Tesla Roadster to roll out before the end of the year

It's been a long time coming, but Tesla Motors CEO and co-founder Martin Eberhard is now saying that the company's first batch of all-electric Tesla Roadsters will "definitely ship" by October or November of this year. That's a bit later than the the summer release that had been anticipated, but that date apparently had to be pushed back after the company was forced to change transmission vendors. This latest delay also follows a slight scaling back of range targets earlier this year, although neither set-back seems to have been enough to get any of the 600 or so buyers already lined up to ask for their $100,000 back. According to Reuters, Tesla plans to make 1,000 2008 model year cars, which you'll soon be able to check out a dealership likely not near you. After that, the company plans to produce a five-passenger sedan dubbed the "White Star," which it says will sell for between $50,000 and $65,000, although likely not before the 2010 model year at the earliest.

[Via Motor Authority]

[Phillip Lamb @ Aug 8th 2007 2:42PM]

Any other Babylon 5 fans out there get all weak-in-the-knees upon finding out they'd be calling the new vehicle a "white star?"

[evan @ Aug 9th 2007 1:52AM]

No, because there are no other babylon 5 fans.

[Luke @ Aug 9th 2007 4:01AM]

Classic.

[NHAnimator @ Aug 8th 2007 3:09PM]

$50,000-60,000? I smell something good cookin'. (And it ain't The Rock.)

[Frankenstein Black @ Aug 8th 2007 3:25PM]

WHITE STAR? Finally! I am saving my penny's now. Oh, and I want the White Star SE (Solar Reactor) edition. You know, the energy positive one with the Solar Celled body panels, Sweet ;^)...

P.S. Such music needs to be repeated AN ENERGY POSITIVE CAR is years not decades away!!

[danny @ Aug 8th 2007 3:40PM]

I saw one of these driving around redwood city, ca the other day! Nice!

[adriangrab @ Aug 8th 2007 4:14PM]

Doubt it.. you probably saw a Lotus Elise - which is the same body, but with a fuel injection engine.

[danny @ Aug 9th 2007 1:16AM]

no, it wasn't a Lotus, but you're right there are a crap load of them around this area. So I know what they look like, they may be the same body but they're not designed exactly alike and this was not a Lotus.

[Luke @ Aug 8th 2007 5:43PM]

A Lotus Elise definitely does not have the same body, even though Lotus did take care of a lot of the handling issues and testing for Tesla.

To convince you, compare these photos:
http://reviews.cnet.com/i/ss/tesla/Tesla_roadster1_440.jpg
http://img.alibaba.com/photo/11466049/Lotus_Elise.jpg

[Mark Tran @ Aug 8th 2007 7:00PM]

Luke, you're misinformed.

Tesla sourced the entire chassis from Lotus. They made minor changes such as lowering the side sills by 50 mm. [1]

Comparison photos with an Elise and Roadster next to each other:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rnair/393843968/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rnair/393852529/

They look quite similar to me.

[1]: http://www.rahulnair.net/blog/2007/02/20/the-tesla-roadster-the-perfect-elise/

[luke @ Nov 4th 2007 8:02PM]

I never said they didn't look alike, just that they weren't exactly the same, as seemed to be suggested by the guys above.

[luke @ Nov 4th 2007 8:05PM]

and I, like the comments above, was talking about the body, not the chassis.

[Mile @ Aug 8th 2007 3:57PM]

$1,000 says they will never release a car named "White Star".

[Phillip Lamb @ Aug 8th 2007 4:20PM]

< 1985>$534.45 says they will never release a van named "Aero Star."< /1985>

[Grammar freak @ Aug 8th 2007 5:41PM]

I'd rather have a Defiant car personally

[h8rain @ Aug 9th 2007 9:37AM]

+1 with a Romulan cloaking device :)

[Josh @ Aug 8th 2007 7:05PM]

Will the 'low-end' models (the $50,000+) have the same range as the black $100k model?

[danny @ Aug 8th 2007 7:55PM]

I tried responding to adriangrab's comment earlier but engadget didn't let it take. Anyway, I double checked the bodies and what I saw was definitely the Tesla. And also I recalled exactly where I had seen it and it was while I was traveling through San Carlos into Redwood City, CA. And from what I've heard and the some members of "Who killed the electric car?"(who just put had a screening Q&A at my work) said that Telsa has set up shop in San Carlos.

I took a triple take at the car when I saw it, I am certain it was not a Lotus.

[danny @ Aug 8th 2007 8:01PM]

oh my, what a typo mess! sorry! lost a couple hours of work due to the screening, need to finish up!