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Tesla Motors Opens Retail Store

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the vaporless-ware dept.

Tesla Motors has opened their first retail store front to allow the masses access to their new cars. Of course, this is assuming you can afford the $109,000 price tag. "The company told the Associated Press that it is impressed with demand: it has taken 600 orders for the Roadster and has a waiting list of another 400. CEO Elon Musk owns the first one produced. The fancy showroom near Beverly Hills takes its inspiration from Apple stores, Musk said. [...] The company plans to make a luxury sedan next year called the Whitestar that will come in two versions: an all-electric model that will run entirely on its lithium ion battery pack, and a range-extended vehicle that will also use liquid fuel to extend its range. The Roadster will have a range of 220 miles per charge and the mileage equivalent of 135 miles per gallon."

4 of 442 comments (clear)

  1. Neat! by KingSkippus · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I can't wait for these types of cars to hit mass production and come down in price so that us normal people can afford them.

    That is what I'd call the ultimate "gas tax holiday."

    1. Re:Neat! by Hoplite3 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Also, companies like Tesla are training another generation of expert electrical vehicle engineers. It's quite likely that some will leave to start their own EV company down the road. One of them might be the Henry Ford of electrical cars.

      As in making an affordable, more practical electrical vehicle for the masses, not as in winning the Order of the German Eagle or whatever Nazi medal Ford got in 1938.

      --
      Use the Firehose to mod down Second Life stories!
    2. Re:Neat! by witherstaff · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You're right - the Aptera Even has a design with solar panels on the car itself.

      I think the major advantage is that you can clean a power plant much easier than every tailpipe out there. Now if we just started getting more nukes started, with fast breeder tech that reduced the waste drastically, it'd be even better.

  2. Meaningless phrase by jamesl · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ... mileage equivalent of 135 miles per gallon.

    What is the conversion factor when going from "batteries charged off the grid" to "miles per gallon internal combustion gasoline engine?"