This could mark the first steps in a truly affordable consumer electric car. I’ve always believed that Tesla Motors would be the company to make electric cars a viable option for the public at large and it appears my suspicions might be confirmed in the coming years.

Electric cars are held back by two technological hurdles. The first is that they take a few hours to charge from empty to full. People don’t want to have to wait so long between charges. Gasoline only takes you a minute or two at most and people have come to expect this. The second problem is how many miles of driving you can get out of a single charge. Currently most electric cars have a range of around 80-250 miles before they need to be recharged. This of course varies dramatically depending on the weight being carried, terrain, etc.

However, the Model S could solve some of these problems. It has a range of 300 miles on a single charge and uses “QuickCharge” technology to reduce the charging time to 45 minutes. All of this in a sedan that seats 7 and has a price tag of $49,000. The car also has quite a sporty appearance and should appeal to vehicle enthusiasts as well with it’s 0-60 time of 5.6 seconds.

Official Model S Site
Read more here.