AutoblogGreen pays a visit to the new Tesla Motors store
Tell me you wouldn't have tried the same thing?
I found myself in Los Angeles for a quick visit late last week and realized I wasn't too far from the brand new Tesla Motors store. Having read about the opening night gala event and curious about the chic new sales space, I wanted to go check it out. Trouble was, I wasn't close enough to walk, didn't have a car, and have heard too many bad things about LA's public transportation system to see if it was a feasible option for me. Luckily, I met up with Shannon Arvizu (TriplePundit) and she offered to drive the two of us down to the store to take a look at what they've got on display. Didn't take me long to say, "yes." I mean, even if there are have been problems with the development of the car and we're hearing rumblings about ego conflicts among some of the well-knowns who are involved, someone still needs to go and bring back a collection of photos for faithful readers, right? Right.
We headed down to Santa Monica Boulevard and found the well-designed store wedged between a Starbucks and the ING building. There are two Roadsters in the showroom, one in dark blue and the other is the silver VP10 (Validation Prototype 10) that Sam got to take for a test drive back in January. None of the cars in the store are for sale, as they're not the production versions, but that didn't stop a good half dozen customers from wandering in and making serious inquiries about being place on th waiting list in the hour or so that we were there. Between the two cars in the showroom sits a counter and barstools, the perfect place for store employees to talk to potential customers. A coffee bar and some Tesla swag are nearby in case you need either a jolt of caffeine or a fancy Tesla cap. Offices (doors open) and two wonderfully-decorated bathrooms round out the front of the shop.
The back half of the store features a garage bay with room for a three cars. This garage is incredibly clean today, and one thing we can count on is that the cement floor will never stained by a leaky oil pan (well, unless future models do come with the option of a range-extending ICE). The opposing wall houses a quick charger. But what really caught our eyes was a metallic blue Roadster aimed square at a garage door, looking like it wanted to go out. Read on after the jump to find out what happened next.
Gallery: AutoblogGreen visits Tesla Store LA
We made a call and asked a few questions. Not too much later, Tesla's Tom O'Leary smiled as he handed us the key to that metallic blue Roadster (it's VP16) and told us to have fun - but to remember to bring it back in one piece. This is a million-dollar prototype we're talking about, here.
It's been a year and a half since I first sat in a Roadster, but this was the only time I've had the chance to enter the left side of the vehicle. Shannon and I didn't have a plan (other than to not get into an accident) so we just went up and down the area streets. We weren't about to head into the mountains with the car, but you can check out our earlier post for the in-depth review of driving the Roadster. I'll just repeat that these things are simply too much fun to drive, even if you never get to go more than 35 mph. As for the size issue, the Roadster fit me about as well as a car can; it was just getting in and out that felt unusual to someone who doesn't sit in sports cars very often. During our drive, we happened upon an electric vehicle charging station and stopped for a little photo shoot. Sure, the connectors are all wrong, but for our pictures little details like that didn't matter. As Shannon drove back, I attempted to capture photos of people who were curious about what we were driving. The only picture that came out half-way decently is this one:
As you can see, it's thumbs up all the way. I got the feeling Shannon was pretty jacked about the whole experience, but she'll have her own take on driving the Roadster posted - with video, possibly - soon. (UPDATE: Shannon's post is here, video embedded below)
Speaking of soon, our drive was over far too quickly. We were riding around with the top down, and LA's May gray sky did threaten us a bit. Still, as I stepped out of VP16, I saw a little MP3 attachment cable that I hadn't noticed upon getting in. Guess that means I have an excuse for another drive. I need to test a Roadster out with some of my favorite tunes. You'd do the same, right?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mark 8:59PM (5/11/2008)
How about asking Tesla why they market to %1 of the population, and not to the mass market?
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brad 9:26PM (5/11/2008)
Great article. I love the pics. I can't wait till electric cars like this come down in price.
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why not the LS2LS7? 10:02PM (5/11/2008)
So I guess the oil spots left on my driveway by my Friend's Tango are my imagination then?
Rotating parts need to be lubed, even if the vehicle doesn't run on gas.
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Andrew 10:30PM (5/11/2008)
Mark here is an explanation of why they started at the upper end sports car.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/08/tesla_motors_ev.php
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Wes 8:34PM (5/12/2008)
they market to the top 1% because as a new startup company, they do not have the means to produce them on the levels of a large company. This car will allow them to make back some money without producing in volume and if that works they could aim their next car a bigger market.
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texmln 10:36PM (5/11/2008)
Tell us more about the 'there aren't actually any cars for sale' part about the Tesla store. I predict here and now that you enviro-nutjobs will still be posting pro-Tesla blogs even after it goes bankrupt and disappears from the planet. You'll also conveniently forget about the pile of toxic batteries left over for somebody else to clean up.
Tesla, let's review:
1) Their 'production' cars have 'temporary' transmissions.
2) They haven't produced a single 'production' car for anybody not connected to the company.
3) They don't actually have any cars for sale at the Tesla store.
Any other company making the same claims that Tesla makes would have their officers brought up on fraud charges. Tesla skates because it is politically correct.
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jake 10:52PM (5/11/2008)
@Mark
They won't be making any profit and will be barely keeping afloat or bankrupt if they started by marketing to the mass market; I think we have discussed this before. Just look at GM, even they are already saying they will likely not make a profit on the Volt until quite late in the game and the car's already $35k. I just don't think Tesla has the capability to compete with big automakers even if EVs are as cheap to make as gasoline cars are. They need the early margins to be big to keep the company afloat and repay investors. After all, this whole thing is funded by investors and investors want a return.
And remember Tesla's aim is to make real, fully crash tested cars, not quadricycles or NEVs, and, so far, the only truely affordable EVs that are also real cars (but even those are city cars) are being introduced by large manufacturers like mitsubishi and subaru, with ample support of the Japanese government.
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Smith 10:58PM (5/11/2008)
I'm pretty sure the lithium batteries don't have any heavy metals in them. What's so toxic about the batteries?
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Garythepowers 11:03PM (5/11/2008)
Despite the actual deliver frustrations, this is still a cool concept that is about to be real.
Hey, it is real enough for Iron Man to have a Tesla Roadster in his garage. (oh wait he is fictional)
http://www.caroftheday.org/2008/05/10/ironman-has-cool-cars-part-ii/
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jake 11:19PM (5/11/2008)
@texmln
The thing is these things are all publicly known, even at the time when most of these people were ordering (remember, they weren't even in production at the time and people began putting down thousands of dollars for deposit already), so that wouldn't constitute as fraud, since everyone knew they weren't going to get their cars for a while.
Which is what makes it incredible that over a thousand people each put out $5000 (or more) preorders on a car which haven't even been delivered to a customer not associated with the company. Who knows? Maybe they are all enviro-nutjobs like us.
As for the battery issue, it has been discussed to death before: Tesla will be the one providing the recycling (http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/03/12/tesla-on-battery-recycling/) and, besides, li-ions are non-toxic, landfill safe, while your typical lead acid car batteries are highly toxic (yet, we have no problem using those, until of course we use them in EVs, then those batteries are evil). Also, the battery pack is 1000lbs, so I doubt it will randomly get lost instead of being returned to Tesla.
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1985 Gripen 12:55AM (5/12/2008)
Sorry this isn't related to this post but none of the ABG bloggers' e-mail addresses are available. This is meant for Sebastian:
In the interest of "fair and balanced" (and not in the Fox News meaning of the term) reporting, Wired News is reporting that John McCain will outline some of his environmental plans tomorrow, despite the environment not being on the majority of voters' minds.
Even if you disagree with McCain you have to like that at least he sees global climate change and the environment as important enough issues to dedicate focus to them even though most voters don't seem to care. That's taking a political chance with very little likely pay-back.
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/05/mccain-surrogat.html
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David Wright 5:08AM (5/12/2008)
However quickly Tesla do or don't commence real deliveries of real cars, they are already doing a superb job in keeping EVs on the public agenda -- thereby prompting folk to look furher into areas where electric vehicles ARE already into production and selling. At present this is predominantly in the commercial vehicles sector, specifically the depot-based delivery fleets -- areas where economic viability is every bit as important as green imagery.
I hold shares in Tanfield Group - the UK company that owns Smith EV http://www.smithelectricvehicles.com and I also follow the progress of their smaller rival Modec http://www.modec.co.uk
They have sold several hundred all-electric trucks and vans from 3.5t to 12t in size. Meanwhile at the opposite end of the EV spectrum, more than 25 million electric bicycles are now in use. Mix these in with the exotic efforts of Tesla, Lightning, Aptera et al, and the downmarket street buggies, and what we have is a transport revolution with a hole in the middle - that middle being the affordable mass-market all-electric highway-capable family car. But we know that Mitsubishi, Renault, Nissan, Subaru, VW-Audi, BMW and others are all racing to fill that gap. It will happen. And even those who rubbish EVs will be driving them a very few years from now. The obstacles are known, are being addressesd, and will be overcome - sure as eggs is eggs. The future is electric and it's halfway here already - no matter how many headshakers try and hold back the tide.
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V8 Pushrod Penis Enhancer 10:16AM (5/12/2008)
And guess what? Forget about anyone interested in the car getting a test drive for the foreseeable future. TEsla better hope their trany holds up.
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tankd0g 10:44AM (5/12/2008)
So their whole money making plan was to open an electric car themed Starbucks? Seems to be working.
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David Wright 1:24PM (5/12/2008)
nice one tankd0g ;o)
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Karen Pease 4:38PM (5/12/2008)
Smith: Some people just refuse to believe that any types of batteries on the market are remotely different from lead-acid. I find this amazing, but it's the truth. There are really only two common kinds of rechargeable batteries out there that are significantly toxic: NiCad and lead-acid. Large formats of these are nearly universally recycled. All of the common ones are either minimally toxic or nontoxic.
Laptop cells (LiCoO2 + graphite in a particular configuration), which Tesla uses, fall into the "minimally toxic" category (the LiCoO2 cathode being the element of concern). NiMH is minimally toxic as well. Zebras are essentially nontoxic. The phosphates and spinel li-ions, which many other EVs are using are also essentially nontoxic. The electrolyte in all of the li-ion varieties is corrosive and an irritant, but they're typically non-persistant, non-carcinogenic, non-teratogenic, etc. Furthermore, the phosphates, spinels, and titanates will likely outlast their vehicles.
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Dustin 5:27PM (5/12/2008)
They call that upscale?.. a cross between an Apple store and a Starbucks? A failed attempt, I would say. I know they just opened, but that place looks BARREN and cheap. Maybe it's just the pics. But this is a far cry from Ferrari, Lambo, or even some Mercedes dealerships I've seen. And this was supposed to be beyond-dealership... this was supposed to be reminiscent of a "VIP lounge." Everything I see and read about Tesla gives me less and less hope that this is a long-term company.
Besides the store, look at the car itself up close. I thought the benefits of hand-built $100k vehicles was that they are assembled and built to near perfection. These cars look like kit-cars. The body panel gap is ridiculous. The fit and finish is lacking for the price.
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Joseph 9:54PM (5/12/2008)
Shouldn't VP 16 be equipped with drivetrain 1.5 (increased power!)
In fact, on this Tesla Motors blog:
http://www.teslamotors.com/blog3/?p=76
the editor says, "We need to update the site - all cars will be 300hp+ and 400 newton meters torque. - ed."
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Dan 8:36PM (5/12/2008)
@Mark, the reason Tesla markets to rich people is because the battery cells alone for the Roadster cost at least $20,000. That's not including assembly and testing of the battery pack. It takes a lot of expensive batteries to move a 3,000 lb car.
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Kevin Nugent 9:10PM (5/12/2008)
Lol overall i guess you had a fun day
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