The release of Tesla Motors’s forthcoming Model S is one of the most anticipated events ever in the green car world. The all-electric Model S has a driving range of 300 miles per charge, can travel zero-to-60 in 4.4 seconds, and is drop-dead gorgeous.
But a series of technical glitches and financial problems caused the company to delay release of its previous model, the Tesla Roadster. So critics assumed that Tesla would have similar problems with its ambitious timeline for series production of the Model S.
However, it’s looking more and more like the carmaker is on the verge of proving its doubters wrong. Last week, Tesla delivered the first Model S to a member of its board and announced that its limited $92,400 Signature Series had sold already sold out—weeks ahead of its official June 22 release date. (The base-level Model S starts at $57,400.)
Tesla plans to deliver about 5,000 units of the Model S this year. According to Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, sales targets will jump to 20,000 units in 2013 and 35,000 for 2014. Those are very ambitious projections for a $50,000 luxury car sporting a technology that few Americans have ever even seen before, much less driven.
Perhaps that's why Tesla has also announced an eleven-city test drive tour for the Model S, despite the fact that—with more than 10,000 reported reservations—the car is more or less sold out for the next year. Beginning June 23 at its Fremont, Calif. factory, Tesla will offer 5,000 test-drives in 45 days. Other stops on the tour include Los Angeles, Seattle, Washington D.C., Denver, New York, Miami, and Toronto.
Reservation holders will be given priority, but other interested parties will be given the opportunity to sign up a few weeks in advance of each stop. Tesla says it plans to expand the tour to more cities following completion of the first tour.
Can Tesla reach its lofty sales projections for the Model S? Only time will tell, but the company is building a reputation for silencing its critics.
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