Tesla Motors, creator of an all electric car, is creating a dealership in Los Angeles. Near Santa Monica Boulevard & the 405. I’m excited, even if I’m not quite ready to spend $98,000 for a 2 seat roadster.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-garagebriefs26may26,1,987834.story?track=rss
If you are interested in the future of car design, or how to start an innovative physical products company, there is no more interesting company to watch than Tesla Motors (wikipedia), which is developing an all electric 2 seat sports car.
It has great range (200 miles), incredible performance (3.9 seconds to go from 0 to 60 miles per hour; top speed of 130 miles per hour), gets the equivalent of 135 miles per gallon (but electricity costs 2 cents per mile), and is relatively cheap for a startup sports car ($100k). Oh, and it’s a rather beautiful car (http://www.teslamotors.com/). 380 people have already put down a deposit.
I highly recommend their blogs, which you can find here (http://www.teslamotors.com/blogs.php?js_enabled=1). The blogs cover all aspects of their business. The innovation isn’t just in the cars, but how they have re-imagined the car dealership (you could see your car being worked on in a crystal clean room, for example), and the refueling station (they are offering roof mounted solar panel systems for home recharging).
And in 2010 they will start selling a sedan for $50,000 to $70,000.
Update, 5/17/07: Apparently they plan on selling a third vehicle in the $30,000 range after the roadster and the sedan. See this interview for more information on founder Elon Musk’s take on Tesla: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2006/07/26/exclusive-q-and-a-with-elon-musk-on-the-tesla-roadster-and-the-fut/
Update, 6/12/07: A great article on the founding of Tesla Motors, from Vanity Fair: http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/05/tesla200705?currentPage=1Â
Diesel engines get better gas mileage than gas engines. Hybrid powertrains (combining a battery, electric motor and combustion motor) more efficiently utilizes energy than traditional powertrains. I’ve pointed out in the past there would be a big benefit to combining a diesel engine with a hybrid powertrain. Apparently Wal-Mart thinks so too:
“Wal-Mart, the largest US retailer, is to work with ArvinMeritor, the auto component supplier, on the development of a diesel-electric hybrid truck, as part of its new focus on improving its environmental performance. The companies said in a statement they had agreed to develop a dual-mode, diesel-electric drivetrain for a Class 8 truck tractor truck - the workhorse of the US long-distance trucking industry.”
