Tesla Motors Inc Model S Scores High On Value Retention

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Tesla Motors’ vehicles, we all know, rank highly on efficiency and the green factor, but what many don’t know is the fact that they are also a good investment. Tesla CEO Elon Musk who is known for using Twitter for making startling product announcements, this time in a tweet showed how his vehicles depreciate less than those made by rivals.

Tesla vehicles depreciate less

Though Tesla vehicles are expensive, they have found a reasonable number of buyers, thanks in large to their efficiency and sporty specifications and looks. And now, according to Musk, they are a good investment also.

“Important to note that Model S resale value is also higher than that of gasoline cars,” Musk tweeted last week.

Musk, using data from the National Automobile Dealers Association, compared a 2012 Model S with big names such as the Toyota RAV4 EV, Ford Focus Electric, Chevrolet Volt, Nissan Leaf and Mistubishi i-MieV. Though the Model S is the most expensive of the lot, it depreciated the least in three years, maintaining 57.2% value retention. In contrast, the cheaper RAV4 EV managed to retain only 47.6% of its value. The worst performer was Mitsubishi, losing around 80% of its value in the last three years.

High resale value

The statistics come as positive news for buyers who do not want to value in their car purchase too fast. Also the resale value of Tesla cars is also high. “Important to note that Model S resale value is also higher than that of gasoline cars,” Musk tweeted last week.

For Tesla, demand is still high compared to supply, thus resulting in higher resale prices. However, for other EV makers, a lower gasoline price may be a possible reason for such big drops in their vehicles’ values over the three-year period.

Separately, Tesla bagged the top spot on MIT’s list of the smartest companies for 2015. Tesla took the top spot after unseating last year’s winner, Illumina, a U.S. biotech company. The EV firm’s rising popularity and the recent launch of its battery storage business helped it win more scores. Last year, Tesla was at the second position on MIT Technology Review’s fifth annual list of the “50 Smartest Companies.” This year, Illumina is at the number three spot.

The report noted that along with producing electric cars, Tesla introduced an “audacious idea” of “spinning off a line of batteries in service of a big goal: remaking the energy grid for industry, utilities, and residences.”

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