Tesla owners excited about company's new SUV
Tesla on Tuesday announced it will be rolling out its first all-electric SUV with gull wing doors and a price tag that can reach $130,000.
As with previous Teslas, owners have high loyalty to the brand and the concept.
16 years ago, long before Tesla cars even existed, high tech entrepreneurs Kenneth and Gabrielle Adelman drove leased General Motors EV1s, one of the first serious attempts by a major car maker to build an all-electric car.
Ever since GM forced the Adelmans to return the EV1s, they've acquired just about every model of electric car ever since.
"We've counted them up and it's somewhere around 14 or 15 electric cars. The early cars, basically the people who were driving them were enthusiasts who were willing to forgive a lot of, sort of the rough edges about the car." said Gabrielle Adelman.
Today, they have four all- electric vehicles: a Toyota RAV4-EV, an AC Propulsion tzero, a Tesla Sport Roadster and a Tesla Model S.
Soon, they will take delivery of a $100,000 plus Tesla Model X SUV, something they deposited $40,000 three years ago to acquire. "Tesla's the first car that's actually not a compromise. It's actually, in every way, a better car," said Kenneth Adelman.
The Adelmans figure the costs of ownership differently than most people.
"There's one compromise: its up-front cost is higher. But the life-cycle cost, because the fuel is so much cheaper and the maintenance is so much cheaper; the lifecycle cost is the same if not cheaper," said Kenneth Adelman.
And they're not afraid of running out of electricity.
"I can drive this car 260 miles in a day at 75 miles an hour at freeway speeds and if I need more I'll drop into a supercharger for 30 minutes and I'll have another 260 miles," said Mr. Adelman.
And while the power grid charges their cars with a lot of fossil fuel generated electricity, they see that differently too.
"The dirtiest an electric car is ever going to be is the day you drive it out of the dealership because the grid keeps getting better. It takes more electricity to make a gallon of gas to push something that size, like a Lexus, a hundred miles than it takes electricity to push this car a hundred miles," he explained.
Except for Nissan, the company that makes the all-electric Leaf, the Adelman's doubt the sincerity of other car makers.
"I feel that the auto companies could have done a lot more affordable and appealing to a lot of people" said Gabrielle Adelman. Sometime before the end of the year when the Adelman's take delivery of their Model X Tesla SUV, the will have one of the most complete collections of modern electric vehicles anywhere.