Electric cars have come a long way since the days of looking like golf carts gone highway and the Tesla Model S Sedan is prime evidence of what’s to come (we hope!). Tesla recently debuted the model in California as a lower-cost alternative to its Roadster, a vehicle certainly not short on driver appeal but out of the realm of most buyers at $100,000 plus.  The Model S is no cheap buy itself at $49,000 (and that’s after a $7,500 federal tax credit), but seems poised to be a popular choice for drivers nonetheless.

The sedan definitely doesn’t fall short on appeal—you looked at the picture, right?—but there are a range of features that are likely to have car shoppers justifying the added expense. For one thing, the Model S is said to get more miles to a charge than the Roadster whose footsteps it’s following in, about 300 compared to 240 on the predecessor. And while the Roadster achieves zero to sixty miles per hour in 3.9 seconds, the Model S is still competitive at just under six seconds (for a much smaller price tag). Interior features are equally appealing and include a 17-inch touch screen, 3G wireless internet, and HD and satellite radio. We’re more enticed, however, by the eco-friendly vegetable-tanned leather and 100 percent recycled PET carpeting that seems a perfect choice for a vehicle with such environmental aspirations. For charging, the new Tesla is just as fast as it is on the road, capable of being charged in as little as 45 minutes or even 5 minutes if you swap it out completely.

According to many environmentalists, electric cars are the automobiles of the future, and this one seems to have all the right under-the-hood (or in this case, under-the-seat) components; not to mention looks that are a lot more luxe than the current favorite green vehicle, the Prius—Leonardo DiCaprio even traded up from his Prius to a Roadster—but the sedan is not without a few issues. Cost, of course, will be the main one for most of us. Another concern is when the Model S will actually be available, as of now production is slated for late 2011. Some of the features being advertised are available only if you add on certain options (the 300-mile battery pack, for example, is not standard) and while that ties back to the cost complaint it also means not everyone will get the performance being identified with the vehicle.

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