As Mark Twain once penned, "Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated," and maybe 
that's what's happening with EV company Tesla Motors of San Carlos, CA. Just a few weeks ago, as noted on this website, Tesla was firing people left and right, including one of the two co-founders of the company and rumored to be closing offices, and that problems with developing a suitable transmission for the car had not been overcome. We also reported on the company's close, longtime ties to the Bush Administration, including big time Republicans Arnold Schwarzenegger and Condoleeza Rice being given rides in the car, with pitches about the roadster given them by the company's top officers. Tesla's sad exhibit at the recent Los Angeles Auto Show, which was part of another company's display, led many to believe that the end might not be too far off for the company.
Now, like a bolt out of the blue, Tesla says they will be starting production of the two-seat EV on March 17th, very slow production at first, then ramping-up to their planned-for full production mode. The company also says that beginning in fall, 2009, they will start annual production, at a plant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, of 10,000 all-electric, five-passenger, four-door all-electric sedans called White Star. Wait a second ... Not one Tesla roadster has been produced for sale as of this date, and now they're announcing plans to being producing 10,000 sedans annually ... ? It's a bit hard to believe, but the company has received a waiver from the feds excusing them, for three years, from the federal advanced airbag standards. Things seem to be happening very fast with this small car-maker ... (Photo above - Tesla undergoes rear crash-testing).
(From various sources) Tesla Motors has received a waiver from the government on a federal air bag standard, bringing it, the company says, a step closer toward the production of its all-electric Roadster later this year.
Tesla says they have pre-sold all of its 2008 Tesla Roadsters, a fully electric sports car that sells for $98,000. As noted elsewhere on this website, customers ordering the roadsters were required to "put down" a 100% deposit on the car; therefore, these initial buyers have already paid for their cars in full. The company says they now expect to begin deliveries in the first quarter of this year, but needed the waiver to be able to sell in the United States.
Based on information provided by Tesla, NHTSA estimates the waiver will cover 3,825 Roadsters, including 625 vehicles this year and 1,600 in each of the following two years.
Tesla says that NHTSA called the Roadster "one of the most advanced full electric vehicles available" and said the "public interest is served by encouraging the development of fuel-efficient and alternative-fueled vehicles." High praise, indeed. But keep in mind Tesla's close ties to the current administration in DC.
The federal agency said Tesla posted operating losses of $43 million from 2003-2006 and that without the waiver, Tesla would "have to cancel its pending development of an electric-powered sedan, and would ultimately have to terminate its operations."
Tesla said in a statement last week that it had received all regulatory approvals to import the first production Roadster for sale in the United States and production would begin March 17th.
We say "import" the cars, because Tesla has based its Roadster on the two-seat Lotus Elise sports car, built in the UK, and Lotus itself also could not comply with the advanced air bag rule and received an exemption from NHTSA in August 2006. Tesla roadsters will be manufactured at a Lotus factory in Hethel, England, under Tesla's supervision. The White Star sedan is planned to be a more proprietary design, not based on a Lotus car.
Another major problem standing in the way of Tesla roadster production has been the development
of a transmission which would suit the all-electric vehicle. Previously, Tesla said that early production units will be equipped with an "interim transmission" that meets durability requirements but limits acceleration to 5.7 seconds from 0 to 60 mph. Tesla engineers do say that they have designed a permanent solution for mass production that supports the original specification of 0 to 60 mph in 4 seconds. "Designed" is a long way, though, from "prototyping" and even farther from "production".
The planned solution, Tesla has said, "reduces program risk, provides better efficiency, lower weight, equal or better range, better thermal performance and quicker quarter mile acceleration due to the elimination of the need to shift gears."
Tesla also says that early production will proceed at a limited rate and then ramp up to full production when the permanent powertrain solution is production-ready later this year.
The upgrade from the interim solution to the higher-power, permanent solution will be provided to customers free of charge when available later this year, according to Tesla. Translated into normal English, this means, apparently, that customers driving at least the first year roadsters will be limited on how fast they can drive the car, and then, if and when a better tranny is developed, the car will need to be returned to Tesla's shop for retro-fitting. Lovely, huh?
We wish Tesla all the best, though there are still many questions which stand between what Tesla says they'd like to do and what they are apparently capable of doing; such as, delivering one completed, operable EV roadster to one paying customer. We are happy though, with the announced March 26th start-of-production date. It could have been April 1st.
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