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Tesla Motors Unveils Jaw-Dropping Menlo Park Showroom

Danish Khan (curiousbear) — 2008-07-20T13:52:34Z

SWEEEEEEET!!!!! Must go there soon

via TechCrunch by Jason Kincaid on 7/19/08

Tesla Motors, the automobile startup with backers that include Sergey Brin and Larry Page, held a party tonight to mark the launch of its Menlo Park storefront. The store, which is the company’s second, will be open to the general public beginning this Tuesday.

Despite Tesla Motors’ well deserved reputation as a high-end car manufacturer, it is still very much a startup - the company’s $150 million in funding pales in comparison to coffers held by large automobile companies like Ferrari. As a result, Tesla has strived to create a atmosphere of style and sophistication at its showrooms without breaking the bank.

The new dealership is situated in Menlo Park, about 5 minutes away from downtown Palo Alto and Stanford University. The interior of the building is designed to be “industrial chic” - a strange mix of luxurious furniture (white leather sofas, marble tables) and the trimmings of a basic garage (concrete walls, exposed wooden ceilings). It works surprisingly well, keeping the store’s high-end customers at home without distracting from the showroom’s main attraction: the cars.

Ah, the cars. Tesla has half a dozen of their Tesla Roadster electric car on display, and they don’t disappoint. It’s hard to put into words how ridiculously sexy the Tesla Roadster is in person, so we’ve grabbed a lot of pictures. Suffice to say, as soon as you walk in the store, you’re going to want one.

Unfortunately, actually buying a Tesla Roadster is an involved and lengthy process. To reserve a car, first you’ll need to make a $5,000 deposit, which is mostly just to show you’re serious. To actually get a place on the 1,100 person long waiting list, you’ll need to pony up another $55,000 - making a grand total of $60,000. Of the 1100 people on the waitlist, 600 are for the 2008 model, which had a base cost of $98,000. The remainder of the list is for the 2009 model, which has been upped to a $109,000 base value, mostly to account for the weakened dollar.

Tesla is currently telling customers that the waitlist is one year long, but production is only just ramping up so that time frame may slip a bit. By weeks end there will be around 12 cars on the road, most of which are owned by company boardmembers and investors. For the time being, cars are being assembled at a rate of about 4 a week, with expectations that the company will be able to finish 40 a week early next year.

Unsurprisingly, you won’t be able to just waltz in and test drive a Roadster. To get the keys to one of these beauties, you’ll need to prove that you’re serious (namely, pay the initial $5000), or otherwise convince the dealership that you mean business. At least you have these pictures.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

W00t

Mad Percolator (madpercolator) — 2008-07-20T10:49:43Z

Have been watching the dev team's progress biting my nails. Their system also updates jailbroken 1st generation iPhones to KEEP 3P installed programs + add stuff from the App Sto. Hellz yea.

via Google News on 7/20/08

iPhone Buzz

Dubious achievement: Hackers ‘jailbreak’ the iPhone 3G
CNNMoney.com - 4 hours ago
Eight days after Apple’s new iPhone went on sale, an international team of programmers announced on Saturday that the device had been “pwned” - hacker jargon for “controlled” or “compromised.
Pwnage 2.0 released: For iPhone 3G, you can only jailbreak CrunchGear
Pwnage 2.0 Jailbreak Tool for the New iPhone Already Available eFluxMedia
Ars Technica - dBTechno - CNET News - Apple Insider
all 20 news articles

[tfs-2plus] TFS ALRM 5 AREA 224

TFS ALRM (johnc06) — 2008-07-20T08:56:37Z

SECORD AVE, EY BARRINGTON AVE / PALMER AVE 2008-07-20 10:43:03 F08082070 Fire - Highrise Residential 5 224 R224, P224, P226, A226, C22, R225, P227, P323, R235, A322, S313, LA333, HZ332, C32, P322, R326, P324, A222, C13, S232, C30, C20, CMD30, S331, C10, C33, LA231, P234, R231, P313, A321, P244, P315, P125, T333, C12, HZ145, -- txxxx@xxxcom ------------ www.weatherserver.net ------------------------ Change your settings: http://smtp.weatherserver.net:8080/

says

jeremywade (jeremywade) — 2008-07-20T08:25:40Z

is finishing up studying at Panera, before heading to church.

[tfs-2plus] TFS ALRM 3 AREA 224

TFS ALRM (johnc06) — 2008-07-20T08:13:38Z

SECORD AVE, EY BARRINGTON AVE / PALMER AVE 2008-07-20 10:43:03 F08082070 Fire - Highrise Residential 3 224 R224, P224, P226, A226, C22, R225, P227, P323, R235, A322, S313, LA333, HZ332, C32, P322, R326, P324, A222, C13, S232, -- txxxx@xxxcom ------------ www.weatherserver.net ------------------------ Change your settings: http://smtp.weatherserver.net:8080/

Jolie and Brad

Nithya Prasad (nithyap) — 2008-07-20T04:16:53Z

They seem to a happy couple with the arrival of their twins and raising money for charity by just releasing their babies pictures. I just think this is wonderful. I wish things changed if every one contributed and eradicated poverty from this world.

------------------------------------------

Nina

brad pitt and jolie

I'm just getting warmed up

Nithya Prasad (nithyap) — 2008-07-20T04:12:15Z

Hi I am Nina just like to join this conversation.

says

jennydalton (jennydalton) — 2008-07-20T03:25:43Z

Keith and I before departure. Bye NYC, home soon mpls.

says

jennydalton (jennydalton) — 2008-07-20T03:10:18Z

Sun up on bowery. Lonely airport trek

hey hey

Aonghas Anderson (aonghas) — 2008-07-20T02:02:26Z

hey hey

--
Aonghas Anderson 2008
axxxx@xxxcom; MSN: bxxxx@xxxcom
www.aonghas.com