Zenn Motor Company sort of comes close,
but I don’t think you are going to find that range for the price you specified. There are many here, including me, that wishes we could.

http://www.zenncars.com/

I love the concept of the Chevy Volt, but an all electric car described above would be more practical for me.

If I wanted to take an extended weekend trip or something, I could RENT a vehicle for such a purpose.

10 second 0-60 acceleration is OK with me if I get affordability and range. Maybe with an extra ( empty ) battery-pack-compartment that you can slide in an additional battery when the pocketbook allows

btw due to electric motors’ strong torque, electric cars pretty much deliver their stated acceleration times, even when loaded up

Now I’m REALLY excited about what car manufacturers are going to bring to us in the coming year or two regarding electrics and EREVs.

I agree completely. Even with the same ESS as the roadster, I would consider buying it. Since I’m confident that the ESS will be siginificantly improved for 2010, I would strongly consider it. However, I have serious doubts about a 2010 release and the price. I’m OK even if the ESS still has only a 5 yr warrantee if the price on it has come down below $15k. Battery improvements will keep coming and accelerate IMO.

But they haven’t announced the battery they will be using either. So we can’t be sure it will be LiCo cells. HP just launched a brand new set of lap-top batteries with longer lifes and less risk of heat, and Tesla could just as well use these as the ones in the Roadster. So they might end up fixing their battery pack issues with LiCo cells by 2010 just like they fixed the cooling pump thing. It’s too early to rule out buying a Model S like many have said here, based upon things that just aren’t known.

I believe they’ve corrected the cooling pump issue. That is the least of their issues. The biggest is the limited battery life of LiCo cells. They only warrantee it for 5 years and hot climates may have issues.

1) When you talk about what average Americans can afford to buy, remember that there are a whole lot of folk who NEVER buy any cars new at all. So when we talk about new car buyers, we’re already talking about a sub-set of US car drivers that are more affluent than many. There are plenty of $49,999 (AR) cars being sold out there by BMW, MB, Porsche, Audi, etc… It won’t compete against the Volt any more than a Saturn competes against a BMW 335i.

2) There is plenty of room in most folk’s 2-car garage for BOTH a Volt and a Model S. The problem of needing a car for long trips is instantly resolved.

3) Any attempts to generalize what the Model S will be like based upon what the Roadster is like, or what drawings are like, is premature. We’ll have to wait to know if it uses the same battery pack, the same battery cooling pump that runs 24/7, etc.