Living here in the SF South Bay Area, the Tesla factory is in the old GM plant in Fremont, so lots of them around here. The showroom in San Jose is in an upscale mall, called Santa Row, and the sedan frame is there in the showroom, which shows potential buyers where the motor, batteries, and other drive train components are in the car. Nice looking car, the fact that the majority of the weight and structure is down low makes the a different kind of car. The electric motors do have a ton of torque, and the limited mileage per charge is a concern for long hauls.
As a lot of us see it, the target market is the yuppie crowd that needs to have the newest, best, most unique product on the block, so they can show it off. And in the center of the Tech world, there are lots of people to market the Tesla product to here in the bay area.
Also, there are a lot of people who drive an hour and half one way to drive back and forth to work for a total of 30-40 miles one direction, so no real range and charging concerns for them. And a silent vehicle that doesn't drone the whole time is a real plus. For some of us the drone of the engine, particularly a high performance engine is inspiration, for most it is exhausting, so there are a few intangible benefits that are customer specific.
Working for a large corporation in the Bay Area, there are incentives for these employers to install "Green Energy" stations, and several employers have solar charging stations for their "Zero Emissions" and "Partial Zero Emissions" vehicles. So for some, their "fuel" cost is very low with electric vehicles, as part of their electric vehicle cost is either subsidized or free.
They have a different business model. It is an interesting concept, market directly to customers, with no dealers, and provide financing differently than other manufacturers. Not sure that is really a federal finding thing, as most of the big vehicle credit agencies are funded by the big auto makers, so the finance part of the business would have put Tesla in a bad business position if they followed traditional auto manufacturers business practices. Same thing with the dealer's business model. It is hard to have a single manufacturer at one dealer outside of large metropolitan areas. In smaller markets the Tesla dealer would be sitting along side a Nissan or Toyota or Chevy in the dealership, and the sales staff would have to honestly have to tell the buyer that a hybrid has advantages over an all electric car.
Not a lot of options, small or large batteries, longer range/higher performance electric motor, or standard.
Tesla has had a problem in some states, see the news article link below. Also lack of charging stations in other markets outside metropolitan and suburban areas is a concern, however that will change over time.
http://venturebeat.com/2013/04/18/te...-auto-dealers/
Bottom line is, it works for some, others not so much. The market and driving habits are a huge factor in the decision, even with a low cost optioned vehicle well over the average cost of a new vehicle.
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
Tesla
Hybrid Mode
