The Saleen FOURSIXTEEN means serious performance for electric vehicles (EV) and is based on a Tesla Model S. You can say that when a serious original equipment maker (OEM) such as Steve Saleen dips his automotive sorcerer’s hands into one of the EV on the market today, the writing is bright red on the wall.
Saleen FOURSIXTEEN pushes the boundaries of EVs
Steve Saleen is better known for his highly exotic S7 supercar and Detroit heavily modified cars, but the Tesla Model S derived FOURSIXTEEN that made its debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance means EV have finally matured. The completely reworked Tesla Model S took the world by surprise. We now know exactly what the Saleen team has created. The Saleen FOURSIXTEEN features and specifications (!@#$%^&*) are simply mouth watering.
Before we dive into the Saleen FOURSIXTEEN features and specifications, anyone who has taken a Model S, or any other commercial EV on a track knows that they are not optimized to run laps on end. You need a serious cooling system in order to exploit the batteries and inverters. None of this is more obvious than watching EV racers. Most electric motorcycles waiting at the start line use ice over the inverters to cool everything off.
Saleen FOURSIXTEEN is way cool!
We mean “cool”, as in cool enough to race and not melt. Steve Saleen spared no engineer might on the Saleen FOURSIXTEEN. When I asked Steve how much of a stretch it was going from an internal combustion engine (ICE) to a pure EV, he simply smiled. He said it was actually easier. Modern ICE technology is mostly governed by electronics, but an EV is simply a battery pack, an inverter, and an electric motor. In essence, an EV has less moving parts with much less that can go wrong compared to the thousand moving parts in a gasoline engine.
Steve Saleen was able to do what every tuner dreams of but can’t always justify, rework the Model S from the ground up. Steve told me he left no stone unturned, or to use his exact words: “All the food groups were addressed” The weak link you have to address before racing an EV is to keep it cool. The Saleen FOURSIXTEEN addressed part of the equation first, the rest being aerodynamics and suspension tweaking. I was able to go on the track with him a few times in his research and development Model S mule a month ago. It was clear they were making great strides and the potential of the Tesla Model S begged to be unleashed.
The Saleen FOURSIXTEEN is now available
Now here’s for the good news. The Saleen FOURSIXTEEN is available and starts at $152,000 for the complete vehicle. What this means is that you get the base P85Model S sedan, completely reworked from Saleen. Saleen is also well known for their highly regarded warranty, which will be the same as all new Saleen vehicles. It includes components, and labor. The Saleen FOURSIXTEEN includes a 4-year / 50,000 mile warranty to match the manufacturer backed limited warranty.
You can contact Saleen directly to buy your Saleen FOURSIXTEEN and get delivery within 6-8 weeks following order confirmation and receipt.
Next, here is the Saleen FOURSIXTEEN Features and Specifications.
