|
The idea was simple: Celebrate the one-year anniversary of Tesla’s first showroom with a “Roadster Rally” and say thank you to customers in Southern California, our largest regional market.
We didn’t realize we’d get such an overwhelming response!
The first owners arrived last Saturday from San Diego around 8:30 a.m. They charged up their cars and mingled with other owners in the West Los Angeles showroom. By 9 a.m., we were getting a steady stream of Roadsters in a rainbow of colors — first lining up neatly through the alley on the west side of the building, and later curling around to the north ally and spilling out onto Pontius Boulevard to the east.
As I watched the parade of all-electric sports cars get longer and longer and snake around the block, I couldn’t help reflect on the scene from one year ago, at our grand opening party: A combination of celebrities, environmentalists and sports car enthusiasts all came together to celebrate a car that had been eagerly anticipated for years – including dozens of people who had put down deposits but had yet to drive or see the car in person.
We offered rides that night with three cars, including two production cars fresh from the factory. People were delighted and overjoyed– the scorching acceleration, the jet-like whirl of the motor, the unrivaled responsiveness of the throttle, and the idea that they were in the vanguard and a part of the future of transportation.
One year later, we’ve delivered more than 500 cars and are launching a retail network spanning two continents. We’re building roughly 100 Roadsters per month. We’ve been able to reduce our pre-order backlog, so if you buy a car now, you needn’t wait years for delivery as our first customers did. You’ll get it within six months.
It was clear from all the smiles and laughs last weekend that owners still experience pure joy when driving the Roadster. But they’re also moving beyond exhilaration and novelty, and they’re increasingly talking about how convenient and easy it is to live with the Roadster as an everyday commuter car. With an EPA-estimated 244 miles per charge, Roadster owners merely top off the charge from the comfort of their garage or office parking structure. They never need to take another detour to visit a gas station again, and the car requires virtually none of the service and maintenance of its internal combustion cousins.
A growing number of owners are also talking about the reactions that the Roadster elicits. They get thumbs-up signs from Prius drivers. Car buffs stop them in the parking lot to tell them what a cool car they have. They feel proud of their purchase and want to show it off – at a time when owners of other exotics often say they’re downright embarrassed to be seen in expensive gas guzzlers. It’s one of the fastest cars at its price point – and the only one that’s socially responsible.
Talking to owners was great – but seeing their cars lined up and ready to take a cruise through the Santa Monica Mountains was a truly impressive sight.
Video courtesy of speedandmotion.com
Tesla client adviser Michael Sagaria kicked off the 50-mile rally in VP28. We headed north on Interstate 405, then went west on the 101 to Mulholland Highway, where the real fun began. The Roadster effortlessly chewed up the slow, sweeping curves of Mulholland. Then we stopped for a short rest at the world-famous Rock Store, where more than 30 Roadsters paused for photos. For the first time in history, electric cars outnumbered motorcycles at the Rock Store!
We continued on Mulholland to Kanan Dume Road to Latigo Canyon, a very technical, switchback-filled road (my personal favorite) and continued to the Pacific Coast Highway, where all of the Roadsters paraded back up into the Malibu Hills. We finished at Greener Pastures Ranch, a breathtaking property in Malibu owned by Roadster customers.
The finish line had more Roadsters parked side by side than we could have ever anticipated. After that, we enjoyed the spectacular scenery and ate a gourmet barbeque lunch. We set the bar quite high for the second annual Roadster Rally – but, given Tesla’s philosophy of continuous improvement, we plan to have even more fun next year!
Posted in the categories: Uncategorized
I live in Miami and am wondering whether there will be any service centers in South Florida. Seems that there
are a lot of out of idle dealers who could be franchised in to a national program of some sort ??
As heartwarming as this report was — and as thrilled as I was to see the accompanying photos — it only made me more acutely aware that the Model-S and other EVs “for the rest of us,” are still far down the road. Congratulations on the milestone — a well-deserved celebration is most definitely in order — but please redouble efforts after the party to bring forth the Model-S and follow-on vehicles as soon as possible. Also, please think about opening a special production line dedicated to Roadsters intended for RENTAL use. This father’s day, for instance, I know my family would treat me to a day in the Roadster, if such vehicles were available to rent. I have no doubt that the Roadster would be an amazingly popular rental car, generating a lot of publicity and demand for your products; you Teslans probably suspect the same. So why, a year after the car’s introduction, do I still see no news of rental availability?
Congratulations on your 500th sale, your 20 per week delivery rate and your investment from Daimler.
Nice photo. Pretty sure the last car in the line isn’t a Roadster, but a SMART.
Is there something behind that?
who in this world would denie this automobile ? the big three need to go away . whats wrong with washington ? may -be Tesla can build a small jeep for the military or small pick up . This could bring down the production cost . Ideally , this could flood the market with what we need , new and green technology , not to mention jobs . Are we to keep allowing big oil to continue to fool the people ? Look at what Henery Ford was able to do . I believe in TESLA , I would be honored to be part of this ground breaking step into the future , Whitch has been long over do. I can vision this technology , in a new N A S C A R ; Le mans ; and even draq racing .
I’m not sure if anyone keeps on top of these messages anymore, but its worth mentioning that Congress passed a “Cash for Clunkers” program today that said, amongst other things: ” The value of the voucher would grow to $4,500 if the mileage of the new car was 10 mpg higher than the old vehicle.”
As I calculate it, if Congress allows a down payment on a Tesla to count as a “trade-in,” and your company can do some quick dealing to allow the sales centers to accept the trade-in vehicles (which are supposed to be shredded, anyway), then your average potential customer need only put down $500 of their own money to get on the waiting list.
I know that I, and other potential customers, would be extremely interested in such a deal.
autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/1008/senate-passes-cash-for-clunkers-program/;_ylc=X3oDMTE5djJwcmo2BF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEc2VjA2ZwLXRvZGF5BHNsawNjYXNoLWNsdW5rZXJz
To: Mr. Elon Musk
Sir I saw a program on the History channel about a year ago on Tesla Motors.
I was immediately impressed with the company. What first caught my attention was the name (Tesla), synonymous with the greatest inventor of the 20th century.
After what this country has gone through in the past 40 years with oil as well as the carbon foot print we’ve left ourselves, it’s time to embrace all the clean technology humanity has to offer
.
I was sincerely thrilled when I head on the stock market programs that Tesla Motors received part of the governments grant monies for companies that are currently developing new technologies for the Auto industries. It great to see Tesla Motors going toe to toe with the big guys, I see this as the David and Goliath story of the Auto industry,
The difference being TESLA MOTORS has always been about the Electric Car and is not playing caught-up. I congratulate you Sir on your triumphs.
Sincerely
Mike Ortiz
James;
Rental car companies would have had to be on the starting list of customers. They apparently weren’t. With the waiting time for delivery down to 6 months, maybe you could suggest it to your local dealers, hmmm?
As a side note, the numbers work out that leasing a $30,000 sedan and paying gas and maintenance works out to the same as leasing a $50,000 Mod-S. That’s the kind of arithmetic that should get rental companies very interested!
I experienced my first real world sighting of a roadster (in Belmont Ca., just down the road from the Tesla store of course.) I could not have been more impressed. As I stood there gawking as the car pulled up and parked beside “regular” cars, words are hard to come by to describe my range of emotions. After following the development of the roadster for years and understanding its importance to the automotive world, actually seeing the car operational on the street just made me think “why aren’t we all driving these around.” This car is a game changer and seeing it “in the flesh” really drives that point home
Wow looked an amazing event. wish i could have seen all the cars with my own eyes. beautiful
When I lived in the U.S. and participated in rally events with my car buddies it was always a great time! Looks like this event was a fun time for all.
While visiting my in-laws in Sonoma a few months ago I was lucky enough to have my first “in person” viewing of a Tesla roadster. Since in live on a small island I expected it would be years before I saw one on the street. It was parked in a store lot and the owner was nowhere around (his good fortune, I would have talked his ear off) so I didn’t infringe on the cars personal space but I certainly enjoyed the viewing.
Watching as Tesla Motors grows.
Philip
Waw, Hope to see that in Switzerland soon to !!
Seeing all these virtually silent cars at a rally gives me an idea, it would be neat if it could be pulled off!
The next time one of these rallies take place, get as many electric cars as possible, then arrange them at a measured distance from a moderately sized, yet busy intersection. when all EVs are in place, have them approach the intersection from all directions at once. Have people with video cameras set up at the intersection to record the spectacle. The effect should be really something, because you’ll see, and hear, all these huffing and roaring gassers moving through the the intersection, then the scene will calm to near silence when the EVs get closer and pass through, then get noisy again as the gassers return. You could U-Tube it as “The Electric Intersection”! Cool, no?
wow wow. great pic
I sometimes wonder how I find myself on a site like this, I am dreaming I can afford a Tesla at this point - I just like to tease and punish myself guess! When I do eventually get my Tesla, one thing is for sure I will be hitting the inaugural roadster rally
Jeff s; cool idea, but I don’t think it would work very well. In modern cars it is not the engine that is making most of the noise (unless it is big V8 with very little sound mufflers), it is tires. That is if you are moving at moderate speed. Tire noise is so bad that there is research going on to make road surface less noisy here in Finland, and I happened to drive thru one of their test sites. Difference was huge. I realized that I hadn’t heard engine at all thru all that tire noise before I got in that road section.
Because of that Roadsters are not that silent. Engine doesn’t make much noise (it does, but not much), but tires are just as noisy as in any modern car.
Of course if you manage to make that video at one of those silent surfaces, then it could be noticed, but difference wouldn’t be that dramatic even there.
Here’s a couple of news reports from the Electric Vehicle Society of Canada:
“We told you a few days ago that the city of Vancouver, British Columbia was considering mandating the installation of electrical vehicle charging ports in new parking garages. The city council has now voted unanimously to approve the plan. Going forward, any property developers building parking facilities for apartments or condominiums will have to install charging ports in at least 20 percent of the stalls. Charging ports will also be installed in city-owned parking lots.
This will certainly help address the needs of future electric car owners who don’t live in a house with a garage. The 20 percent plan was double the original proposal’s 10 percent installation rate. Developers will have 18 months before they have to start installing the charging stations, which cost $500-$2,000 each. The problem of charging still persists for those living in existing buildings. Those people may decide they’re better off moving to a new place, and if the trend becomes big enough, it may prompt management companies to retrofit existing facilities.”
and
“The premier of the Canadian province of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty, reportedly plans to announce a major incentive program for plug-in vehicles today in Toronto. Ontario has already given several billion dollars to General Motors and Chrysler and wants to help boost the industry further to try and recoup some of its “investment.” To that end, McGuinty plans to offer tax incentives of up to $10,000 toward the purchase of plug-in vehicles.
No details are available yet, but the plan would likely be similar to a U.S. program, with graduated incentives of up to $7,500 depending on the capacity of the battery. A wide array of plug-ins are expected to arrive over the next several years, including the Chevrolet Volt, Ford’s Transit Connect and Focus based EVs, Toyota’s PHEV Prius and Nissan’s EV, among others. McGuinty will reportedly also pledge to have at least 20 percent of the province’s vehicle fleet be plug-ins by 2020. ”
Sounds like a big market for Model S!
Another report: Daimler passes off almost half its investment in Tesla to ME oil country!
“Just two months after buying 9% of Tesla Motors, Daimler has reportedly sold nearly half of that stake. According to Reuters, a 4% percent of the electric car startup is now owned by Aabar Investments, an Abu Dhabi-based investment fund. In a way, the stake is still in the family, since Aabar already bought 9.1 percent of Daimler’s stock earlier this year. At the time of its original investment, Daimler and the fund indicated an intention to pursue joint projects in low emissions transportation.
Aabar has indicated it would be interested in pursuing some kind of joint venture with Tesla. The fund is controlled by the Abu Dhabi government and managed by the International Petroleum Investment Company with the intent of diversifying beyond oil.”
love the concept, design and speed of the tesla and as soon as I can afford one, I’ll buy one.
One sugestion….can the company also build a solar panel recharging station for home owners to purchase as an aditional package for the car?
If so, it should be capable of recharging and storing energy for the car. The size should accomodate the standard of a regular home garage. In such way that anyone could recharge the car at night while in storage place.
For working costumers is recomendable to attain a solar pannel recovered with a tranlucid element capable of withstandig extreme weather so that no one worries while at the office if rain or snow should fall. If Cheap, buyers surely will purchase more than one (one for the ofice and an other one for the garage at home).
It’s great to see electric cars being produced, manufactured, sold and driven. But I really don’t think it’s time for Tesla and Tesla owner to be giving themselves a pat-on-the-back. It’s not hard to take millions of dollars in funding, and make a few hundred cars that only a handful of people can afford. What’s extraordinary would be creating an electric car that everyone can afford- an electric car that can revolutionize transportation- an electric car that can actually help the environment and the economy. An electric car which celebrities park in their 10-car garage next to their Lincoln SUV only to feel good about themselves isn’t a car, it’s a joke. I read a book, “Two Cents Per Mile” by Nevres Cefo which really opened my eyes to electric cars and how urgently we need them. So I say to Tesla Motors: shift direction, work harder on more affordable vehicles, and never stop.
Hey Guys, when will Texas, in the center of the country, be recognized as a viable profit opportunity? I have been waiting for an all electric car since the first one was introduced at the Texas State Fair about 25 years ago by a Mr. Ramirez. We don’t know what happened to him. I would like to talk with someone in your office about advertising your car here in Texas.Thanks W. E. Watkins
Elon, Franz and the entire Tesla family:
I am excited for Tesla beyond belief. Can’t wait to be taking delivery of a Roadster of my own.
Franz, thank you so much for your time at the New York debut party for the Model S. My only regret is i did not have time to get across the street for a test drive. Elon, I will get an interview with you next time!
All the best,
Z
Has the idea of Tesla and Toyota ever come to mind? There is this state of the art facility in Fremont CA, with over 4000 skilled automotive workers that I am sure would be wiling to leave the UAW behind if a new future was laid out for them. Besides Toyota never had an agreement with the UAW only GM did and when GM pulls away from Toyota so does the UAW. Just think Toyota has the resources and experience to make Tesla’s mass production dreams come true. Tesla has the capital and product to help Toyota stay in California. If you want to be a leader in hybrid or electric cars, you have to have the California market. Thirty percent of Toyotas sales come from California and more hybrids from all manufacturers are purchased in California. Now if you want to be the leader in electric vehicle sales you are going to need California and you should think about Toyota to help reduce production cost and improve quality. No one knows how to make a higher quality product then Toyota. Beside a joint venture would help Tesla hold onto more capital for research and development for the future and everyone knows that when the economy rebounds and the smoke clears, Toyota will still be the top automotive manufacturer in the world. I have more to say but I just start to lose my train of thought. I just love cars and think that Tesla and Toyota could make great cars phenomenal ones.
Can TESLA buy Vectrix and sell an E-Scooter with Li-Ion Batteries at a more affordable price?
Oh I DO love the Tesla Roadster! It is just great to see them coming out, and to have 100 lined up together is very cool.
This is off topic, probably should be in another forum, but tne thing missing from any EV I have seen so far is what I might call “solar-panel assist”, where at least the roof has solar panels. All the Tesla Roadsters are open-top, but maybe the Sedan could incorporate it.
Taking it further, where the body has as much area as possible utilized for thin-film solar collectors that give the batteries a charge, it could become a significant factor for extending the range of EVs. Breakthrough technology is coming where they can basically be painted on. What is it - about 1000 watts per sq. meter that solar panels produce now? A few 1000 watts of continuous charging would help a lot, and then when the EV is stopped on long trips at the rest areas and viewpoints, it could be “topped up” pretty well.
Just a thought, I am sure the future will see this feature on EVs.
Karlin 1000W / m^2 is pretty close optimal sun radiation. Best solar panels convert from it about 25-30% to electricity. And that is obviously only when Sun is shining midday from cloudless sky. Early morning and late at night it gets much lower and cloudy day it would be even less.
Thin film solar panels may get something like 15% conversion ratio. Cheap ones maybe even less (but cost / watt ratio is better).
Roadster uses about 15kW when it is going at 60mph, and there is not many surfaces that face Sun no matter which way you turn it. You might get max two square meter worth solar panels with 15% conversion of maybe 800W which would be 240W. That would be enough to give power to headlights, not much more. You get very expensive 1.6% extension to range. And that is in quite good day and with optimistic calculation.
Solar panels are good source of power, but not in cars. Or boats. You just need too big surface area for them to be any good.
I have thought that if you could get something like folded tent that is made of thin film solar panel in your car trunk that you could put your car in then you could get much bigger surface area for solar without compromising car surface. That could be used in summer cabin to slowly charge your car or if you have enough space you could flat it to earth instead and maximize surface area that gets radiation. Maybe something like 10-20 m^2. That would make a difference. It would still be only about 1-2kW, but that could charge enough juice to your car in few hours that you do actually get somewhere.
Too expensive currently, but who knows about future prices. Or conversion ratios (I read about nanoantennae that could tranfer up to 80% of radiation to electricity).
Do Teslas qualify for “Cash for Clunkers”? Not that I could I afford one, just asking.
Hello, when will your cars be available in europe ? I am waiting since years for an oppertunity like that. Thanks U.Engel - Mixwerk
To answer your question, the Roadster is available in Europe. Infact, they are being delivered as we speak.
You can go to www.teslamotors.com/teslastore/ to find a store near you!
Timo;
yeah, the pure solar cars in those competitions are basically tabletops on bicycle wheels. And they race in the desert at noon!
By the way, there’s a mention of TeslaMotors in the Christian Science Monitor today:
features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2009/08/07/forget-clunkers-tesla-profitable-for-july/
hello
I am Belgian entrepreneur I want you to open a concession in Brussels
European capital, this city can be a very good center for sale because it likes the cars is it on the budget to buy a Tesla, it teems with businessman worldwide.
I hope that instead of marketing you belong because I do not have the financial ability to create such a store, I realized by my sales followed the client is selling in the near (north of France and north of of Germany)
your car is beautiful, bright new energies.
Best regards
Clement Giboin
I agree with the above post. There should be a Tesla showroom in Brussels (instead of the Netherlands). I would love to work for a company like Tesla! Their showrooms are awesome, their ideology is great. Electric cars are the future!
There will be electric car show in Finland late this year:
www.finnexpo.fi/exhibition.asp?Id=1837&code_language=en
Is Tesla Motors one of the exhibitors there? If it is I’ll be d*mn if I miss this one. I read that this kind of show will be annual so if not this year maybe next?
Hi everybody:
I’m from Mexico and I would like to know how could I get access to buy merchandise… It is possible to bring a Tesla shop in my city (Monterrey; México)?
I will get a couple of things because a freind of mine that lives in US; but I want more…..specifically the Tesla Badge Keychain that is (Out of Stock) .
Regards…
Marcelo
Hello,
I agree with to don’t have a showroom in the Netherlands because if you phone some one, you never ever gona get a answer of how yhing are develping. It looks like a bit of desintres and more money eyes. So if you want to do something about marketing, it will help i geus. But a nice showroom nearby will help.
Can you make me a Tesla motorbike? Need one fast. If you need help with that, please ask.
So I sent an email to someone about a year ago asking about an affordable car for the average and it’s really cool that one was rolled out and I’m not quite sure what the median income is overseas but most of middle America only make 15 to 30 k a year. The $47k price tag for the Model S is unattainable for the bulk of us.
Arthur Calbo: Tesla currently has no plans for making electric motorbikes, but there are several companies that do. Brammo is starting production of their electric street bike, and will be sold direct or through some Best Buys electronics stores in the US. Zero is making an electric trail bike and has plans for an electric street bike, too. Vectrix makes a rather nice electric scooter. Those are available now.
If you can wait a few months, here are several other companies developing electric motorbikes, electric scooter and electric mopeds. Even Honda is planning to produce some electric motorbikes.
Is Tesla a public traded company? Are investors welcome?
Any chance that there will be a Tesla on display at the Texas State Fair soon to start in Dallas?????
What I find interest about Tesla’s branding is the resemblance of the logo to Thor’s hammer, Mjolner. Is it coincidence that that Tesla chose an icon so closely associated with the Norse god of thunder?
Just curious…
Hope Tesla EV could think have Taiwan sales operation soon.
I love the Tesla! I want one so bad.
Congratulations on a great event.
I am looking forward to see Tesla Roadsters coated in high efficiency thin-film solar panels to support electrical appliances and battery charging. Sounds incredible, I now. But the evolution of solar cells may make it possible one day. The Tesla is a great car anyway.
Cheers
Rick
P.S.: I loved to read that Tesla has a shop in Munich now, too. See you there soon.
This event was seriously very big…
Good and tremendous
There is a new Tesla shop in munich in Germany -that ´s true. But I wonder when there will be one in Berlin as well… because munich is a bit to far south…