Tesla Motors Finally Turns a Profit

If I could afford one I'd get one...

I'm waiting for the Model S in a few years...and for me to be able to blow $40k on a car.

Waiting for the Model S also.

My roommate works for Tesla, and has been working around the clock all month to hit that record goal of 100+ cars. Congrats to him and all the other peeps at Tesla that are making non-fugly electric cars a reality!

GOOO TESLAAAAAA, i want one so bad ive been debating on buying a model S, but there goes my life savings. They are what a car company should be.

^+1

Curious, though, how long is the battery life on these things? I would imagine if the battery dies after 5 years it'd kill whatever you saved on gas..

If I'd ever win one, or get one, I'd seriously consider selling it, and buying one or more Toyota's from the money.
It's far above my standard of living.
I couldn't afford one, and even if I had one, a small accident could destroy it, and make me broke to get it fixed.

Having 4 toyota's for that price seems much more sane to me.

So does this "profit" include the $500 million loan that we, the tax payers, gave to Tesla? And is it really a loan if there is no expectation for a repayment? Sounds more like a gift. A tax payer gift.

Battery technology isn't ready. Sure 250 miles on a charge is pretty good and it will get you most places you need to go but what I'm referring to is battery longevity. Five years from now what is the miles per charge? 120? 150? Worse? What about resale value? What happens to the old batteries when they need to be replaced?

There are still a lot of questions about electric vehicles and I will maintain that we are still one or two orders of magnitude away from being able to fully realize what an electric car can and should be able to do. 250 miles on a battery that will be worthless in 10 years isn't a sound investment. I'm not waiting in line to buy one of these.

It is not faster than a "Porsche". Porsches can go up to 200 mph. Even the Boxter goes 186 mph. I believe the Tesla goes 160 mph. I would still prefer it to a Porsche, but since I can afford neither, I guess thats a moot point. Actually, you said it is faster than a "Porcshe" so you may be right. Never heard of that car

Congrats to Tesla! But first I would like to set up the infrastructure to generate solar power at home, and then get an electric car - that would be the perfect scenario for me. By then these cars will have much grater range, be even more efficient, and hopefully cheaper too.

if you ever saw this car being driven on "top gear" you know it has a long way to go before ever being practical

Well it will once again be around 100 degrees here in the Dallas Metroplex. So what is the range of a Tesla vehicle when the AC is running flat out?

Good for them, I like reading stories like this.

I'd also like to say I'll be waiting for the car AFTER the model S. Which according to the owners' plan for the company; will cost 1/2 as much as the model S and I'm guessing the design won't be as awesome but oh well. It's not like my current car is stylin'. A $25,000 fully electric car that still kicks would be worth it.

The funny thing is that I'm more excited about how these cars will change the public's perception of electric cars. They see them now as slow, ugly, useless cars that are inferior to vehicles that run off gas. The second people start seeing an electric car beat high-dollar consumer vehicles and even super-cars, people will begin to change their views.

This means that larger companies will put more funding into research and development. With enough momentum, we may even remove the need for gasoline altogether one day.

I still think Zap motors (zero air pollution) is the better deal. I think they have real potential. http://www.zapworld.com/

Twice as energy efficient as a Prius, and more than 4 times the price of a Prius.

There are still three huge flaws with this car…

First - The Roadster has a range of about 244 miles per charge. Then what? Pull into McD’s grab a Big Mac, wait 5 hrs for it to recharge?

Second – It has 2 seats and is totally unpractical.

Third – It is 100k American !!!!!!!

If I had 100k to blow on a NON-practical car, this would NOT likely be the one. I would go for a 2010 Nissan GT-R, Viper or perhaps a ZR-1.
But let’s face it… You can buy a loaded Car for 60% the price which is equally is nice. And you can buy a MORE than sufficient vehicle for $30,000 easily.

you do realize how far 244 miles is right? + a full recharge is 45 mins bro.

Even if everyone had one of these, they still have to be charged right? Where do you think the power comes from? You guessed it, coal and fossil fuel.

I'm currently on a waiting list for the model S.