Tesla Motors yesterday officially unveiled a new prototype electric sedan that the company hopes will hit the market in 2011, priced at less than half of the base cost of the company’s troubled Tesla Roadster.

The Tesla Model S Sedan is expected to have a ticket price of $49,900 when production begins in Q3 2011 and will feature a 300-mile range, an improvement over the company’s Roadster by 80-miles. The sedan features a 45-minute fast (partial) charge capability and will fetch a 0-60mph time of just 5.5-seconds.

The company plans to release 20,000 units per year and to lease the battery packs to their customers, which should alleviate motorist concerns about the expensive batteries dying after just a few short years. The car itself will be covered by a 3 to 4 year warranty also.

Inside, the Model S sports 2 LCD displays. One of them is for the gauges behind the steering wheel and the other, a huge full touchscreen in the center console (image below). The car will apparently be a seven-seater too, with 2 seats folded into the trunk that flip up when needed – though they’re probably only large enough for children or pets.

Lets hope Tesla can pull this one off, as it could come close to bringing all-electric motoring to the masses at this price-point.

Sources:

Jalopnik and Gizmodo