Sacramento Business Journal

Electric car business Tesla Motors Inc. took 711 reservations, at $5,000 a pop, for its model S sedan, due out in late 2011, in the two weeks since it first showed the car.

That adds up to $3.5 million for the company, though the $5,000 reservation fees are refundable.

The sedan model will cost about $57,500 each, though owners will be eligible for a $7,500 tax credit, cutting the cost to about $50,000.

Using a $4.25-per-gallon guess at future gas prices, Tesla’s math says the sedan “is equivalent to a gas guzzler with a sticker price of about $35,000.”

Meanwhile, bare-bones models of popular hybrids by Honda and Toyota cost about $21,000 in the U.S., and with more features cost around $30,000.

Tesla’s sedan will have a range from 160 miles to 300 miles depending on the battery pack. Other, longer-range batteries will cost more, but the company hasn’t said how much.

Recharging the sedan takes 45 minutes, depending on the power supply where it’s plugged in.

In March, Tesla delivered 100 of its $109,000 sports car, the Roadster. That makes a total of 330 sports cars delivered so far.

One of the Roadsters went 241 miles on a single charge in a recent alternative energy vehicle rally in the south of France and Monaco.

Tesla plans to open a shop soon in the posh Knightsbridge district of London, a neighborhood south of Hyde Park and near Harrods department store.

Recently, Tesla said it will be building the model S in Southern California, not in San Jose, where it once hoped to build a factory and head office.