A small correction - I believe the date of 2009 was mis-reported. We haven't yet confirmed specifically when we would expect to see an all-electric model or any range-extended option. We will certainly offer the all-electric version, and probably earlier than the REEV (range extended electric vehicle) option is available. I also want to point out that calling it a "gas-electric hybrid" makes it sound like it is similar to what you would find in today's hybrids like a Prius. That isn't what we are planning. An "REEV" is basically an electric vehicle with full electric performance and a reasonable range (let's say 50 miles) but also an onboard generator that is powered by standard fuels that allow you to continue driving and charging after you have depleted the battery. In this setup, many people would be able to have most of their miles driven be purely electric but also have the flexibility to go longer distances if necessary.

Darryl (from Tesla)

Please stop helping the automobile industry with their desperate greenwashing efforts. Electric cars are the light and low-tar cigarettes of the automobile industry. Purely propaganda while they continue to fight efforts to improve fuel efficiency.

Automobiles will never be sustainable. Even if they don't use gas, there is still the huge ecological footprint required to build and maintain them. Then there is all the resources and land required to build roads and parking lots.

Transit, rail and cycling are the way to go.

Richard, with all due respect, you are a dolt. Tesla is an independent company, not affiliated with any other automotive company in any way. I did say Dolt, not volt. :)

As for the rest of your post, absolutely dismissible as crankish nonsense. Go away now.

Thanks Richard, your comment is right on! That's the only way to do it right.

In the meantime though, I do like cars, and Tesla would be stupid to do a gasoline generator. It would be much smarter to do a diesel generator for the car (they're much better at generating electricity). They could have the same range with half the fuel tank size!

Of course Richard is correct.

(And last time I checked he was a well respected transportation consultant and activist and in fact not a dolt).

There may be some limited role for automobiles in a sustainable future (ambulances and fire trucks?) but by no means will they be the main form of transportation. It simply would not be sustainable.

For a more detailed discussion of this see:
worldchanging.com/archives/007800.html

I'm kinda with Willy. I'm not buying that electricity-powered personal transportation isn't sustainable. Solar and wind power getting cheaper and moving to where people can be self sufficient off the grid in rural areas seems to be a much more livable scenario than stacking everybody in high rises where they're forever under the thumb of the electric company to sell them all their electricity.

I started to read that novel rob posted but I'd need the Cliff's Notes on that one. It's too much for me to knock out here at 2:30am. I'm sure it's full of plenty of statistics showing that the author's theory for how the world should work is the only way to go, but hey, those theories tend to have pretty gaping holes in them.

The world will never get rid of the car. It might make them less necessary in some places, but electric cars are brilliant products and suggesting that the world should just give up cars entirely is utterly unrealistic and ain't gonna happen.

Driving around REV cars that get 100MPG instead of 20MPG means at least an 80% cut in emissions if they drive the same amount. If the car is powered by wind, water, solar power, then only the longer trips will cause any emissions. Electric cars have far less maintenance needs. Gas generators are incredibly robust and operate at peak efficiency pretty much at all times.

Electric car promotion isn't greenwashing. It's proper.

Of course Richard's right. Carrying round 1-2 tons of metal, glass & plastic wherever you go? We have to get out of the mindset that assumes this is normal!

Oh god, you lot are what gives the business as usual crowd all the ammo they need to sway the masses.

NO CARS NOW!!!

ELECTRIC CARS NO!!!

RIDE A BIKE NOW!!!

There you go, the chant of the cranks. Look, loop-jobs, wouldn't it be wonderful if we never had to drive again, lived in some Utopian setting where only foot and pedal got you to where you needed to go. Yes, wonderful. And no, not within the realm of possibility based on our physical universe.

So wrap your pin brains around that. Or, bash EVs such that big auto can continue producing the the crap they always have.

You lot are so friggin self destructive. It would only be nice if you didn't take everyone else with you.

I can't help but balk at the utter lack of logical process in some people... How is a car any different from a bike or train but for the degree of it's emissions/resource requirements?

It's all relative. And like it or not, it's all a personal decision. Personally i refuse to buy a car, it's just not cost effective when you live in the city. And while i'd normally agree with the Anti-Car group, the sheer personal bias and lack of objectivity in Richard's post is just... stupid.

Seriously, if you're going to advocate public transport and energy efficiency, do it without being so obnoxious.

Willy Bio - I agree with Richard.

The answer is building mass transit as quickly as we possibly can. Big auto will die on its own.

By the way, I happen to live in Seattle, a city that doesn't have mass transit to speak of, and I don't own a car. Hell, I work for a "large software company" (you figure it out).

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we never had to drive again? Given that I've eschewed having a license for the last decade, I'd say it already is.

I live in one of those unsustainable 1500 sf homes outside a very small town. Our local infrastructure has such narrow roads with high enough speed limits so that it is dangerous to walk / bicycle unless you are very agile. The only public transportation in our area is the Senior Center Shorty Bus. I'm REALLY looking forward to getting an electric vehicle someday (hopefully soon).

In a perfect world, I could sell my home, move into an eco-friendly, solar-powered 500 sf home with composting toilets and a garden on the roof to grow my organic produce and I would walk to everything I wanted / needed to do. That's what the argument in the comments to this blog appear to suggest.

I love how people react to cars like they do abortion. To some, it is unthinkable to have cars, to others it is unthinkable to go without.

Back to the Tesla Hybrid: Why bother?

Ugh, I give up. No reasoning with the insane. Forest through the trees.

Considering some of the comments spoken here, I think it's sensible for Telsa to do a PHEV. Hopefully, they would take in effect some of the newest ultra capacitor and quick charging technolgoies that are out there.

Mark... you can do that. That's basically what I did. I don't have a composting toilet, but I do flush with rainwater.

They funny thing is the "ride a bike NOW" people aren't the target audience for Tesla (or their hypocrites hiding on the web) so I doubt Tesla cares what they think.

You can ride a bike to work, the store, and even move by bike, but all the stuff you buy at the store will never get there by bike and will never be grown entirely by bike.

If you want to go off the grid and grow EVERYTHING you need and not purchase items from a farmer and trucked to a store, fine then "ride a bike" makes perfect sense.

All theories and Geekiness aside..........lets face it......the human race is NOT sustainable.........no kidding! We consume. There is only so much TO consume. Eventually we will consume it all....(or basically everything we REALY need to consume.) Its really a question of how long.....how many centuries......how many generations........Is that wrong? Is that something to be afraid of? No, on both counts. Its natural.

Be a Geek if you want.........be a pragmatist.........but just remember we are human..........no one will give up EVERYTHING to save the planet.......or else we wouldn't be electronically communicating with you Geeks..........not many will appreciate the suggestions insights of those that see the problems and really want to fix them.......The Middle Ground will always be Zone of Reality............all sides just need to find it.........

It s technically quite possible to build sustainable automobiles. A few years ago Ford built a soy plastic car that used few metal parts (based in part on research done by G.W. Carver and H. Ford in 1920s and 30s), and those it did use could be recycled, as could the plastic body, either as a fertilizer or reconstituted plastic.

The reason GM and other manufacturers have spent so much money on hydrogen-electric cars is they realized more than 15 years ago that H and fuel cells represented not just the one technology that would work for all modes/vehicles, but also a technology (fuel cells and electric motors) that would radically simplify manufacturing. No more drive shafts, transmissions and engine blocks. Instead systems of manufacture that require far less of everything, and devices that are sophisticated at the molecular level but much less costly to manufacture. The membrane problems with fuel cells are being addressed, by GE among others, and there's ample reason to believe the problems of using costly platinum in fuel cells will be solved.

The real problem with excessive car use is parking. One car equals five parking spaces, and many cities devote 60% of land area to cars. This is bad economics based on the lie that cars are inexpensive. According to US DOT it costs $.25 cents a passenger mile to go by train, $.60 plus to do the same by car. In short, trains would save more than they cost to build.

But few know this and almost everyone thinks the issues is all about the vehicle not the system. If we look at systems it becomes obvious that two tracks in the middle of the freeway can move more people or freight than the entire freeway -- four or six lanes. In cities the issue is space, not vehicles.

Build it all with recyclable and permeable concrete, recyclable steel and other metals, as well as organic plastics and a bit of wood for interior trim, now add renewable energy to power it all and you've got a renewable and sustainable system. It would probably not be 100% sustainable, but damn close.

Meanwhile note the railway renaissance. It is worldwide and it involves major new lines in dozens of countries. In US 50+ small rail projects since 1980, in virtually all major cities. The US is generally lagging behind.

Really, we all need to pull our heads out of our behinds and acknowledge that not everyone is going to be as dedicated as we are. Not everyone will give up so much, so fast. You have to make the transition as easy as possible while still maintaining the necessary pace of change. If you fail to convince the unconvinced masses that change is worth doing then we will use every drop of fossil fuels nd knock out every species and habitat until we destroy ourselves by creating a planetary wasteland. Gas-electric hybrids and all-electric vehicles are a major, major step up, not least of all because it is much easier to generate green electricity than green fuels. If we move the cars on-grid we can focus on cleaning up the grid. If we clean up the grid we can use electricity to make our own fuels, and then even the "gas" stage can be made clean.

And yes, trains move traffic far more efficiently, but they move on tracks. My train won't take me to my front door, so my options for getting to and from various trains stations are primarily walking, bicycling, motorcycling, and cars. Geography and geometry dictate that not everyone will be within walking distance of a train station. Biking is better, but not if you have a family with elderly folks and little kids. And my 82 year old uncle whose car we had to take away needs to get around to. More importantly, trains are only good if where you're going can be reached by available means once you get off the train. This could mean renting a bike or car locally (I saw lots of bike rentals in Beijing when I was there, and in Boston I use zipcar). But there will still be a need for vehicles that can go down all the sidestreets that are not powered by legs.