Tesla Motors released their new Model S electric car in June, and it has been making headlines ever since. What is special about Tesla? Starting at a price of about $60 thousand, their cars run entirely on electricity while not removing comfort, ensuring that one does not have to sacrifice luxury for efficiency. Tesla is a company which is ahead of its time, with other companies paying Tesla to use their technology. Toyota has already created an electric RAV4 which is going to be released in the next few months. These cars are not only innovative in their design, but also in the way that they are going to be sold.
Tesla Motors is not an ordinary automobile company, as can be seen by the fact that they only produce electric cars. Another point that sets them apart however, is their stores. Tesla has begun opening stores to sell their cars in malls, with these showrooms still offering test drives, but not having a large selection available at the store. Tesla allows visitors to their stores to customise their vehicles using touch screens, with the employees also offering presentations which allow for consumers to learn more about Tesla and electric vehicles. The staff of these stores work differently in that they do not work for commission, something which Tesla says will ensure that each employee will work to “to make sure everyone who leaves is smiling.” This new way of selling cars does not remove the car from the experience, however, as each dealership will have a few models of Tesla’s cars inside, allowing for visitors to get a closer look at the car before purchasing it.
Tesla seems like a more fun type of company that what many are used to from the current dominant automobile manufacturers, but can it be successful? The company has received an abundance of pre-orders for the Model S, with the company set to fulfill the pre-orders this year and next year. The company has been slightly struggling to manufacture and deliver these orders, with the company only having produced 50 of the 5,000 it wishes to deliver this year. The company is confident it will be able to meet this goal, with their VP of sales saying, “The ramp-up [in production] is continuing,” with investors in the company working with the manufacturing to ensure that they will make their goal. Tesla has been taking in data from their cars, something which should allow them to continue to improve their models, making them easier to use for customers new to electric vehicles.
Tesla hopes to release a new vehicle next year, the Model X, an SUV which is even more inventive than the Model S. Ever had trouble getting into the third row of an SUV? The makers of the Model X thought about this problem, and with the new doors, getting into the third row has become a realistic experience. The Model X is expected to be delivered in 2014.
If you’re interested in Tesla, they don’t currently have any stores in Calgary to visit, but they aren’t ignoring Canada, with their first Canadian store in Toronto opening this fall. Since their stores have become known as the Apple stores of the automotive industry, if they expand at the same speed as Apple did, it won’t be too long before we’ll have a Tesla store in every mall.