I was kind of annoyed after a meeting (and an annoying electrical problem with my audi's parking sensors) the other day, so I drove over to the Tesla dealer in Menlo Park -- sitting in an awesome $100k car is a great motivator to work on a startup faster (so as to be able to buy a Tesla and a house to charge it in).
The interesting thing I learned is that a lot of the Tesla Roadsters will be available as Certified Pre-Owned, starting in Fall 2012 and pretty much into 2013. They had a bunch of them out for "lease a Roadster until your Model S is ready", and those are delivery positions in Fall 2012; there was also a lease program which will be expiring in 2013 as well (since the Roadster is no longer in production). I am still a lot more into a Model S sized car (luxury and functionality over performance and "fun"), but it would be a good option.
A fortune a startup does not make. If you want the best rout to gettign a tesla you will have to work your way up the ranks. Make a startup because you want to make the product, not because you want to make money. On the brighter side, hurray Tesla!
Thanks for the link. The article states that Tesla hopes to have a next generation Roadster available in 2013 or later. Arguably a production gap, which isn't unheard of even for larger auto makers. It is an awfully long gap though, a few months would be more typical. "Or later" is a little ominous as well.
The interesting thing I learned is that a lot of the Tesla Roadsters will be available as Certified Pre-Owned, starting in Fall 2012 and pretty much into 2013. They had a bunch of them out for "lease a Roadster until your Model S is ready", and those are delivery positions in Fall 2012; there was also a lease program which will be expiring in 2013 as well (since the Roadster is no longer in production). I am still a lot more into a Model S sized car (luxury and functionality over performance and "fun"), but it would be a good option.