Tesla unveils electric sedan

Tesla Motors, maker of the $100,000 all-electric Tesla Roadster sports coup, recently announced its plan to launch an affordable electric sedan. Called the Tesla WhiteStar, the sedan is expected to come with a $50,000 price tag.

In a May 11 announcement, the San Carlos, Calif.-based company said it plans to use at least some of its recent $45 million venture funding — led by Palo-Alto, Calif.-based venture firm Technology Partners and an investment from eBay co-founder Elon Musk — to begin developing the sedan.

Currently WhiteStar is in the very early stages of design, but the company says it will have four doors and be much larger and heavier than the Tesla Roadster. The car is expected to come equipped with room for additional batteries, which would give the sedan a 250-mile range. Tesla is building an assembly plant in Albuquerque, N.M., which is slotted for completion by the end of 2008. The company says it plans to build 10,000 WhiteStar sedans annually starting in 2009.

The WhiteStar's all-electric competitors, including the ZAP-X, being developed by Lotus Engineering and Santa Rosa, Calif.-based ZAP, and the Mitsubishi [NYSE: MTU] MIEV, are both slated for release in 2008. The ZAP-X, a four-door sedan which its creators say "appeals to SUV buyers who feel guilty about buying SUVs," is expected to travel 350 miles per charge and go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 4.8 seconds. The car's expected price tag is $60,000. The Mitsubishi MIEV, a four-door electric economy vehicle designed to run 150 miles per charge, is expected to be priced at $18,000.

The first 400 Tesla Roadsters are expected to ship to over 400 buyers by fall 2007 (see "Tesla motors nears mass production," sijournal.com, April 2007).