Tesla's plans for Whitestar, the sedan version of their electric roadster, are coming along nicely. Head honcho Elon Musk, just announced of a New Mexico factory that'll start construction no later than April 2007. The best part? The 4-door will not only haul more people, but will cost half of the $89,000 roadster. What performance remains after the car is fitted to a heavier chassis, and components are slashed out to lower the price, is yet to be disclosed.

When are the first hack-shops coming together for the mechanically simple electric cars? And when will Tesla tackle the minivan segment? All that torque has to be useful for hauling around today's McNugget-fed preteens.–Brian Lam

Tesla EV [Treehugger and Dvorak]

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