Tesla fans got a first peek last weekend at something close to a final version of the full-size sedan the company plans to start delivering next year.
The electric car company invited customers who had reserved one of its new Model S's to visit its factory in Fremont, Calif. There the company offered factory tours, demonstrations of how the car will be assembled — and a test ride in what Tesla is calling a "beta" version of the car.
About a third of the 6,000 people who have reserved a Model S showed up Saturday night, said Khobi Brooklyn, Tesla's spokeswoman.
People flew "in from Japan and Germany to experience this car for the first time," she said.
Many of those on hand were excited to the point of being giddy to see a real, drivable Model S — the basic model of which will sell for about $50,000 after federal tax credits.
"I've never been as excited as this" about a car, said Peter Orgel, an antiques dealer from Oak Park in Southern California, who has six other cars.
Orgel, who ordered his Model S about four months ago, flew up to get a test ride. "I can't wait to get it as soon as I can."
Bill Tracey, 57, made an even longer journey to check out the Model S, flying in from Florida. Tracey, who owns a chain of coin laundries in Orlando, said he became interested in the Model S after attending an electric car show where he got to drive Tesla's Roadster and a Chevy Volt.
After being impressed by the Roadster, he went to Tesla's website, where he discovered the Model S.
"I just loved it," he said. "Seeing it in person is amazing."
Tracey and other customers got to take a ride in the Model S's. With a Tesla-hired driver at the wheel, customers were taken around a short course on the factory property. The driver wove the car in and out of cones, then took the car from a near-standstill to more than 70 miles per hour, showing off the Model S's supercharged acceleration.
"It was an exhilarating ride," said Travis Johnson, 42, a manager with NV Energy, a power company in Nevada.
The event also offered one of the first looks inside the Tesla factory, a former Toyota-General Motors auto factory that closed last year and was purchased by Tesla. Painted white, the inside of the factory contained well-spaced machinery organized into distinct areas, including areas where the plastics in the car are manufactured and the metal parts of the car are stamped.
Johnson, an engineer, said he was somewhat apprehensive about buying a car from a startup company, but the facility tour put that worry to rest.
"When you see the precision of the way they've got things laid out, it's pretty impressive," he said.
Source By: www.detnews.com
