Location of First Tesla Store Revealed
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK 
on 08. 6.07
The first Tesla store will open in... Menlo Park, in the Bay Area. It will be in a property owned by Stanford University, which used to house a Chevrolet dealer. Not only is the world getting a green car dealership, but it's losing a non-green one. The original idea was to launch a dealership in New York, Chicago, South Florida, Los Angeles and the Bay area - but tragically none in my home-town of London (not that I can afford one anyway, but I could window-shop).
Tesla announced a while ago that they wouldn't be selling franchises for dealerships, but would own and run them all. They're almost like the Apple Computers of the car world; demanding control of every step of the process, from design to sales. Like Apple, this looks like it has resulted in an amazing product which I would happily give a (small) body part to own. The store should be open by the end of the year, which is just after the first production Tesla Roadster is finished in October. ::Auto Blog Green
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Or, buy a Prius and use the $327,000 you saved to save about 3,270 acres of rainforest in the Amazon. (http://www.worldlandtrust.org)
Or, instead of buying a Tesla, you could buy a fully loaded Prius. Savings, $327,000. You could then use that money you saved to protect about 3,270 acres of the Amazon rainforest with http://www.worldlandtrust.org.
I see the price as $100k, not exactly in my budget, but where the heck does the $327,000 savings come from?
Uhh, a Tesla doesn't cost $327,000 more than a Prius, dude, more like $70,000.
That said, anyone considering dropping $100,000 on a car, *any* car, can probably spare a few thousand for saving the rain forest or the manatees or whatever ;)
Sorry to tell you "Alex S." I would much rather buy the TESLA, it has Lithium Ion batteries. It is a shame that the PRIUS does so much environmental damage in the mining of the Nickel for its batteries. An H3 has a lower cost per mile over its lifetime than a PRIUS. So if you bought that PRIUS you might have to buy some rainforest to make up for the environmental damage that you are really doing.
Yes we all love the Tesla - it's lean, mean and super sexy, but it's not greener, it's just less damaging that the other options.
Where's the hemp seat covers? Bio-degradable body? Recyclable components? It's still a big product with lots of unlovely polluting parts, chemical processes and landfill potential.
Walking is green, electric cars are just cool and have a smaller footprint. Can we reserve green for 'things' that are eco-friendly not just less damaging: how about GREENER. Look, we already have a word.
My guess is that the purchase of one of these cars is kind of like directly funding R&D for future, more affordable EVs. If I had the cash to drop, I'd be purchasing one of these. I just hope that tesla sticks to it so the rest of us can get our EV on through the benefits of a free market economy.
Looks like a Hyundai, or maybe a Saturn.
Obbie, what the hell??? That H3 to Prius comparison was debunked many months ago and posted all over the web. Where the heck have you been? Do a Google search, whydontcha, before posting such nonsense.
But I do agree that Lithium batteries are the way to go. Gimme a Prius with one of those aftermarket PHEV kits that adds a big Lithium battery. You'll still save $60K over a Tesla.
"Small" body part
the biggest argument that can be made against the hummer prius comparison is the length and distance of a life cycle. it maybe be true that prius can go more than 100 some odd thousand miles. but having to replace the batteries is an expense just as large as having to replace an engine. effectively reducing the lifecycle to the length of life of the batteries. my biggest problem with the prius is the lack of Lithium Ion batteries. once it gets those, i will have no problems with it. but seeing as toyota has announced they will not be using li-ion batteries in the next gen prius... it might be a long time before that hope comes to reality. i guess the chevy volt will be the first to mass market with such tech.
I am in agreement with everyone EXCEPT alex s.
Alex if you didnt come from an angry place perhaps others would listen. Next time use your mind instead of your emotion. If you follow this company at all you would know their philosophy.
Perhaps look before you leap.
Alex s is too negative to even post on this site, about such a positive product. Thank you Bovis for stating exactly what I wanted to hear and say.
Obbie,
CNW, the firm who made that report, refuses to release its raw data for independent review. Hence rendering it debunked by default.
But here's a detailed account of why the report is absolute fraud:
http://www.denialism.com/labels/George%20Will.html
I love that they say the battery is not recylced by Totyota. I am still hoping for Toyota to sue the pants off them.
Now remember, just because something is said with conviction, does not make it true. You would think that after 7 years of this from our man in charge you might have figured that out by now.