Tesla Roadster was for many the car that brought back the electric car dream that set with the crushing of GM’s EV1 back in 2003. Now, the production of Roadsters is seemingly coming to an end, as Tesla Motors announced they’ll be focusing more on the future Model S sedan and Model X crossover they’ve been bragging with for the past few months.
“I think there’s a handful of cars left to sell in the U.S.,” Elon Musk, Tesla Motors CEO, said. “People in Europe and Japan probably have another six months to place orders for the Roadster. In the U.S., it’s maybe a month or two. So if somebody has an interest in buying a Roadster, they had best put in an order very, very soon,” he added.
“The king is dead, long live the king,” they say. The Tesla Model S sedan is going to hit the market in 2012 and will probably compete with the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt, with one variant having a price lower than $30,000, during the next five years.
I remember I saw an interview with Musk and he was saying the strategy behind launching the Tesla Roadster in the first place was to attract capital for the company, because only a car of this class could sell well (it costs over $100,000) for the better part of the world, and so it was. Now that it gained popularity and proved electric cars can have both range and performance at a low refueling cost, Musk is continuing his vision.
Nicely done so far. I can hardly wait to put my hands on a Model S within a few years. I would have liked the Roadster, too, but it wasn’t fit for my pocket, anyway. And I guess that’s the opinion of 99% of our readers. Still, if you owned one, you may consider yourself lucky. If that’s the case, please share a few words with us in the comments section below the fold!
