Tesla is live streaming the launch of their S car on their site now, if you're interested. Link:

[gateley]

http://www.teslamotors.com/model-s-has-arrived

ETA: There's a tag line tha says "we won't stop until every car on the road is electric".

[backscatter712]

1. Very cool!

I'm a fan of Elon Musk now.

On top of building spaceships, he's proven that electric cars can be damned cool.

[msongs]

2. yes if cool means unaffordable except for the 1%. it's a start I suppose til he is bought out nt

[Posteritatis]

4. Oddly enough, new things start expensive and get cheaper with time.

Anyone with a computer should know that one.

But I guess it's more emotionally satisfying to sneer instead.

[gateley]

6. Exactly, and that is their plan. nt

[Posteritatis]

10. To the dismay of the instant-gratification crowd, yep. (nt)

[gateley]

5. Whoa, nice knee-jerk bitter reaction, there. The company's plan was to self-finance and

try to get people thinking that electric cars were viable. They introduced a beautiful, pricey roadster that was in the $100K arena, to get the car out there, known, and get revenue to help them with their second car, which is this, the S Class. This is affordable to more people (although certainly not for me) at around the mid-to-high $40k range. There are a LOT of people who spend that much on their cars, and this will be the next step in helping a transition away from gas powered automobiles. Their next model will be even more "affordable" to more people, and so on.

Why on earth would you snark about a company that has a vision that will ultimately benefit us all? We may never own a Tesla, but hopefully because of their leadership in this area, many of us may be driving an electric car in the not too distant future.

Do you think the major car companies would take it upon themselves to go this route? They were happy that we seemed to view hybrids as the future, but Tesla showed them, and us, that electric is achievable.

I salute and thank them.

[Egalitarian Thug]

7. The first red LED watch cost $600 in the 70's. n/t

[Posteritatis]

9. Think about what a typical contemporary phone would cost then

Assuming it was possible to build most of the current ones then, which it of course isn't by a huge shot.

[Egalitarian Thug]

14. Exactly. Genuinely innovative new stuff always costs a mint.

The fact that somebody was willing to pay that much for those watches was the signal that it was worth building a factory to make them, 20 years later they were so cheap they gave them away in cereal boxes for kids.

I ran my second company over a beige brick cell phone in the mid-late 80's and my bill was $600 - $1500 a month. I can even imagine a cell bill that high these days.

So many things that so many people just don't seem to ever get.

[Codeine]

8. New technology is never cheap.

How much was a flat-screen HDTV when they debuted? Now you can get one for a relative pittance.

Early Blu-ray players were about a grand in 2006 or so, but now you can get one from TigerDirect for fifty bucks.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

12. 1968 --

Hewlett-Packard releases the fully-electronic model 9100 desk-top calculator, priced at $4,900.



The 9100 used a CRT (cathode ray tube) display and was about the size of a large typewriter. Bill Hewlett congratulates the development team but allegedly commented that the world needs a similar machine that would fit in a shirt pocket. Amazingly, the HP engineers would accomplish this new challenge within four years (the HP-35 in 1972)!

More: http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/history_of_electronic_calculat.html

[gateley]

3. Totally agree. He's done an outstanding job. I wish him endless success! nt

[LadyHawkAZ]

11. WAAAAAAAAAANT!!!

[WingDinger]

13. He should havedone something positive with his paypal money, like buy hawaii.

[HooptieWagon]

15. Look at the S car go....

[LadyHawkAZ]

16. *snort*

[Motown_Johnny]

17. I missed it... bummer.

I saw one at the Detroit Auto Show back in January. Very cool. The way they are storing the batteries in that thing has to become the new standard for the industry.

[gateley]

18. It was kind of dull, sadly.

It lacked the polish and feel A d excitement of an Apple rollout, for example.

[lumberjack_jeff]

19. It is a nice looking car.

Great range and a not entirely shocking price.

$50,000 for 160 mile range is pretty impressive. 300 miles if you want to shell out another $20k.

[joshcryer]

20. Their next big model will be consumer level and around $25k.

It's going to be pretty crazy when that happens.