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Californian electric car company Tesla is developing an electric 2+2 coupe as a follow up to its Lotus Elise-based Roadster.
Codenamed White Star, the new model will be cheaper than the $98,000 ($NZ127,000) Roadster, and built in bigger numbers.
It is being designed and engineered entirely in the US, with no input from Lotus, and will be manufactured in North America too.
Tesla is getting close to delivering the first Roadsters to customers - it now has over 500 orders for the two-seater, which has a range of over 200 miles and can hit 60mph in around 4.0 seconds.
It is powered by a 240bhp electric motor whose energy source is 6381 lithium-ion batteries, recharged via a mains electricity supply.
- REUTERS
