Working at Tesla and reading this, everyone here has made good and arguable points. I do agree that the infrastructure for charging is still in its early stages, but the cars are absolutely incredible.
Being able to drive the Performance 85kWh (beat the BMW M5, C63 AMG, and the Dodge Viper SRT-10 down the 1/4 mile) numerous times the performance on it is truly unbelievable. I strongly recommend trying to schedule a test drive at a local dealer/design studio.
Do i think Tesla will be around for a while, absolutely, company just turned its first profit in quarter one and the loan that we received will be paid back 5 years earlier than expected. Tesla's big push will be the Gen 3 car we come out with still waiting to see what that will entail.
Model X, the SUV is set to begin production next year the SUV/crossover.
Projected costs of a replacement battery pack right now ranges from $10-12K. They are expected to last you anywhere between 10-15 years, and are warrantied for either 8year/125000miles or 8year/unlimited miles.
Model S vs M5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=vvHTN0Yi1t4
Model S vs C63 AMG
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=xYwSiLTcF0Q
Model S vs Dodge Viper SRT-10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=VLCdP6sMN9k