Tesla folks paid close attention to Smart preorders
When Martin Eberhard founded his Tesla Founders blog, he didn't want to be the only one writing about what working on the Tesla Roadster was like. Freed from the daily tasks working on the Roadster, Martin has invited other "post-Tesla people and other interesting people to write guest blogs" on his site. David Vespremi, former director of communications at Tesla Motors, is the first to take up the keyboard.
What I find most interesting in David's initial post there is just how closely the people inside Tesla were following the reservation system that Smart was using for the 2008 Smart Fortwo. As you might recall, the down payment on a Roadster is/was $5,000. Compare that to the diminutive Fortwo, which has the small reservation fee of $99.
That Smart has signed up 42,000 people for Smart Fortwo reservations shows just how powerful the $99 is, especially considering what that money is going towards. For David, spending that hundred dollars kept his family looking at the Smart while other options were considered and discared. David's piece is engaging and well-written, and comes highly recommended if you're interested in looking inside the mind of someone who cares about driving and his car's impact on the environment. If you're looking for a discussion on green cars you can buy in 2008, the post is a great place to start.
[Source: Tesla Founders Blog]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
stevejust 4:54PM (1/28/2008)
For the record: Tesla pre-orders originally came in two versions:
1) $100,000 for the first 100
2) $50,000 preorder deposit thereafter.
It wasn't until much later (and after the Fisker Hybrid was announced in October) that I ever learned of the bargain basement buy-in of $5,000. And believe me, I'd been paying pretty close attention.
Compare that to the Fisker which came in:
1) $5,000 for the first 100
2) $1,000 preorder deposit thereafter.
The $50,000 deposit as a non-interest bearing deposit was too much to swallow for me. I didn't mind giving up a good faith deposit of $1,000 or even $5,000 or maybe even $10,000... but $50,000 was too much.
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Domenick 5:40PM (1/28/2008)
I'm very surprised so many people have put down deposits on the Smart. The GM-Volt fan website claims a waiting list of only 10,000 for the Volt and that doesn't even involve cash. Of course the Volt is three years away.....
The deposit thing seems to be working out for Aptera. They have had at least 1145 $500 dollar reservations. And that's only for the kids in California!
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