Tesla Says Production To Start in March

Finally!

After months of delay, Tesla Motors says production of its long-awaited electric roadster will begin on March 17.

Inside Line will post the complete story later this afternoon (here's the link), quoting a Tesla spokesman who says production will be very slow at first -- a car a week -- ramping up to 40 a week late this year or early in 2009 after any production process bugs are identified and taken care of.

The news is good for Tesla, which has had fans and doubters alike on edge in recent months with a series of delays and executive and management shakeups, including the ouster of co-founder Martin Eberhard, long the public face of the company.

But Tesla's success is important to more than the investors who've pumped millions into the company and the hopeful buyers who've plunked down hefty deposits on cars that were to have hit the streets months ago. 

It is the company that had seemed most likely to succeed with a limited-production electric car that could jumpstart public – and government -- interest in battery electric propulsion systems...

Its failure would have been a big blow to the whole EV industry.

Beginning production isn't a guarantee that all will go smoothly from now on, but it certainly is better than another delay.

Posted by

John O'Dell January 23, 2008, 1:15 PM

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Alternative Fuels, Plug-ins and Electric, Tesla