Rachel Cernansky
DCL
It looked like the most hopping bar in New York on a Friday night, except it was in Boulder, Colorado, it wasn't a bar, and it was a guest-list-only event. Drinks were indeed flowing, but everyone in the crowd was gathered to see the hottest-looking eco-friendly car to hit the road in the last two years, and it has just arrived in Boulder. Tesla Motors, maker of the eco-famous tailpipe emissions-free Roadster and Model S electric vehicles, launched its newest gallery in Boulder on Friday, and the room was abuzz with people from prospective buyers to renewable energy experts to electric car fanatics. I met two men from the Denver Electric Vehicle Council, members of which they said have been DIY-ing their own electric vehicles for more than ten years.
I also met one prospective buyer, Josh, who admitted the Roadster is not a practical car for his one-mile commute to downtown Boulder. But you could see the temptation in his eyes, and with the $42,083 tax credit now available for Colorado buyers, practical seemed to become less of a necessity. He was going for a test-drive at 10 a.m. the following morning; I wonder if he went home with the car.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, ended his speech of the night—appropriately for Colorado, where it was snowing on the first day of fall—by highlighting the car's year-round capabilities and that it can be used throughout the winter. But while the Tesla Roadster is eco-friendly, at $101,500, it's not wallet-friendly just yet. When asked about costs coming down, Musk talked about the Model S sedan, which will be ready in two years (though they're taking reservations now). He said if you lease the $49,900 car, you see the savings in fuel over a $35,000 gasoline car immediately. "If you can afford to lease a Taurus," he told me, "you can afford to lease a Model S."
So while the room on Friday was filled more with admirers than buyers, it seemed, the Roadster is at least building anticipation among a larger crowd for the soon-to-come sedan that will reach 0 - 60 mph in 5.6 seconds, fit 7 people, have a 300-mile range, run on a 45-minute QuickCharge, and best of all, still use no gas.
