Filed under: Sedans/Saloons, Green, Ford
Tesla sedan won't feature Ford chassis
Looks like Tesla won't be dipping into the Ford parts bin for its upcoming all-EV family sedan, at least not very heavily. The Silicon Valley-based green carmaker had been rumored to be considering the Fusion/Milan/MKZ platform for its new 4-door flyer. Tesla Motors, however, has reiterated that it has no plans to use any outside firm for such a large part of its so-called "WhiteStar" project.
But the rumors persist. Ward's Auto, for one, has reportedly pointed out how easy it would be to use Ford's CD3 platform, because the vehicles are built at the nearby Ford plant in Hermosillo, Mexico. To that claim, Tesla spokesman David Vespremi admitted they may have used some minor assemblies from Ford on the Roadster, but that they will definitely not share whole platforms with any major automaker. Tesla plans to open a $35 million facility in Albuquerque and will work directly with suppliers rather than OEMs for the Roadster and upcoming WhiteStar projects.
The Roadster has garnered a lot of attention, and more importantly, a lot of orders for this tiny company. The Lotus Elise-inspired sports car has shown that you can have lots of driving fun while still being green, with a 0-60 mph time around four seconds and a top speed of 130 mph. Those lithium-ion batteries also provide a reasonable range of up to 250 miles, although likely not after a day of blasts to 60. Expanding the lineup to include this expected $50-60,000 sedan and potentially a crossover will only broaden their appeal.
[Source: The Car Connection]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DPC car videos 8:13PM (3/15/2007)
Its amazing how this small company is making a big name for itself. I would think the Big boys would crush them by now.
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Kit 8:35PM (3/15/2007)
Make it as sexy as the roadster and I'm in!
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doglet 8:52PM (3/15/2007)
im still very skeptical about their $50k family sedan. it just doesnt seem possible with todays technology. the batteries for the tesla are about half the cost of the car, the power needs for a sedan will only be higher. i dont see how it can be done for $50k.
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FrankTheCrank 8:54PM (3/15/2007)
This is awesome.
Talk about building the ballpark and they will come.
Go TESLA MOTORS!!!
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Jeff Banks 9:09PM (3/15/2007)
I'm sure when they pick the chasis, its going to be the lightest thing they can find, be it Honda, Toyota, Kia, Chevy, Nissan, Chrysler or whoever. I also doubt that they would pick a full-on midsize platform to base it on. I'm thinking they shoot for something Civic-sized or at most 3-series sized. I think with electric cars, weight it the primary concern when developing a car (hence, sharing the lotus chasis).
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Yago Bal 9:15PM (3/15/2007)
The roadster has Ford parts? Isn't it based on the Elise? What Ford parts did it need?... hum...
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doglet 11:08PM (3/15/2007)
the capitol raised when they sold all the roadsters before they made the first one...
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Thomas Brown 11:26PM (3/15/2007)
internal combustion all the wayyyyy!
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Stanton 11:58PM (3/15/2007)
There are plenty of previously-enjoyed Tempo frames available in wreckers' yards across the continent. Cheap!
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GhostDoggy 5:34AM (3/16/2007)
$50K for a Built in Mexico state of the art all electric vehicle? Hmm. Is this for the wealthy idiot who has everything?
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Sam Abuelsamid 6:26AM (3/16/2007)
The Car Connection is way behind on this story. Darryl Siry of Tesla already refuted it several weeks ago after this post. http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/02/20/will-the-tesla-whitestar-be-a-battery-powered-ford-fusion/ CEO Martin Eberhard, also said the same thing during my interview with him that you can here on the AutoblogGreen Podcast. http://stadium.weblogsinc.com/autobloggreen/podcasts/AutoBlog_Green_podcast_1.mp3
The WhiteStar is a new from the ground up car with a rear mounted motor driving the rear wheels. Some components like switches, radios, HVAC fans will be off the shelf, as they are with most cars, but they are staffing up with auto engineers to develop this thing.
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Sam Abuelsamid 6:27AM (3/16/2007)
The WhiteStar is going to be built in Albuquerque, New Mexico, not in Mexico.
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Chris 9:00AM (3/16/2007)
I think if the do decide to use Ford parts, they have each part properly blessed by an ordained priest or minister to ensure the Ford curse does not live on inside each Tesla vehicle.
GO TESLA GO!
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GhostDoggy 5:25AM (3/17/2007)
$50K for a Built in Mexico state of the art all electric vehicle? Hmm. Is this for the wealthy idiot who has everything?
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Ekow 7:09AM (3/23/2007)
With what...the weight of their empty bank accounts?
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Paul GOVAN 4:57PM (5/13/2007)
From Paul Govan editor EVUK:
It is amazing reading all the blogs and mainstream coverage of the Tesla Roadster how almost everyone believes that the car has come out of nowhere.
NO! The Tesla Roadster owes almost all of its performance and inspiration to the drivetrain and battery and drivetrain solution developed by AC Propulsion for the 300 mile-per-charge(0-60 in 3.6 secs) TZero sports car.
As ACPs Tom Gage explained in an exclusive brief interview with us in July 2006:
Read this extract from http://www.evuk.co.uk/news/index4.html#Tesla_Roadster_launch :
Tom Gage: "Tesla licensed AC Propulsion technology and have incorporated some of that technology in their design. So, the answer is that it is a Tesla drive
system that has been developed using AC Propulsion designs and technology. Some of the changes they have made could be improvements, others may lower cost or achieve packaging requirements.
Obviously, since we've not tested their system, I do not know to what extent, if any, it differs from ours in performance and efficiency."
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Paul GOVAN 4:58PM (5/13/2007)
...and the general ignorance and silence surrounding the Tesla-TZero legacy is just another classic illustration of how our media has shown itself - especially over the last decade - to be incapable of reporting accurately and honestly on the whole subject of electric vehicles.
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