Tesla Motors 'Model S' Sedan - A Glimpse Of True Luxury

SAN CARLOS, CALIFORNIA - We try to be first with the good news at theirEarth, and with a little help from Tesla Motors, we have the first public partially revealed photo of the new Tesla Motors Model S sedan. The new Model S already looks like it could be a huge success for the San Carlos, California based Tesla Motors. The company says that they will price the Model S in the United States at $57,400, and the car will qualify for a $7,500 U.S. federal tax credit, making zero-emissions family sedan motoring fast and available to many at $49,900.

In the coming weeks, Tesla Motors has indicated that more photos and videos will be released of the Model S sedan. There will be a launch party for the Model S in Southern California at the Tesla Design Studio in late March to celebrate this significant milestone in transportation history. Tesla indicated today that the expected release date for the production version of the Model S is in late 2011. It will be first offered to North America and Europe with sales in Asia starting once the factory has ramped up production.

We drove Tesla's other car, a production Roadster, earlier this year in the lower mountains of the Cote d'Azur in Southern France, and were very impressed with its race car handling and incredible acceleration. Tesla Motors says that they recently delivered their 250th two-seat Roadster supercar to a customer in Encinitas, California, who is now charging the Roadster's 52.8 kWh lithium ion battery pack using a home-based array of solar panels. In the summer of this year, Tesla Motors will ramp-up their Roadster production from 20  to 30 vehicles per week.