So, you’re interested in buying a Tesla, the sleek, highly-engineered electric car from the Silicon Valley firm co-founded by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk?
If in California you could have placed your order while doing your Black Friday mall shopping recently. Some cut-price pyjamas from Macy's, an iPad from the Apple Store, a new pair of boots from Bloomingdales, some peanut brittle from See's Candies. And your pre-order of Tesla's in-demand Model S.
Tesla’s showcase store at the Stanford shopping centre in Palo Alto opened just weeks before what is traditionally the biggest shopping weekend in the US just after Thanksgiving.
“You have to go see the Tesla store,” my mother told me when I arrived over for the holiday week. Not that she’s in the market for one, but the store itself, about 10 minutes from where she lives, has become a local entertainment must-see.
On the Saturday after Thanksgiving the Tesla store was busier than the queue for Santa outside Macy's, and about as crowded as the nearby flagship Apple Store.
Several young, clean-cut salespeople cheerfully called out hellos to visitors and offered to answer questions. Whole families gathered to gawk at the spotless Tesla chassis on display and look in the windows of the three display cars.
While I was there no one was brave enough to actually get into the cars, perhaps fearing they’d succumb to their sexy allure and find themselves signing the papers for delivery of one of the vehicles. At $70,000 to $132,000, they make for a very big ticket item under the Christmas tree.
I didn’t get in either, more because I didn’t want to be pestered by the salespeople. But that was probably an unfounded worry. They sell more than enough of the cars to indulge the occasional person seeking vicarious ownership thrills from sitting briefly in a Model S. Many countries have long waiting lists for delivery. Irish customers must order from Britain for now.
Pretty darn cool
The glamour and profile of Tesla is such that
Elon Musk
is now primarily noted for being the co-founder of Tesla and its CEO. Somewhere down the line in importance might come a mention of his other company Space-X, which has delivered cargo to the international space station. Which is pretty darn cool, but, it seems, not as cool as Tesla in the popular imagination.
As unlikely as it might seem to sell cars in a shopping centre, it's a growing trend, and not just for Tesla. Hyundai has also made the move to malls, and Mercedes Benz among others now has brand showrooms in city centres.
In Tesla’s case – an auto-maker that doesn’t have franchise dealers selling its vehicles –it makes sense to go to high-footfall and upmarket malls like Stanford shopping centre, which is surrounded by a region that is among the most expensive in the world to live in.
And it’s stuffed full of individuals loaded with Valley money and only too thrilled to buy a trophy car loaded with sensors and other high-tech features. And did I mention, they look fabulous?
However, Consumer Reports, the US equivalent of Which?, gave a thumbs down in its October issue to Tesla for reliability. Consumer Reports loved the performance of the Model S, but withdrew its recommendation for the car based on 1,400 reports it received from Tesla owners as part of its annual survey of auto reliability.
Owners listed problems with everything from the car’s drivetrain and recharging equipment to “body and sunroof squeaks, rattles and leaks”.
The article noted: “From that data we forecast that owning that Tesla is likely to involve a worse-than-average overall problem rate.”
Tesla shares dropped over 10 per cent on the day of the issue’s publication, and have recovered slightly from an October low of $206. Yet at $221 on Wednesday they still remain well below their July peak of $282 this year.
But that all seems unlikely to seriously dampen enthusiasm for the cars. In the Valley well-heeled techies can’t get enough of them.
Tesla's broader appeal will be tested early next year when its model range expands to include a more affordable car set to rival the likes of the BMW 3 Series and Audi A4. Tesla is also set to roll out its dedicated fast charging points in Ireland next year.
Which means an Irish Tesla showroom might soon be coming to a shopping centre near you.
