Does anyone know how many Model S's exist right now? I figure at this point Tesla is probably producing Beta's or even RC's on a semi-regular basis, but I have been wondering how many actually exist? If nobody knows, it might be fun to guess
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I have wondered the same thing. There has got to be way more than the 3 that have been spotted and floated around. If I remember correctly they were going to build somewhere in the 20's for the Beta's. I would assume there has to be 10 or so at this point rolling around so my question is where are all the pictures of them? Someone has to be spotting them!
NigelM
Recovering Member
The white one from the Fremont event, also in Detroit and now visiting Florida 10 days or so, is #14. Seems to be that the three cars from the October event are still the ones that are being moved around the stores a little more permanently. If there were more roadworthy ones it would make marketing sense to at least station some more around the stores, so obviously *Doug_G* is correct and some are being used for testing and development.
Welcome to the forum. It's a fun place, though it is kind of making me anxious for delivery.
Have they actually made any cars at the Fremont factory yet? My understanding was that all the cars I saw at the October event were manufactured by a third party.
Arnold Panz
Model Sig 304, VIN 542
That's right -- but they've since been using the factory to build Betas. I spoke to the Tesla folks in Florida when I saw the Beta on Thursday evening and they said that they've built "around 30 or 40" by now, mostly for crash testing and the like. Once they get things working a little more smoothly and iron out additional wrinkles in the car and the assembly line, they want to start doing the Release Candidates around March/April (which will then be used for test DRIVES!).
Looking at the photos in this thread:
New (?) pictures from the Factory
I would guess they are build cars at Fremont ...
New (?) pictures from the Factory
I would guess they are build cars at Fremont ...
you're probably right... though i remember hearing in a video a while back that someone at the prototype reveal bought one of them...
Well there is the story of the board member who whipped out his checkbook the moment the board decided the Model S would go on sale...
But that was for a deposit on a car he (as far as I know) still does not have yet.
I don't think they had any prototypes for immediate sale back in 2009 either.
The one, drivable, proof-of-concept car showed back then has been used by the company for many show events since then.
But that was for a deposit on a car he (as far as I know) still does not have yet.
I don't think they had any prototypes for immediate sale back in 2009 either.
The one, drivable, proof-of-concept car showed back then has been used by the company for many show events since then.
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I was told today at Santana Row that the beta there was produced at Fremont for the store, 85% on the production line. It's the first car out with robotically applied paint, using the production paint facility. The paint is incredibly tough; a metal pole that hold the velvet rope around the car has fallen on the car three times (bare, polished metal) and not left a scratch.
There were some visible "not quite there yet" on the paint and a few other exterior places, which they are working on improving. There was a lot of room for improvement on the interior, which was still hand-built.
NigelM
Recovering Member
The sig red prototype was in FL in late August, I believe that it was the last official stop, but I do remember the transport driver telling me he was heading back to CA with it. Somewhere or other I do recall someone telling me it cost around $2m to build that prototype and that it was destined for a Tesla museum or something similar.
I don't think that they're legally allowed to sell them to folks outside the company given that they are not road-legal. I suppose that there may be a way around that; perhaps they have the guy sign something saying that he'll never drive it on a public road. After all, there are lots of non-road-legal vehicles sold (race cars, etc), right?
Anyway, I have a hard time imagining that they would sell a prototype, then again, they were really hard up for cash for a while there.
As far as building them at the factory, I'm pretty sure that the guy in charge of production from Tesla said during the recent investor conference call that they had made complete cars at the factory already. I don't think that he was referring to any of the original betas (the ones from the Oct. 3 event).
