Tesla now has 560 Roadster orders, on track for fall delivery of Job 1
San Jose Mercury News writer/blogger Matt Nauman wrote yesterday that Tesla has 560 orders for the all-electric Roadster, and that the first Roadsters should be delivered to the Premium buyers this fall. Tesla's David Vespremi told Nauman that they can make 800 Roadsters a year at the Lotus factory in the UK, and that all of them made in the first year will be 2008 models. The 560 pre-orders shows how much faith people have in Tesla. The company isn't doing any advertising per se, but the Roadster appearing in an XBox game and certain celebrities (like Jay Leno and Condi Rice) are getting their test drives in. If you want to know who some of the 560 people are (well, I suppose some people might be ordering multiples), check out this post.
[Source: San Jose Mercury News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kardax 4:48PM (7/24/2007)
If the car performs as well as described, sales are going to jump not long after deliveries start. And they're not even selling in Europe yet.
Methinks either Tesla or Lotus will have to expand production capacity to keep up with demand when that happens.
Reply
A.Brien 5:33PM (7/24/2007)
I hope these customers will talk to us abouth this car when they will own it. They must carrefully calculate theirs ups and cumming for not having to recharge before coming home.
Reply
Bill 10:05PM (7/24/2007)
$100,000 2-seater = rich boy toy.
Tell them to call when they've got a $40,000 4-person sedan (at least 100 mile range)
Reply
Tony Belding 11:04AM (7/25/2007)
If electric cars are ever going to be successful on a widespread basis, there will have to be all kinds of electric cars: cheap commuter cars, family vehicles, luxury cars, sports cars, motorcycles, off-road vehicles. Tesla made a business decision that a sports car was the best place to enter the market and get the ball rolling. Their reasoning makes sense to me.
Yet, some people feel compelled to sneer at the Roadster and call "rich boy toy". It seems resentful and mean-spirited.
Reply
mike 11:53AM (7/25/2007)
I agree with you 100% Tony. Those willing and able to pay the 100k for the Tesla are paving a road that would otherwise not be paved for those that can't hit that price point. Tesla has already said that a sedan is on the way as well as an economy model to follow. You have to give them a chance to ramp up and take advantage of scale. I couldn't be more behind Tesla on this one.
Reply
Jeff S. 10:44PM (8/08/2007)
I want one of these so bad my teeth ache! I am catching myself daydreaming of how to come up with a year's salary to get one. This has a good chance of being the new revolution in automotive history. I can't imagine Tesla running out of credit if the roadster is as cool as it sounds!
Reply