March 29, 2009The Tesla Model S: Revealed At Last. But Don’t Forget About the Fisker Karma.
Tesla Model S (via www.uncrate.com)
Fisker Karma (via www.automobilemag.com)
This week, Tesla unveiled its 4-door sedan, the Model S. The seven seat, electric plug-in that will boast killer features like a 17-inch infotainment touch-screen, retracting door handles, LED/neon headlight and tail lights, as well as some pretty stellar performance metrics like 0-60 in 5.6 seconds and a top speed of 120mph, is due for delivery in 2011 and will carry a $50,000-60,000 price tag.
But its been a long road to the Model S launch and there has been quite a bit of wrangling along the way. When the Tesla sedan was in its infancy, Tesla enlisted the help of Henrik Fisker’s Fisker Coachbuild to help design the car’s architecture (Henrik Fisker is a renowned automotive architect that has designed for the likes of Aston Martin and BMW). Not surprisingly, when Fisker Automotive divulged its concept for an electric 4-door sedan about a year ago, lawsuits ensued with Tesla claiming that Fisker had stolen confidential Tesla design information and trade secrets. Thus, the Fisker Karma, Fisker’s electric hybrid 4-door luxury sedan due for 2010, has been cloaked in controversy since it was announced last April. While the Fisker Karma may be wrought with bad publicity, the car is rather stunning. At $80K, the Karma will add a high-performance, high-luxury electric model to the Mercedes S-class, BMW 7-series, etc bracket.
Ultimately, the addition of the Tesla Model S and the Fisker Karma will be very positive forces that will — in the best case scenario — up the ante for automotive design and add some critical technology into the mix so that the reality of greener cars across the board may be more realistic future than ever before.
Read Up on the Green Goodness That’s Coming:
- Great Piece from Automobile Magazine: Where is the style? Where is the swagger? Where is the sex appeal?
- More Pictures of the Tesla Model S at automopedia.org
- BusinessWeek’s Coverage of the Tesla Model S Launch and HERE
- The Tesla vs. Fisker Battle in Motor Trend
- More About the Tesla vs. Fisker Spat in Wired Magazine
- Here’s How the Tesla Technology Works
- More About the Tesla Model S Design in the New York Times
- A Really Great Write-Up on Green Automotive Technology in the Examiner
