Tesla begins production of Roadster [merged]

[Butters]

Whether you're a supporter or naysayer of the movement and company, here is the latest:

http://www.teslamotors.com/blog2/

[smicker]

Tesla Motors Begins Regular Production of 2008 Tesla Roadster
Regular production of the 2008 Tesla Roadster commenced today, marking an historical milestone for Tesla Motors and a watershed in the development of clean, zero-emissions vehicles.

First unveiled as a prototype on July 19th, 2006, the revolutionary Tesla Roadster generated an extraordinary response from people everywhere who were inspired by the vision that beautiful, high performance cars could generate zero-emissions and burn no oil.

Less than 2 years later, this vision has become a reality as Tesla Motors begins production of this breakthrough electric vehicle. The 2008 model year is sold out and Tesla is currently taking reservations for the 2009 model year Tesla Roadster. To date, over 900 Tesla Roadsters have been reserved in total.

Through the course of development of the Roadster, Tesla Motors has established a leadership position in EV technology which it plans to extend over the next years, leading to the introduction of its next model, a five passenger sports sedan, in 2010.

Tesla Motors president and CEO, Ze’ev Drori, comments further on this important milestone on the corporate blog at http://www.teslamotors.com/blog2/?p=57 .


About Tesla Motors
Tesla Motors develops and manufactures electric vehicles with exceptional design, performance and efficiency, while conforming to all U.S. safety, environmental and durability standards. The Tesla Roadster is the only highway capable production electric car of any kind for sale in the United States.

With a 0 to 60 mph acceleration of 3.9 seconds, a 13,000 rpm redline, and the fastest top gear acceleration of any production car tested by Car & Driver magazine in 2007, combined with an EPA rating of 135 MPG equivalent, the Tesla Roadster is unique in providing super car performance at twice the energy efficiency of the best hybrids. For more information, visit www.teslamotors.com.

[Lotus Fury]

Good luck guys. I hope to see a bunch on the road.

[AgentTripleX]

Can't wait to visit again this week. I may move things around to squeeze lunch in. Congrats!

[FLuXeXigeS]

oh man if i didnt have to drive so much and had $100K laying around i would so totally buy it, best thing i can do is keep the S and im getting a prius in a couple of weeks

haha

anyone here place an order or going to place an order?

[Gizmo3000]

Drove by the Santa Monica dealership tonight
..still unfinished, and doesn't seem like they've done a thing in months.

Seems like Jay Leno got to check one out, with lots of additional info
http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/...tml?vid=229378

With all the talk about the smart cars and hybrids
- can't help but wonder what kind of mileage an Elise would get if someone put
a more economical engine in it, or even a Smart Car engine?

[FLuXeXigeS]

thanx for the vid, that was kool

[Gizmo3000]

Well, they finally took away all the covering/scaffolding
..and voila, the Tesla store on Santa Monica was actually underneath it!
- still looked under construction on the inside, and no cars yet.
but it's there.
no parking on the street in front, but was able to snap this.

[jasper]

I looked into getting one and was offered a car after the first batch. If you don't live in CA or some sections of the east coast you have to pay an additionaly service fee of 20k to have a tech from the company come and install the charging unit in your garage, and apparently they will fly someone out in the future if you have problems. They also want 75k down to order the car. So for me, and for most of the country, 75k down initially and a total of 120k to get the car - just got a little too pricey. I suspect at 75k total they would sell alot of these, but at 120k its going to be tough. I mean 120k - thats real money to most.

[rob13572468]

Originally Posted by jasper

I looked into getting one and was offered a car after the first batch. If you don't live in CA or some sections of the east coast you have to pay an additionaly service fee of 20k to have a tech from the company come and install the charging unit in your garage, and apparently they will fly someone out in the future if you have problems. They also want 75k down to order the car. So for me, and for most of the country, 75k down initially and a total of 120k to get the car - just got a little too pricey. I suspect at 75k total they would sell alot of these, but at 120k its going to be tough. I mean 120k - thats real money to most.

20K for a charging unit??? gold trimmed i take it...

seriously though, i thought the tesla could charge using 115 VAC..

[rob13572468]

Originally Posted by Gizmo3000

Well, they finally took away all the covering/scaffolding
..and voila, the Tesla store on Santa Monica was actually underneath it!
- still looked under construction on the inside, and no cars yet.
but it's there.
no parking on the street in front, but was able to snap this.

I like the building design... is that a big window to the right?

[JLSELISE]

Originally Posted by rob13572468

20K for a charging unit??? gold trimmed i take it...

seriously though, i thought the tesla could charge using 115 VAC..

AFAIK 115V charging is possible, but a full charge from zero will take 24+ hours at 115V compared to 2-3 hours with their custom charger.

[LARRY]

Originally Posted by rob13572468

I like the building design... is that a big window to the right?

Big window to the right, yeah.

That building was a kid's adventure camp once.

Welcome Tesla!

[tonybelding]

Originally Posted by rob13572468

20K for a charging unit??? gold trimmed i take it...

seriously though, i thought the tesla could charge using 115 VAC..

The charging unit is included in the price of the car. There is no $20K charge for installing it.

There is an $8,000 surcharge for those who buy a car outside of the regular service area (meaning more than 100 miles from a service center). That will cover the cost of sending someone to fix your car, or if necessary transport the car to the service center and back, whenever it needs any kind of work.

The Tesla can charge from a 115 VAC but it's excruciatingly slow, it could take around 30 hours to get a full charge that way. Charge from 220 VAC 50-amp (like at a RV park for example) is around 6 hours, charge from the Tesla charging station is about 3.5 hours.

[Audiophile]

I am hugely interested in the Tesla, and have been following the developments of the company for several years now. If they prove to be reliable and continue to get better, which only makes sense there have been some large improvements before it even officially went into production, I will seriously consider one in about 4 years.

As far as the charging station goes, paying a tech $20k to install it is foolish, if you can afford an esoteric $100k car you know trades people, the charging system has to be to code and wiring anything in a house is fairly straightforward. I have little doubt in my mind it would cost more then $1k to have a charging station installed by a qualified local electrician.

[IamBatman]

I good friend of mine is a mechanical engineer there and I got a tour of the engineering office. It looks just like a typical Silicon Valley Engineering company. I've been trying to get him to take one of the prototypes home so we can do back-to-back runs with my Exige.

[Dave]

Just up on CNN:
Long-awaited electric sports car rolls out - CNN.com

[smicker]

Who brought the purple elise to the customer open house today at the LA store, anyone on etalk?

--Paul