Motor Trend COTY: Tesla Model S

[Dr Mordrid]

Elon Musk: WINNER !!!!

http://www.scpr.org/blogs/economy/2012/11/12/11050/elon-musk-roll-first-spacex-succeeds-and-now-tesla/

Elon Musk on a roll: First SpaceX succeeds, and now Tesla wins Motor Trend Car of the Year

Elon Musk is a on a serious roll.

He's CEO of two companies: SpaceX and Tesla Motors. SpaceX, based near Los Angeles, just completed the first paid commerical resupply mission to the International Space Station.

The news just broke that Tesla's Model S sedan has won Motor Trend's Car of the Year award.
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http://m.motortrend.com/oftheyear/car/1301_2013_motor_trend_car_of_the_year_tesla_model_s/

2013 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Tesla Model S

Shocking Winner: Proof Positive that America Can Still Make (Great) Things

The 2013 Motor Trend Car of the Year is one of the quickest American four-doors ever built. It drives like a sports car, eager and agile and instantly responsive. But it's also as smoothly effortless as a Rolls-Royce, can carry almost as much stuff as a Chevy Equinox, and is more efficient than a Toyota Prius. Oh, and it'll sashay up to the valet at a luxury hotel like a supermodel working a Paris catwalk. By any measure, the Tesla Model S is a truly remarkable automobile, perhaps the most accomplished all-new luxury car since the original Lexus LS 400. That's why it's our 2013 Car of the Year.
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[KRSESQ]

It's also a bit less expensive than I thought it would be. Now all Musk has to do is build an electric car that wins the Indy 500 and he won't be able to build them fast enough.

[Brian Ellis]

Tesla buyers likely don't need to watch their pennies, but the calculation's worth doing all the same: At an average of 74.5 mpg-e, the Model S costs about 6 cents a mile to run, based on California's 13 cents per kW-hr.

6 c/mile? Just for the electricity. There's no way that this figure could include maintenance (tyres etc.), amortisation, tax, insurance, and all the overheads. Translated to this country's electricity at €0.27/kWh (this is what I paid on the last bill), this figure would translate to about €0.10/km. Granted it's not in the same class of performance/luxury, my Honda Civic Hybrid costs me about €0.065/km for fuel, even with the enormous tax on fuel (€1.31/l = $6.47/USgal) and it can get me from A to B at more than the max speed limit in just the same time as the Tesla (perhaps 5 or 10 seconds more, as it accelerates less).

I question the batteries and the charging in 30 min at service stations. Doing this would knock hell out of them, even for a half-charge, and I'm damn sure that the station would charge more than 13 c/kWh. If you did this regularly, how long would your batteries last? How much to change them? Presumably, the price difference of $48,330 between the two models represents largely the 45 kWh difference in battery energy. And don't forget Li-ion batteries lose 10% of their capacity/year, so you would need to change them at least every 5 years or so if you travel longish distances.

Nice car, though!