Tesla Begins Regular Production of Roadster
By John O'Dell March 17, 2008
Body panels for Tesla Roadster No. 2 are readied for paint at plant in England.
Upstart electric car maker Tesla Motors had to delay launch of its battery-powered roadster several times earlier this year but has finally began regular production of the 2008 Tesla Roadster
The Northern California company has pre-sold more than 900 of the high-performance electric roadsters and plans to deliver about 600 of its 2008 model-year cars, said Darryl Siry, vice president of sales, marketing and service. The company hopes to produce 1,800 roadsters during the 2009 model year.
The nimble, zero-emission car carries a $98,950 price tag and has an EPA-rated range of 220 miles (an Edmunds road test found that 180 miles was more like it if you drive sporty).
"While this is an important milestone for the company and a watershed for the new era of electric vehicles, we still have a lot of work to do," Tesla President and CEO Ze'ev Drori said in comments posted on his blog.
"Our key focus with the Roadster will be on gradually ramping up our production in a deliberate and controlled manner, reaching a rate of over 100 Roadsters per month early next year." Final assembly of the car is done at Tesla's plant in San Carlos. There, the electric powertrain, powered by 6,800 tiny lithium-ion batteries, is installed on the extensively modified Lotus Elise platform developed for the roaster. The car is built in England under contract for Tesla by Lotus.
The first "regular," or series production car is slated for Tesla's recently ousted co-founder, Martin Eberhardt and will sport a custom paint job – gray with an orange racing stripe, Siry told Green Car Advisor.
Tesla Chairman Elon Musk received the car with production serial number 1 at the beginning of February, so Eberhardt's car -- while the first to be delivered from the "production line" that began rolling today -- is actually production car number two, for those keeping score.
An all-electric, five-person sports sedan in the $50,000-$60,000 price range is scheduled to be introduced by Tesla in 2010. Siry said the company expects annual production of about 10,000 sedans.
Tesla also is exploring possibility of teaming with an existing automaker, possibly a Chinese company, to build an affordable compact EV.
Scott Doggett
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That's great news! Let's see how the car does in real life in terms of sales and range.
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