Tesla Motors and Athlon Car Lease, a division of the Dutch-based Rabobank, have reached an agreement to introduce Model S, Tesla’s premium electric sedan, into corporate fleets across Europe.
Athlon Car Lease has also reserved 150 Model S sedans to ensure early availability of Model S for its customers. This is the first Model S fleet reservation made worldwide by a leasing company.
Athlon Car Lease plans to lease them to corporations in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. The two companies first established a leasing program for the Tesla Roadster and Roadster Sport across Europe in July of last year. The Model S leasing program extends this partnership into several other countries including Sweden, Portugal and Poland.
Tesla Model S comes with three battery pack options, 40kWh, 60kWh or 85kWh, ranging from 160 to 300 miles. It can be recharged using any conventional outlet and is capable of a fast charge of 45 minutes.
In the U.S., the base version of a Tesla Model S with a 40-kilowatt-hour battery pack, able to travel as far as 160 miles per charge, will cost $57,400 or $49,900 after federal tax credits. The 230-mile version is priced at $67,400 and the 300-mile Model S will cost $77,400 after federal tax credits.
A top-of-the-line version of the Model S, which has the same 85-kWh battery as the 300-mile version, will cost as much as $92,400 ($87,400 after federal tax credits) when it goes on sale in 2012.
Top speeds range from 110 mph to 130 mph, and the 0-60 mph times range from a respectable 6.5 seconds to a very fast 4.4 seconds in the performance model.
Tesla has more than 8,000 reservations worldwide for its Model S sedan, which is expected to be delivered to European customers starting in late 2012.
