cars are dinky and impractical...etc)
- cstefanovici 15y agoThis is supposed to be a crossover vehicle that Elon Musk claims will be "faster then a Porsche 911 and roomier than an Audi Q7". Also he claims the most interesting view of it is with its doors open (a reference to something rumored to be called Falcon doors, some sort of folding doors). The next model after this is the one he wants to make for like $15000-$20000 They seem to think Model X will be very well received.
- JaggedJax 15y agoHere's an outline shot Elon Musk just posted with the doors open: https://twitter.com/#!/elonmusk/status/167648387313840128/photo/1 https://twitter.com/#!/elonmusk/status/167648387313840128/ph... His next tweet said they are not gull-wing. They definitely do something interesting though.
- toomuchtodo 15y agoI wonder if I can turn my Model S deposit into a Model X deposit after tonight.
- troymc 15y agoI don't follow the car business; Is it normal or unusual to have a car launch event like this?
- joezydeco 15y agoAuto show season is starting.
- BrainScraps 15y agoSeeing the design elements that went into making the Model S from the ground-up, I am excited to see what a "family" all-electric car built from the ground-up will look like. I wonder if there's going to be another HUGE touchscreen panel. And how many seats? I'm pretty stoked. And maybe my Tesla stock will have a nice bump after the unveiling. [weak disclosure] :)
- mutagen 15y agoReading this headline before my first cup of coffee this morning and having a dim awareness that Elon Musk is involved in spaceflight (no doubt conflating Model X with SpaceX) I was disappointed to find discussion of cars instead of rockets.
- mkramlich 15y agoIn 2 months SpaceX will send a Dragon capsule to do a near docking with the ISS. That will be an exciting milestone.
- nsxwolf 15y agoElectric cars will go mainstream when: 1. They become priced like regular cars 2. They have the range of regular cars 3. They come in form factors similar to regular cars 4. They are cheaper to own and operate than regular cars 5. They stop being about "the environment". San Francisco is not the entire US. It looks like we're getting a bit closer to all of these milestones, which is good.
- nsxwolf 15y agoAlso: In Chicago, we desperately need a battery that can make it through a morning commute when it is 15 below zero.
- toomuchtodo 15y agoI live in Chicago. I had no problem putting $5K down on a Model S. Its good enough for my needs. If I'm traveling more than 300 miles in a day, I'm renting a car or flying.
- harpastum 15y agoIs this a serious issue with current electric cars? I would assume there's something you can do with a heating mechanism or something for the batteries when they're in danger of getting really cold and losing their charge.
- nsxwolf 15y agoIt's enough of an issue that Nissan offers a cold weather trim package on the Leaf, which it "strongly recommends" for operation in below freezing climates.
- redthrowaway 15y agoAll of your points are valid, but I think you miss the main one, which Clarkson nailed: electric cars will go mainstream when they don't take three hours for a "quick" charge. They already have the range of gas-powered cars (~300 miles for the S), but once you hit that, you're stuck. It makes long-distance trips onerous, if not impossible. Anyway, they're getting cheaper all the time, batteries are getting better, and when you can convincingly pitch the TCO as being less than a gas car, you'll start to see people jump on it. Infrastructure will follow from there.
- sek 15y agoI was thinking first "what an ass, makes us curious now when it is almost a year away". Then i remembered how you write dates.
- jasonmcalacanis 15y agoI saw the early prototypes... it's awesome. I'll be there tonight and will post some photos to @jason