Some 400 Tesla Roadster customers are really mad. In an e-mail to Tesla Roadster customers, Tesla Motors’ CEO Elon Musk said that the electric-car company is losing substantial profit on each vehicle it makes and to makeup for the loss it will start charging additional dollars for some features.
Musk said that when Tesla first set the price on the Roadster at $92,000 - it had no idea that the actual production model would run close to $140,000. He said that Tesla expected each production model to cost about $65,000 per unit. While suppliers have helped Tesla cut some cost, each Tesla Roadster still costs “between $90,000 and $100,000 to build. Even after a price hike last year to $98,000 and then to $109,000, Tesla is still losing quite a bit of money on its electric-car.
So why are the 400 Tesla customers angry? Well, Musk said that those who placed a $50,000 deposit will still get their cars for $92,000 - but will have to cash out extra for custom alloy wheels and a high-speed charging cable that they would have originally gotten when they first placed their deposit.
Musk said that Tesla will charge an additional $3,000 for the turbine-blade wheels and another $3,000 for the high-speed charging cord that helps the Tesla reach full charge in 3-hours. Without the high-speed charging cable, the Tesla Roadster will take about 37 hours to recharge.
Tesla’s CEO said that the company expects to get its production down to about $80,000 by this summer.
Source: Green Car Advisor
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