the tesla dealer in west LA opened last week. i drove by their opening night and there was some kind of reception; i wanted to go in but pretty sure it was by invitation only. they have a blue one on their showroom floor, looks pretty nice...pretty much a reskinned elise running on electric power. ~$90k and sold out. opinions on the car?

 

Pretty ridiculous. 248hp and a butt load of torque available at 0rpm and up to a 13krpm redline is bada55 to me.

 

Is that the one on Santa Monica Blvd? I drive past it on my way to work every day, but I haven't really looked at it for awhile. I'll have to look tomorrow.

 

yeah, by the 405. it's totally done now. they have a service shop attached to it, too. i'm tempted to just walk in and have a look around

 

Here's what their tool room consists of:

 

Moving from Off Topic to Off Topic ::: Autos.

 

it'd be a nice addition to any exotics collector, i thinks.

 

Terrific car for what it is....

But...

$92K for a new one (They are all sold out)

A very rare animal..... I wonder if insurance companies are willing to underwrite a toy of this caliber (and I am sure some will do for a price, of course).

It is a 2 seater and has nil cargo room.

Very cool car and the technology is impressive, but this is nothing more than a toy for celebrities and rich folks in their quest for the ultimate weekend toy.

But it is a worthwhile effort, only if, this technology eventually cascades down to the masses.

 

What is it?

 

The Tesla is a Lotus Elise chassis with a propriatary all electric drive train made by the Tesla company. I.E. a little open top two seater roadster with an electric drive train.

http://www.teslamotors.com/

 

220 miles between charge...Hmm, probably going to need to trailer it to the track. But then again, if you can afford the 90,000 dollar price tag, that's probably not a problem.

It would be cool to see a car hit 160 or so on the track, and making very little noise. Very cool!

 

I think a standard Elise would be a significantly better choice for a track car (or a cup Exige considering the price of the Tesla). While the zero admissions feature of the Tesla is appealing, and the low end torque, the Tesla pays for this by having a lower top end, and a large increase in weight. The Tesla is a better stop light to stoplight cruiser than it is an all out track machine.

 

Unless you have driven one...I would not be so sure...Yeah it is governed at 125 but I am sure you will see them at the track....

Check out my drive...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWg8Sib6rIs
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][/SIZE][/FONT]