One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Tesla Opens First Dealership in Los Angeles
Taken yesterday, the Tesla Roadster electric car sits in a showroom during an event to celebrate the opening of the first Tesla Flagship Store near the corner of Santa Monica and Sepulveda (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Definitely one of the hottest energy-efficient green cars around, the fully electric Tesla Roadster can travel over 200 miles on a single battery charge and can go from 0 to 60 mph in a short 3.9 seconds. Lucky for Los Angeles, it gets Tesla Motor's first location for a dealership.
Unfortunately, shoppers looking to buy the $100,000 sports car will not be making any impulse buys for awhile. One, because 600 orders have already sold with a waiting list of 400 more. And two, only four production cars have actually been built. By December, they hope to have at least 300 cars finished. A development glitch in the transmission caused the slow down.
As for the store it self, AutoWeek explains: "The Tesla store looks more like a cool ad agency or hip restaurant than a car dealership. Its industrial look features poured concrete floors, exposed beams and ductwork, mirrored front glass and planter boxes filled with horsetail stems. The service department is out in the open to allow customers to see what is going on with their cars." It cost $2-million to make and the goal was to have a "nontraditional automative experience" based on the Apple Store concept for consumers.
Los Angeles won't hold onto it's only-Tesla-dealership title for long. The second store is planned to open this summer in Menlo Park, CA with a possibility of four more stores in New York, Miami, Seattle and Chicago by 2009.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
