SALES DRIVEN BY SUPERLATIVE TESLA MODEL S SAFETY RECORD AND EXCELLENT COLD WEATHER PERFORMANCE
PALO ALTO, Calif. – Tesla Model S safety has been at the essence of these cars. Therefore, sales in the fourth quarter of 2013 were the highest in company history by a significant margin. With almost 6,900 vehicles sold and delivered. Therefore, Tesla exceeded prior guidance by approximately 20%. That’s of course, a higher than expected number of cars manufactured. As a result, it was an excellent effort by the Tesla production team and key suppliers; particularly Panasonic.
The two key drivers of demand were the superlative safety record of the Model S and great performance under extremely cold conditions.
Safety Record
Tesla remains the only manufacturer with a perfect safety record of zero deaths or serious, permanent injuries ever. Including the Roadster, Tesla vehicles have now been on the road for almost six years in 31 countries with almost 200 million miles driven to date. Despite dozens of high speed collisions, the driver and passengers have always been protected. This is Tesla’s proudest achievement.
Independent testing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) awarded the Tesla Model S a 5 star safety rating overall. Most notably, it’s a 5 star in every subcategory without exception. Of all vehicles tested, including every major make and model approved for sale in the United States. Because the Model S set a new record for the lowest likelihood of injury to occupants. While the Model S is a sedan, it also exceeded the safety score of all SUV’s and minivans.
Excellent Cold Weather Performance
Due to the precision of its electric powertrain, the Model S has outstanding traction control. Especially relative to the much higher latency and inertia of a gasoline powertrain. As a result, it is able to perform better on snow and ice. Most importantly, than many all-wheel drive gasoline cars. This is also clearly shown in this Tesla produced video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS9uDJGi52A
And many independent reviews and customer produced videos:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tesla%20cold%20weather&sm=3
Tesla’s highest sales per capita are in Norway and the individual customer who owns the most cars lives in Narvik, which is above the Arctic Circle.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2014
