With the release of its first model, the Roadster, Tesla Motors made a name for itself as the top dog at the high end of the electric vehicle market. Tesla’s Roadster is a sleek, $100,000 plus all electric sports car that goes 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds. Tesla, founded by Paypal cofounder Elon Musk, was already the wunderkind of electric vehicle start-ups. The Roadster waiting list was a who’s who list of celebrities and other million/billionaires. However, Musk did not create Tesla to be a boutique shop catering only to a small group of A-listers. His vision is much larger than that. Musk wants Tesla to compete with the A-list automakers for market share. The Model S is Tesla’s venture into mainstream luxury, channeling the design of top European models. The sedan will retail for $50,000 (after a tax break), but still packs Tesla’s signature electric performance: taking its driver from stopped to 60 in 5.6 seconds, it tops out at 130 mph. Of course, with any EV a major question is always range: how far you can drive on one battery charge. The Model S offers three battery pack options, the base model has a range of about 160 miles, the next up offers 230, and the top-of-the-line version can go for 300 miles between charges. While the Model S comes with the features, performance, and price tag of a luxury sedan, Musk is quick to point out that its lifetime cost is, in fact, far lower because it runs on electric power instead of gasoline. Musk calculates that if gas is at $4 a gallon, the Model S will end up costing its owner the same as a Ford Taurus! This is just a small step towards becoming an automaking giant for Tesla, as the Silicon Valley darling will produce only 20,000 units of the Model S a year to start. With the unveiling of the Model S following Aptera’s unveiling of its $30,000 2e model, the electric car buyer is really starting to develop some options.