Gadgetory

Steve Jurvetson sees the car of tomorrow in his new all-electric Tesla Model S I think it's symbolic of the future it represents the way all cars will be at one time it's a vision his venture capital firm draper fisher jurvetson is banking on the firm was an early investor in tesla motors and Jurvetson was actually the first customer to get a model s not everyone can afford Tesla's new sedan the basic model runs 50 grand and a souped-up version costs a hundred grand while Tesla may not be producing electric vehicles or v's for the masses it is pushing the market forward what they've done is they've catalyzed every major automotive manufacturer to get on the ball and get serious about electric vehicles so just how much does an EV cost most land in the forty thousand dollar range but a well equipped to nissan leaf has a friendlier price tag in the low 30s and there are incentives a lot of these cars are qualifying currently for federal tax credits which right now stand at 7,500 dollars that's in almost every case beneficial to you as a taxpayer and probably another couple grand from your state so let's call it a ten-thousand-dollar discount and maintenance costs are relatively minimal electric cars don't require things like oil changes they don't require things like transmission service but as gas engine cars become more reliable and warranties improve paying the mechanic less isn't a strong selling point what is likely to draw customers batteries that charge faster and readily available charging stations your move EV industry in San Francisco I'm Sumi das cnet.com for CBS News