Tesla to make its electric vehicles more affordable

Tesla said on Thursday that it has started selling a cheaper version of its Model S car in an attempt to make its electric vehicles more affordable for more people.  The new version, called the Model S 60, starts at $66,000. An all-wheel drive version of the Model S 60 will start at $71,000. Both cost less than the current Model S 90D, which starts at $89,500. Tesla said that when tax incentives and gas-savings are taken into account, the Model S 60 will have an effective cost of about $50,000.

The company says the Model S 60 can travel 200 miles per charge and has a top speed of 130 miles per hour. Palo Alto, California-based Tesla Motors Inc. is taking orders for the new Model S 60 for delivery next month, according to its website.

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India has also been identified as a market for one of the more affordable models of their cars, that carry a price tag of $35,000.  This came about when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Tesla Motors facility in silicon Valley last year. According to Musk, he and Modi talked about electricity generation and the way to skip ahead as it happened in the cell phones where it skipped ahead of landlines.

Musk also said rural areas can have solar panels with battery packs which means there need not be electricity lines and skip ahead to next generation to power generation. While unveiling the model’s prototype, Musk said the car would go into production in 2017. According to him, the car would accelerate from 0-60 kmph in less than 60 seconds and can go up to 345 km on a single charge. Musk also said the car will be on sale by 2017-end and has a pre-order level of around 117,000 units.

With inputs from AP and IANS