Air Bag Waiver Granted

[tonybelding]

Now it's official:

Tesla Motors wins waiver for all-electric Roadster

 

[TEG]

Egads! Only just now?! They had been suggesting that the transmission was the only remaining issue, so I had assumed that this had already been dealt with by now. I hope that was the only remaining "dark cloud" so it finally clears the way for proper production. From what I could tell some may have assumed that they were going to 'piggyback' on the Lotus Elise exemption, but instead they had to petition for their own. Thankfully they finally got it!

 

[Cobos]

In a completely selfish and stupid notion, what would Tesla have done if they now didn't get that waiver. Would they delay again or simply try to sell the first Roadsters in Europe? :tongue: You see where my self-interest comes in ? But seriously this is good news...

Cobos

 

[TEG]

...what would Tesla have done if they now didn't get that waiver? ...

According to the article:
""The agency said Tesla had operating losses of $43 million between 2002 and 2006, and that denying the request was 'likely to put Tesla out of business in the U.S. and potentially worldwide.' ""


Perhaps the dark clouds just parted and the sun started to shine through again...

 

[siry]

we never felt that this waiver was going to be a problem because a strong precedent had been set with the Elise/Exige. I don't think the granting of the waiver was newsworthy (obviously the freep disagrees). Not granting the waiver would certainly have been newsworthy. The milestone of P1 pushes all of these things to completion. Had we delivered P1 last fall, I believe we would have received the waiver then.

 

[Iz]

I am not a Roadster customer but cringe every time I read another potential road block. In addition to being good news, the waiver also reveals Tesla's positive acceptance.

siry, one manner for Tesla to raise funding is to begin accepting $5k deposits on WhiteStar after initial designs are publicized. You may have thousands on the list, including me! :biggrin:

 

[tonybelding]

we never felt that this waiver was going to be a problem because a strong precedent had been set with the Elise/Exige. I don't think the granting of the waiver was newsworthy (obviously the freep disagrees). Not granting the waiver would certainly have been newsworthy. The milestone of P1 pushes all of these things to completion. Had we delivered P1 last fall, I believe we would have received the waiver then.

I wonder what happens when the waiver expires. The "White Star" should be in production by then, and its production numbers might prevent Tesla from qualifying for a renewal of the waiver for the Roadster.

Of course that's a few years in the future, and I know everybody at Tesla has more pressing concerns right about now.

Maybe "advanced airbag" technology will be more affordable for small production runs by then.

 

[TEG]

(unrelated Fisker Karma discussion has been split off and moved here)