Tesla CEO Musk slams rival Nissan’s batteries
Elon Musk, CEO of electric sportscar maker Tesla Motors Inc., criticized the batteries that will be used by Nissan Motor Co. in its Leaf electric vehicle.
Musk said in a conference call with investors that Nissan’s batteries, which are air cooled, won’t perform as well as Tesla’s, which are cooled off by liquid.
Nissan Leaf cars will start appearing on streets in Oregon later this year.
So far, Palo Alto-based Tesla sells only the $109,000 Roadster, an electric sportscar aimed at rich, early-adopter drivers. But it has ambitions to design and start selling the Model S, a more prosaic sedan that costs half as much and which will be aimed at everyday drivers.
Tesla plans to refit the closed NUMMI plant in Fremont to build the Model S. But rivals – among them huge carmakers with vast experience and manufacturing capacity – are racing Tesla to this new market.
Nissan’s Leaf vehicle is set to go on sale later this year, nearly two years ahead of Tesla’s sedan. The Leaf is supposed to cost around $43,000.
Chevrolet is also working on an electric car called the Volt. It’s a plug-in hybrid that will cost around $41,000.
Read the full story in the San Francisco Business Times.
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