Electric car making company Tesla Motors is leaving no stone unturned to successfully make a mark among the mainstream luxury car buyers. In this regard, the company has introduced all-wheel-drive as well as more power and range to the base version of its only model.
The newly introduced features at the Model S lineup’s low end will come along with nearly a seven percent increase in price, to USD 75,000 for those buying the cars. The base price of the lease will increase to USD 838 a month from USD 796 for 12,000 miles a year.
Palo Alto-based Tesla Motors will be stopping the sale of the old base Model S called the 60 on Wednesday. The USD 70,000 rear-drive car having a 380-horsepower motor could go 208 miles with a single charge and from zero to 60 mph in just 5.9 seconds.
The 70D, a new all-wheel-drive model, can go a government-certified 240 miles per charge. It possesses 514 horsepower and has the capability to go from zero to 60 in 5.2 seconds. The buyers also get free accessibility to Tesla’s vast network of quick-charging stations and several other standard features.
Elon Musk, chief executive official, says with a USD 7,500 federal tax credit that takes the price to USD 67,500, along with the tax credits in some states, the new version will give tough competition price-wise to the Mercedes E-Class or the midsize 5-Series of BMW, when the customer add in savings from denying buying gasoline. BMW’s 5 Series price begins nearly USD 50,000 and the E-Class is priced at roughly USD 52,000.
Tesla needs approximately USD 6,500 due at signing for its lease of 12,000-mile. On the other hand, BMW needs just more than USD 4,300.
According to Musk, there are no plans of spending more on marketing in order to match rival companies BMW and Mercedes even if he’s trying to woo more mass-market customers.
Musk said that the firm will be continuing hosting events for customers but “there are no plans yet to do advertising or endorsements or any discounting.”
Tesla Motors shares increased USD 3.02, or 1.5 percent, to USD 206.27 during the morning trading. The company’s shares have fallen nearly four percent over the past year.
