What about that down payment?

[vfx]

Hard question.

When you cash-up for your Roadster with a reserve payment of 30, 50 or $100k, I heard that your money does not go into an escrow account like other high dollar (including car) companies do.

This would mean current buyers are building the company. This also means if (heaven forbid) Tesla goes teats up you would be lucky to get your money back.  The lawsuits could go on forever.

Some make the argument that it's a rich person's toy so they can afford such a risk/losst. I actually find that most wealthy people have gotten that way by not being cavalier with hard earned money.

If true, those not comfortable with possibility of such a scenario should wait for the supply to be ahead of demand and buy their Roadster from a showroom.

Does anyone have deatils on this?

 

[tonybelding]

I have heard conflicting statements on this point from different people.

I don't know the answer, but I probably know where I can go to find out. I'll get back to you.

 

[tonybelding]

OK, here's an official answer.

The reserve payments are not held in escrow by a third party. They are held by Tesla Motors on a separate ledger. Tesla are not planning to spend those funds prior to completing the sales or use them as a source of financing, they don't anticipate the need to do that. However, if some kind of financial emergency were to arise, that money is in Tesla's hands.

You can read that in a good way or a bad way, it really depends on your viewpoint. I personally don't have a problem with it.

 

[Tesla2Go]

should wait for the supply to be ahead of demand and buy their Roadster from a showroom.

Then they will have to wait until they're too old to drive ;D

 

[W8MM]

... wait for the supply to be ahead of demand and buy their Roadster from a showroom.

Ditto the comment in the post above.

Once the 8 or 10 Validation Prototypes appear in mid-Summer, various car magazines can do some instrumented testing.  This means some reviews will be in circulation 60 days after, which I guess to be before Halloween.  After the news about Tesla performance obtains a patina of reality via the "buff books", the waiting list might get longer, not shorter.

My premium reservation is promised for June, 2008.  That's a good 8 months after the news will have been in circulation!  I can't imagine an "in-stock" situation until well into 2009, if then.

Unless the Tesla Roadster fails to impress in magazine reviews, the waiting list aspect of the car will add to its attractiveness in a parallel (but differently motivated) way that Ferrari F430 sales benefit from Ferrari's Ponzi-like management of unmet USA demand.   The Toyota Prius had quite a "sticker-plus" following for quite some time after its introduction, as well.  Tesla, of course, has made it almost impossible for third parties to profit from initial unmet demand by the way they have structured their reservation agreement.  I think this aspect is quite brilliant and reassuring to early customers.

Of course, any item that is over-subscribed in the market place will eventually become readily available.  The only question is; "When?"

How long do you want to wait?  2010?

Since my wife is close to the small limit and I am close to the large limit for a comfortable fit in the Tesla Roadster, we took the opportunity to visit Tesla headquarters while we were otherwise traveling to the San Francisco area.  We discovered more than that we both fit in the car comfortably.  It became quite clear to us that Tesla Motors just oozes with credibility and well thought out methods and procedures.  They appeared to run their business from a perspective we recognized as reassuringly similar to the way we run ours.   My wife and I have both been involved in some aspects of vehicle manufacturing, certification and racing over the years.  We've seen quite a few ideas come and go and quite a few "characters" do the same.  Nothing about Tesla Motors gave us even the faintest hint that they could not be trusted with our reservation subscription.  As soon as we concluded our visit, my wife enthusiastically agreed (insisted?) that we should reserve a car.

Your mileage may vary

 

[vfx]

Once the 8 or 10 Validation Prototypes appear in mid-Summer, various car magazines can do some instrumented testing. This means some reviews will be in circulation 60 days after, which I guess to be before Halloween. After the news about Tesla performance obtains a patina of reality via the "buff books", the waiting list might get longer, not shorter.

This is what I believe. Though I think the press will start coming even earlier. Did Darryl say he was getting 2 or 3 VPs? We know there is 1 here and possibly 2 (the yellow one) I would think he has a loooong list of editors chomping at the bit for seat time. So you just not say no to.
Also, once there are cars seen on the road (with clebs in them) sales will also jump.
It would be a cool blog to have Darryl say what order he put the press in. I'm won't bother asking though because I would never do that. -You don't want to make anyone mad.

As someone who could get a Roadster but it would be a stretch these are the two very things that make the call a tough one for now. The press will go ballistic one they get in these things (I did) and 2010 is probably a good stabilzation guess given they are selling 1 car a day now. But like any investment, you should be in a position to be able to loose the money without loosing your shirt (no one wants to see that).

 

[TOL]

The yellow car in San Carlos is EP5 and was featured in the blog post about durability testing.

http://www.teslamotors.com/blog4/?p=42

 

[siry]

I was actually considering to do my next blog on the marketing plan vis a vis third party testing, since so many people mentioned it in response to my last blog.

I've had a few meetings where we debated the right approach to exclusive vs. non-exclusive, timing, and format of the first drives. I can't say I've nailed down the approach but I do believe that having as many of them as possible test the Roadster and write about it is to our benefit.

 

[vfx]

I was actually considering to do my next blog on the marketing plan vis a vis third party testing, since so many people mentioned it in response to my last blog.

Listing who is testing is cool, I just meant I would not publish (post) a specific list of who gets what/when. I.e.: Road & Track gets the red car for two weeks in June while Car and Driver gets the blue car for 3 days in July.
Having done some work in the "pool car" arena for Fiat/Ferrari I saw that that some publications were sensitive* to such things.

By the way, more often than not the cars would come back pretty thrashed...

"... but I do believe that having as many of them as possible test the Roadster and write about it is to our benefit."

All press is good press!

e


*"sensitive" is a PC term