Tesla Motors opens electric car showroom in California to enthusiastic response

08 May 2008

Proponents of greener automobiles have a lot to cheer about - Tesla Motors, a name to reckon with in the nascent world of commercial electric vehicles, opened its flagship store yesterday on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, and the response to its first product has been truly ''electric''.

The Tesla Roadster has already managed to garner well over a thousand orders, with 400 of these being on the waiting list. And this for a car that costs $109,000, or a cool one-eighth of a million if you factor in the registration and other associated charges.

What's even more impressive than the sales numbers is the client list - California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, actors George Clooney and Kelsey Grammer and musicians Will.i.am and Flea. The Roadster has truly become the darling of the Hollywood crowd, and its success is reminiscent of the glowing reception enjoyed by the Toyota Prius a few years earlier. The next store, slated to open in San Carlos, California, in a couple of months, will be targeted at the Silicon Valley tech elite.

Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk disclosed the inspiration behind the fancy showroom near Beverly Hills - the Apple store. He said that the Apple stores provided fantastic customer experience in non-conventional settings, a feature he wanted to replicate in his showroom. He is already the proud owner of the first Tesla Roadster ever produced.

Of course, the question now arises as to what you get for all this money. For one thing, the Tesla Roadster is no adulterated hybrid - it's 100 per cent electric car. And unlike its predecessors that struggled to achieve decent performance, the Roadster's engine is a real powerhouse, accelerating the car from rest to 60 miles per hour (96.56 kilometres per hour) in less than four seconds with the help of 248 horses. To put things in perspective, the company claims that this proves that the Roadster ''has better acceleration than a Lamborghini Murcielago''.

Moreover, it tops the endurance charts as well, giving 220 miles (354 kilometres) on a single charge. Of course, the 135 miles per gallon (48 kilometres per litre) equivalent performance and the two cents per mile running cost make the vehicle extremely efficient as well. The recharge time is a mere 3.5 hours, which Tesla officials say should allow most people to drive it to work and back and recharge it at night like a cell phone.