Tesla’s Model S Aims for 2010

Tesla Motors, the fine folks who brought us the all-electric Roadster sports car, are working on a five-passenger sedan called the S. The company plans on bringing the car to market in 2010, after its California manufacturing plant is complete.

While the Roadster was based on a Lotus platform, the S will be completely developed in-house. It will also be a bit cheaper than the $100k Roadster, since its body will be formed from aluminum rather than carbon fiber. According to Autocar, a U.K. site, there will be three models of the S available: a 160-mile range for $60,000; a 220-mile range for $68,000; and a future 300-mile range version that hasn’t had a price pinned on it yet.

Tesla will use the same lithium-ion battery technology that powers the Roadster in the S series, and it expects to eventually sell 20,000 S cars a year. If the California company can pull off building a four-door EV sedan for $60,000, the plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt — which still requires gasoline and will likely retail for more than $40,000 — may have a serious challenger on its alternative-fuel hands.

The image is obviously from Autocar.co.uk.