He just stepped out of his first Tesla test drive. Per Ecorazzi, the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist's impressions upon stepping out of the vehicle were:

“I get into it and pull away from the curb……dead silence wow!!!!…. man it was unbelievable. it drove like nothing i have ever been in before, made my Porsche feel like a golf cart! It took off like a rocket ship, handled so sensitively, it was just amazing and fun and thrilling. I am so happy i went with my gut and bought that car. Yeah it is a long wait, but man, the thing is awesome. The silence makes ya feel like you are floating, and it just rocks, it was the funnest car, i have ever been in, with the possible exception of Hillel Slovak’s Datsun B210 in 1979, he was the only guy i knew who had a car, and we listened to lot of zeppelin in there….To enjoy driving as much as is possible in that Tesla, and to pollute nothing, no emissions, into the air, is a great great feeling.”

It looks like a beautiful union of beauty, brawn, and brains. Check out pictures and more info at: Ecorazzi .

Labels: Ecorazzi, Flea, Tesla

The naming of Tesla Motors makes me want to become a nomenclature specialist. Sweet heavens! Brilliant! Lucky for me, and the other Bay Area residents, the first Tesla Motors dealership will open in Menlo Park. Here's the scoop direct from Treehugger.com (who, congrats to them, got acquired by Discovery Communications, LLC today):

Location of First Tesla Store Revealed

by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 08. 6.07

The first Tesla store will open in... Menlo Park, in the Bay Area. It will be in a property owned by Stanford University, which used to house a Chevrolet dealer. Not only is the world getting a green car dealership, but it is losing a non-green one. The original idea was to launch a dealership in New York, Chicago, South Florida, Los Angeles and the Bay area - but tragically none in my home-town of London (not that I can afford one anyway, but I could window-shop).

Tesla announced a while ago that they would not be selling franchises for dealerships, but would own and run them all. They are almost like the Apple Computers of the car world; demanding control of every step of the process, from design to sales. Like Apple, this looks like it has resulted in an amazing product which I would happily give a (small) body part to own. The store should be open by the end of the year, which is just after the first production Tesla Roadster is finished in October.

Labels: Tesla, Transportation, treehugger