Yearly Archives: 2014


Tesla’s New High-Performance Model S Will Help Achieve Sustainability


In an interview on Bloomberg, Matt DeLorenzo is only somewhat right that the new Tesla Model S P85D is counter to the mission of converting the world to battery electric cars.

On the surface, Matt is correct that to really fulfill Elon Musk’s goal of transforming personal transportation, Tesla needs to build huge volumes of cars that people who aren’t living off silicon valley stock options can afford to buy. However, in order to do that, Tesla actually needs a sustainable business model and so far, 11 years after being founded, the company has yet to turn a profit from building and selling cars.

That’s where machines like the P85D come in. Sure, the world doesn’t really need a 691, battery-powered sedan (not that I wouldn’t seriously consider one if I had the cash but that’s another story). But to get to the promised land of building a mainstream car, Tesla (or any other car manufacturer) needs to have sufficient cash flow to pay it’s own bills which means that margins need to go up significantly.

model-s-photo-gallery-01

Developing and building cars is a hugely capital intensive undertaking. In addition, to keeping the current Model S up to date, Tesla is developing the Model X, Model 3 and whatever else it has in the pipeline. The Model X shares a platform and most hardware with the S but the Model 3 will have to be all-new in order to hit its price targets. All of this will require investment in tooling and let’s not forget the billions that will have to be spent on the vaunted Gigafactory.

So lowering cash outflow in the near term is pretty much off the table.

All of which brings us back to the P85D. With a base sticker price of $120,170, the AWD S adds nearly $27,000 to the starting price of the P85. A conservative estimate would put somewhere between $10,000 and $15,000 of that incremental cost as pure extra margin after subtracting the added equipment for the P85D.

If Tesla can move 5,000 of these high-end cars a year, it won’t have any notable impact on greenhouse gas emissions but it will add $50-75 million (and maybe a lot more) to the company’s bottom line and that’s what Tesla really needs right now in order to keep its momentum going and help fund the new products that will support Musk’s vision.


2014 Nissan Leaf Review – It’s Remarkably Normal

2014 Nissan Leaf SV

2014 Nissan Leaf SV

Somehow in the eight years since I started writing about cars I’ve driven lots of electric vehicles but have never managed to spend an extended period with one until now. Having now spent a week with a 2014 Nissan Leaf SV, I can say that it’s a very good car regardless of how its propelled. That doesn’t mean it’s the best car for everyone in search of a compact hatchback, but for those whose lifestyles overlap with the limitations of today’s battery technology it’s a great choice.

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I'd seen this building countless times over the past 25 years and always wondered what its story was

I'd seen this building countless times over the past 25 years and always wondered what its story was

Sad to see another landmark go ?

It s gone. The main hangar on what became Detroit Metro Airport was an iconic building–designed for the future of aviation, built at a time of relentless optimism in the nation s newest technology and with a belief that the appearance of public buildings should reflect they dynamism of those who created them.


Perhaps the most incredible thing about this story is that he and his colleagues managed to avoid getting infected when they first encountered the virus

Perhaps the most incredible thing about this story is that he and his colleagues managed to avoid getting infected when they first encountered the virus?

Peter Piot was a researcher at a lab in Antwerp when a pilot brought him a blood sample from a Belgian nun who had fallen mysteriously ill in Zaire • Ebola isn’t the big one. So what is? And are we ready for it? • Answering the ten basic questions you were afraid to ask


As the

As the +Autoblog podcast hits episode 400, I’ll be making my return this evening at 10pm EDT, joining my buddy +Dan Roth

Tune in live on Ustream http://www.ustream.tv/channel/autoblog-podcast and submit your questions now?

Top automotive journalists Chris Shunk, Dan Roth and Zach Bowman talk passionately about cars and answer your questions in this weekly podcast.


If this is in fact what

If this is in fact what +Tesla Motors is planning to announce next week as the D, I'm guessing that it's the long speculated all-wheel-drive version of the Model S

Basically it would be a model S with an extra motor added to the front axle just like the upcoming Model X crossover.?