Monday, March 7, 2011

Gas 2.0

Gas 2.0

Tesla Model S to Launch with Pricy “Signature Series”

Posted: 07 Mar 2011 02:45 PM PST

Tesla has pinned a lot of hopes on the Model S, the all-electric sedan due out next year. The first 1,000 cars off the assembly line will be the "Signature Series" Model S, with 300 miles of range…and more.

Car companies often launch a new vehicle with a limited edition first series. The most recent example I can think of was the launch of the Dodge Challenger, which was available at first with only the biggest, meanest engine. The Tesla Model S will feature a different sort of special edition. The Signature Series will come with a 300 mile-per-charge battery, giving the Model S of any proposed production electric vehicle coming to market. Tesla expects to make the first deliveries of the Model S in the middle of next year, and is taking a whopping $40,000 reservation on the first models. Knowing Tesla, these sedans won't come cheap.

So what about the rest of us? Well Tesla will also be offering 160 mile and 230 mile battery options in the Tesla, the 160 mile battery should set the Model S's price at around $49,900. The 230 mile option adds a $10,000 price premium, while the 300 mile option adds a whooping $20,000.

Is this the future? Paying for electric cars based on how far they can travel? It could be. Tesla expects to sell 5,000 Model S sedans in 2012, and 20,000 in 2013, and they already have an Alpha build of the electric sedan on the roads. Lofty goals for what is still a very expensive vehicle, gas or no gas. Still interested?

Source: Tesla

Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to HEMIs. You can follow his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout.

Oil Hits $106 a Barrel on Increase Speculative Interests

Posted: 07 Mar 2011 11:07 AM PST

I put off filling up my Jeep until after my errands and, 90 minutes later, the price had jumped seven cents a gallon to $3.75. Now I find out that oil is at $106 a barrel. This feels familiar.

The gas price run-up of 2008 put the hurt on everyone's wallets, and once again we are staring down the barrel of rapidly rising gas prices. And again, it seems like it is rising for no reason. Sure, there is the unrest in North Africa and the Middle East, but Saudi Arabia is making up for the loss of supply by increasing their output.

It is oil speculators who put money on oil futures that are running up the prices. They are hedging bets against where oil prices may go, causing prices to fluctuate. In fact, big energy traders are hedging huge bets that oil prices will continue to go up, with nearly twice as many long contracts on oil open as the last big speculation run up in 2008.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve actually has more oil stockpiled than at any point in the last five years, and all the unrest hasn't affected global output at all.

The one bright side? If everybody in the Middle East settles down, oil prices could come plunging back to Earth. I think I'd rather see a bunch of Middle East dictatorships fall than gas prices though.

Source: CNN

Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to HEMIs. You can follow his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout.
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