One start-up company striving to make it big in California is Tesla from Palo Alto, but expensive operating costs and last year’s Roadster sell losses of nearly $1 billion kind of spooked it. This year, however, the company is making a comeback with the Model S Sedan. A “personal delivery program” of 10 cars has already left the factory building in Fremont on the weekend in the cheers of a crowd brimming with high hopes.
And there’s good reason to cheer about: the model is deemed to be “the most beautiful sedan in the marketplace” according Tesla Vice President George Blankenship, a look that honors the 160-mile range (after just one charge).
However, the $49,900 price (after the federal tax credit) is raising some eyebrows – analysts and auto industry insiders draw attention on the competition from the Leaf, which is almost half the price and a remarkable car too.
Still, the spicy sum of the electric sedan hasn’t scared off its first customers: company officials vouch for the 10,000 people who have already advanced a refundable deposit and the 5,000 expected to purchase it in the near future. Chairman, CEO and product architect Elon Musk speaks highly of his „baby” company, saying it’s just a matter of time and novelty before people start realizing an electric car is in fact “the best car in the world.”
