Tesla Motors produces a unique vehicle, the Tesla Model S. It has proved to be especially popular with those who can afford them, but is it too unique?
In other words, is Tesla Motors a niche automaker? Considering that Tesla Motors currently has a single model in production, the Model S, and a second model on the way, the Model X, both starting over $60,000, one might come to the conclusion that Tesla Motors is “by the rich, for the rich.” Certainly, buying a Tesla Motors vehicle puts you in a cadre of limited numbers.
Of course, we’re forgetting about the next Tesla Motors model, to be released sometime in 2017, a mass-market electric vehicle, possibly to be called Tesla Model E. We have little detail on the Model E, but we expect it to be in the $35,000 range with something like 185 miles range. This is far better than anything that’s on the road, today, but will a 2017 Tesla Model E be too late?
Tesla Motors and Nissan Leaf may have brought the electric vehicle back from the dead, but some analysts seem to think that Tesla Motors will be pushed into a corner, thanks to its slow production rates and rollout of new models, as well as the high price. Recent electric vehicle offerings, such as the on-again off-again Audi R8 E-Tron, or powerful hybrid electric vehicles, such as the Honda Accord PHEV or Porsche Panamera PHEV, seem to be taking potshots at Tesla Motors. Really?
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk’s marketing plan is working perfectly, and not a single company offers anything that can compete with it. Other electric vehicles fall far short, and why would you bring a hybrid to an electric shootout? Will other automakers push Tesla Motors into a corner? I don’t think so.
Image © By cdorobek [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
