Tesla Opens European Flagship Showroom in London

Electric sports car maker Tesla opened its first UK dealership in the heart of London at the Knightsbridge district. The 5,000 square-foot showroom on Cheval Place which is in walking distance from Harrods department store and convenient to Heathrow Airport will act as Tesla's European flagship store and will be followed by sales and service centers in Monaco, Munich and Zurich as well as four new stores in the United States.

The company said that it will begin delivering cars to European customers this summer of which the first 250 will be the Signature Edition Roadster model, priced from £94,000 on the road, but UK customers will have to wait until early 2010 for the first right-hand drive models. All in all, Tesla said that it has received 1,300 European orders for the all-electric Roadster model.

"Thanks to an abundance of discriminating drivers and progressive public policy, Tesla is already well known in Europe," said Tesla CEO Elon Musk. "We expect the London store to dramatically increase our brand identity throughout the continent, and with right hand drive models now due at the beginning of next year, the UK market will provide a solid foundation on which to build this."

Along with the Roadster, Tesla said that is also taking reservations for the four-door Model S sports saloon that is due for production in late 2011.

Tesla Roadster

The Tesla Roadster is and powerful roadster. It runs on exhaust-free plug power, and it's already primed for more power. A specialty car importer is quoting the Euro Tesla's power at or over 300 hp, with a 13,000 rpm red line and a single speed transmission.

The revised gearbox drops a gear, adds an upgraded power electronics module, and provides better cooling. It seems the hype machine that is the Tesla Roadster is beginning to heat up, and more power will only make us want the green little drop-top more.