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I expect that also, something like jcstp mentioned, a coupe and/or convertible based on the Model S chassis, kind of like what Fisker is doing with the Karma Sunset.If they do decide to build another sports car, I'd expect it to be more of a luxury sports car - something quite a bit larger, with rear seats, and derived from the Model S platform.
Americans like huge, oversized vehicles, which I imagine is why Tesla Motors changed their original plan from making a practical car as their third model to making a big SUV as the Model X.
The U.S. Roadster 2.5 did sell out when the announcement was made that this summer was the last, but the added 100 Roadsters (50/50 US/EU+) have been slow to sell. I predict that if Tesla Motors tried to make 10,000 Roadsters, they wouldn't really be able to sell them (unless the price was significantly less, but that does complicate the predictions).
I compare the Honda Insight hybrid, made between 2000 and 2006, 88 mpg EPA. Those are way more efficient than the Prius, but the Prius sells in larger numbers because it is a larger vehicle.
I believe that the only reason Honda discontinued this version of the Insight (replacing it with a much larger vehicle) is that they effectively saturated the market.
Between the fact that the "new roadster" being discussed is not a roadster, and the less-than-popular nature of small, 2-seater vehicles, I'd say that it will be a long time before Tesla Motors considers making a few thousand Roadster 3.0 models. Model R, anyone?
.... They made the Prius look more like a car a normal person would drive....
First time I've heard anyone say this.
No, I'm not saying that. Usually, when a car doesn't sell well, you never see it again and it continues to sell poorly in the used market. In contrast, I see several examples of the 1999-2006 Honda Insight driving around Seattle all the time, and when they appear as a used vehicle at the dealership, they sell really fast. So, what I am saying is that a finite number of people want to drive that smaller car to get the 88 mpg, but that this market of people is entirely served by the existing cars. Honda cannot really produce any more of them because the people who want them already have one or would prefer to spend less on a used one.Personally I think marketing and design also played a big part of that. The original Insight was a weird looking quirky car. They made the Prius look more like a car a normal person would drive.
I don't get the "saturating the market" bit (here or about the roadster). They didn't sell well... that's saturating?
The first Prius looked like a normal car as you showed. Then Toyota brilliantly realized that the car HAD to look unique and unsual so people could advertise thier green cred.
comparison...
Not sure if this is directed at me. I am willing to back my statement if it was.Prius owners are among the most intelligent and successful people I know, and the least concerned about their automotive image. That particular attempt at explanation of the phenomenal success of the Prius seems a bit, well, smug.
The first Prius looked like a normal car as you showed. Then Toyota brilliantly realized that the car HAD to look unique and unsual so people could advertise thier green cred.
You both make good points. While the skateboard does allow prone seating, it cannot actually allow the seating arrangement afforded by the Lotus chassis. In the Tesla Roadster, we are actually sitting below the top of the structural members of the frame. You can't really do that with the Model S platform unless you move the batteries out of the way and hollow out a spot for the driver (and passenger).Uh, no. A skateboard design implies any seating position you care to put onto it. Without the engine blocking your view, you could lay the drive prone.With all else equal, a skateboard design implies a taller seating position and thus a taller vehicle. Air drag, which accounts for most of the power on the highway, goes up with area. For rough numbers, increasing the height from four feet to five feet implies 25% more drag and requires maybe 20% more power, yielding something like that much less highway range for an EV. Wow, what a concept!
P.S. Earlier today, I was considering the possibilities for a pickup truck variation on the Tesla Roadster; one which maintains the low profile but has a wide, long bed for storing large flat objects. Obviously, such a vehicle could not carry tall things, but if you need to transport relief maps or other large documents that maybe cannot be rolled up, or anything else that is sizable in two dimensions but not the third like sheets of glass, then there seems to be an opportunity for a new class of cargo vehicle that has a very low drag area. No idea how much cargo that fits these dimensional constraints is moved around these days, but if Tesla Motors designs a reusable platform then perhaps it would not take a great deal of work to alter the body this way.