Tesla Electric Vehicles Won't Go to Franchisers

Tesla Motors, maker of the hot and hotly anticipated $92,000 electric Roadster, will sell its products through factory-owned stores, not traditional dealerships. The company will put the first cars on sale in Santa Monica, California, in November, then move to major cities including San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and eventually Denver, Boston and other major markets.

Automotive News quoted Tesla Marketing Vice President Darryl Siry as saying, "We can't hand over the car to an independent franchiser" who would "spend his time apologizing for the car's shortcomings." Therefore the company plans to run its own sales outlets, which he said would be more like an Apple computer store than a traditional vehicle dealership.

Bloomberg reports 400 orders have already been placed for the first model, the two-seat Tesla Roadster, with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and actor George Clooney on the list.

A second model, the WhiteStar sedan is due in 2010. Whether or not Tesla has the cash to produce the second model is still a question.