Modified Tesla Model S by Saleen Spotted

The Tesla Model S is already a very fast car, I wonder how much faster it will be when Saleen finished their work on the car.



from the article:
While the extent of the work done by Saleen on the Tesla Model S won’t go as far as rebuilding the entire car with higher performance bits, it is expected to make the all-electric sedan noticeably faster.
At least they’re doing it and showing it is a candidate for other tuner’s attention, as well – it seems nobody has yet dared to tackle a full Model S extreme performance build.

3 pictures and full article

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Under a 300 mile range on a charge, still a cool car, would not trade my D for it in million years...

Even with coast to coast superchargers, it still takes 20min for a half charge. I've done plenty of 1000+mi drives in one day. Stopping every ~120 mi's (half charge) and waiting 20min for a charge would add ~3 hrs to my drive + time to go out of my way to find a charger. That would push me over my personal 14-16 hr limit (I'm too cheap to take 2 days and pay for a hotel).

They could be a great car around town but they have a long way to go for serious driving distances.

kulak said:

Even with coast to coast superchargers, it still takes 20min for a half charge. I've done plenty of 1000+mi drives in one day. Stopping every ~120 mi's (half charge) and waiting 20min for a charge would add ~3 hrs to my drive + time to go out of my way to find a charger. That would push me over my personal 14-16 hr limit (I'm too cheap to take 2 days and pay for a hotel).

They could be a great car around town but they have a long way to go for serious driving distances.

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It is definatly a city car, but they have to start somewhere, electricity is fast that's for sure...

I have a passat tdi now and fuel cost is a joke, but if the prices go double I will jump ship to EV.

kulak said:

Even with coast to coast superchargers, it still takes 20min for a half charge. I've done plenty of 1000+mi drives in one day. Stopping every ~120 mi's (half charge) and waiting 20min for a charge would add ~3 hrs to my drive + time to go out of my way to find a charger. That would push me over my personal 14-16 hr limit (I'm too cheap to take 2 days and pay for a hotel).

They could be a great car around town but they have a long way to go for serious driving distances.

Click to expand...

A friend of mine in VT owns a Tesla Model S and absolutely loves it. I've been a passenger in it and it is SCARY fast! 0-60 in 4.0 seconds. 440 ft-lbs of weapons-grade torque instantly available at any speed. Torque curve is flat from 0 RPM to max speed, whatever that is. No gears to shift due to it only having a single gear ratio from the motor to the wheels. When I was out with him on a trip, from almost a dead stop he mashed the electric pedal to the floor and kept it there, flattening me into my seat and kept me there until he let off about 5 seconds later at over 90 MPH.

He has had the car less than a year and already has 30k miles on it. It's like me with my diesel cars. He has driven the car from VT to Cocoa Beach FL twice since getting the car in September, 2013. More fast charging stations have come on line each time he's done the trip. He has had no problem finding a charging station but still has the downtime to deal with which he doesn't mind.

Owning an electric car works for this friend of mine but doesn't work for me yet. It could work for me as a second vehicle but I've already got that one covered with a second diesel vehicle.

One of these days I may get a chance to test drive his Tesla Model S.

n1das said:

A friend of mine in VT owns a Tesla Model S and absolutely loves it. I've been a passenger in it and it is SCARY fast! 0-60 in 4.0 seconds. 440 ft-lbs of weapons-grade torque instantly available at any speed. Torque curve is flat from 0 RPM to max speed, whatever that is. No gears to shift due to it only having a single gear ratio from the motor to the wheels. When I was out with him on a trip, from almost a dead stop he mashed the electric pedal to the floor and kept it there, flattening me into my seat and kept me there until he let off about 5 seconds later at over 90 MPH.

He has had the car less than a year and already has 30k miles on it. It's like me with my diesel cars. He has driven the car from VT to Cocoa Beach FL twice since getting the car in September, 2013. More fast charging stations have come on line each time he's done the trip. He has had no problem finding a charging station but still has the downtime to deal with which he doesn't mind.

Owning an electric car works for this friend of mine but doesn't work for me yet. It could work for me as a second vehicle but I've already got that one covered with a second diesel vehicle.

One of these days I may get a chance to test drive his Tesla Model S.

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Too bad I would have to sell my house to own one, that right their is enough for me to never have interest in this car except to look at, the only EV car I can afford is a Prius and their is no way im going there...sorry Tesla, your price point to what you deliver is insane thinking...still a cool car

I'd be happy with a standard S.

El Dobro said:

I'd be happy with a standard S.

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same here

DieselRacer said:

Under a 300 mile range on a charge, still a cool car, would not trade my D for it in million years...

Click to expand...

kulak said:

Even with coast to coast superchargers, it still takes 20min for a half charge. I've done plenty of 1000+mi drives in one day. Stopping every ~120 mi's (half charge) and waiting 20min for a charge would add ~3 hrs to my drive + time to go out of my way to find a charger. That would push me over my personal 14-16 hr limit (I'm too cheap to take 2 days and pay for a hotel).

They could be a great car around town but they have a long way to go for serious driving distances.

Click to expand...

DieselRacer said:

Too bad I would have to sell my house to own one, that right their is enough for me to never have interest in this car except to look at, the only EV car I can afford is a Prius and their is no way im going there...sorry Tesla, your price point to what you deliver is insane thinking...still a cool car

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The Tesla is definitely meant for folks that never leave big city areas and/or people who are wealthy and want it to be a second, third, fourth, or thirtieth vehicle. If it were built for 'normal' people like us, it wouldn't cost so damn much.

manual_tranny said:

The Tesla is definitely meant for folks that never leave big city areas and/or people who are wealthy and want it to be a second, third, fourth, or thirtieth vehicle. If it were built for 'normal' people like us, it wouldn't cost so damn much.

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I believe there will be an entry level Tesla that will be affordable.

The problem is that big batteries (which are big enough for actual distance) are expensive, and they can also get people with more disposable income to subsidize development of less expensive models.

Well, I have a TDI JSW and I have an all-electric Fiat 500e, so I can comment on owning both a diesel and a BEV. I originally bought the JSW when I had a 150mile/day work commute, and it saved my considerable $$$ on fuel over a RUG car, even at diesel more expensive than RUG. Then my work commute changed to 70 miles/day, and an electric started to make sense as my commuter car. Being an engineer, I was never totally sold on pure electrics because of battery limitations, but I have become a believer....if the car is purchased for very specific usages, which is commuting, and as a around town errand getter. For those uses, it is stellar. I have to admit that my buying decision on the electric was heavily influenced by several California-specific factors: $2500 cash rebate on BEV's from California, $7500 Federal tax credit, a free level 2 fast charger at work that I use at no cost to fuel up, and the ability to travel in the carpool lane with only one person aboard. All taken together, it was a no-brainer. And the car is a blast to drive, gobs of torque everywhere, and quiet. I still love my JSW, and it is the go-to car for highway trips and hauling stuff. In fact, I may get a mark 7 Golf Sportwagen to replace it when I get near 100K miles (HPFP warranty concerns).

trev0006 said:

I have a passat tdi now and fuel cost is a joke, but if the prices go double I will jump ship to EV.

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People said the same thing 10 years ago.