A major break through for the electric supercar OEM Tesla today comes from Charlotte, North Carolina. The major bank will offer financing packages for the Tesla Roadster. With a retail value around $100,000 you would be looking at a $1,650 payment roughly with a $20,000 down payment, the $7,500 federal tax credit, and 7.7% financing over 60 months. It looks like the goverment loans Tesla got are helping some people out there take them much more seriously as a car brand.

A quick visit to Village Coffee Roasters we found some great machines sitting in the parking lot even though we showed up a little late. We found two Vector’s, a Tesla Roadster, and a great group of Porsche’s. Visit our gallery for some great highlights of the event and we will be attending more soon.

Check out the gallery: http://luxuryvice.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=19

Word has it Tesla is going to secure some of the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program funding they were hoping to receive. The Model S got the cover somewhat pulled off of it with a sneak preview to the car coming in 2011. This Tesla Model S looks gorgeous and we cannot wait to see another electronic car in production.

We wrote up an article yesterday about the BRABUS Tesla Roadster and the general excitement of the vehicle lead us to score you guys a full gallery showing the details of this BRABUS project. This was our BRABUS Tesla First Look and now this is the whole package with over 20 images of the modifications on this electric BRABUS built Tesla.

View the full gallery of the BRABUS Tesla Roadster: http://luxuryvice.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=3

The first electric sports car is treated to it’s first aftermarket makeover from the company BRABUS. BRABUS asked the important question what a sports car is without a throaty V8 sounds coming out of it and solved the problem for Tesla owners alike. They developed what they call a “space sound generator” and inside the cockpit they can select several simulated engine sounds including a race car engine, combustion V8, and two futuristic sounds they call “beam” and “warp.” The sound is modualted by the power output of the electric motor.

An aggresively staggered 18 inch wheel in the front and 19 inch wheel back provides a strong stance for the revamped Tesla. Pirelli Tires brought in the P Zero Nero tire with a 215/35/18 in the front and a 255/30/19 in the rear. A custom matte white paint job really helps set off thie unique look to this BRABUS Tesla. From the front you can see a carbon-fiber lip and daytime running lights adding to the exterior.

BRABUS used carbon-fiber air inlets to put some more exotic flair to the electronic sports car. The rear which you can see above is noted by a BRABUS rear wing and a custom rear diffuser which are both carbon-fiber as well. I think the stormtropper has found a new machine to travel around town in saying goodbye to his Lotus and start enjoying this more stealth black and white vehicle. Hopefully more aftermarket companies will soon start modifying the Tesla.

Source: http://www.brabus.com/en/raster.php?page=8&sub=3&id=7377

Gallery: http://forums.dieselstation.com/index.php?showtopic=26676

With the current trend in the economy the privately held car company Tesla was unable to receive it’s Series E round of funding which was $100,000,000. Once unable to receive it’s funding they nearly ran out of cash but had the current investors put forth more cash to stay afloat. The move to San Jose was dependent on receiving low interest loans from the Department of Energy.

Tesla is trying to receive $400,000,000 from the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program which has $25,000,000,000 in funding available. They are competing against around 75 other companies competing for the same funds. The federal funds favor people trying to build factories on old/abandoned factories as opposed to new property sites. This is the reason Tesla claims they are not making a move to the San Jose campus, “We can’t afford to do anything that would jeopardize our ability to get the federal loan,” Konrad said.

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2009/01/26/daily71.html

With 150 roadsters delivered Tesla is going to produce a “sport” version of the Roadster. The 1,100 people on the waiting list will have an option tp upgrade to the sport version if they are interested. A hand-wound stator was added to increase winding density and eliminating resistance. This modification also increases peak torque in the Roadster. Some high performance Yokohama tires are being installed (Autoblog is assuming it will be the Advan A048s which come factory on the Elise/Exige). The sport is boasting a 0-60 time of 3.7 seconds putting the car .2 seconds quicker than the basic Tesla Roadster. To finish off this sport package they have brought some more Lotus influence with anti-roll bars and adjustable dampers.

Finally the man has spoken about the Tesla / Top Gear drama. After the Tesla Roadster received praise on Top Gear (while knowingly hating electric cars) praised this car more than I ever thought he would promote or sing automotive praise to an electric. Tesla got it’s electric blanket in a bunch and send out a PR saying Top Gear lied and misrepresenting it’s product.

Rachel Conrad from Tesla said this about the brake failure.

“The ‘brake failure’ Clarkson mentions was solely a blown fuse; a service technician replaced it and the Roadster was back up and running immediately.

“I can’t speculate as to why the good folks at Top Gear might have mischaracterised the blown fuse as a brake failure.”
Jeremy Clarkson replied with this.

“Nobody gives a flying **** how the brakes failed. Whether it was a blown fuse or not, they were still not working.”

Then Jeremy Clarkson also commented on the fact Tesla claims he defrauded the vehicle by showing it ran out of juice. Clarkson then said,

“We never said once that the car had run out of power. The car had to be pushed into the warehouse because you are not allowed to drive cars into a building.

“We calculated that it would have run out of power after 53 miles but they can’t argue with that because that is a fact.”

Browsing the Wired blogs this morning I came across this post where Tesla is claiming they got ousted by Top Gear and Jeremy Clarkson. Newsflash, it is Top Gear and Jeremy Clarkson hates on about every car he drives. No one takes him seriously when it comes to reviewing cars and yet all his reviews are hilarious. If you were not prepared to get made fun of than you shouldn’t of sent your Tesla to the show. Let’s look at the world wide exposure your Tesla got on the show (probably more than Tesla has gotten in any other media forum).

Now I understand you feel like you have been ousted by Top Gear but personally I got way more excited about your brand from the episode. It’s a television show, it’s all about production and entertainment. How much reality television do you think is given to us straight or not altered in anyway? I understand your troubles but whining that Top Gear screwed you isn’t going to gain many fans in the automotive segment. When we were all watching Clarkson standing with a Tesla and a windmill saying it would take him thousands of hours to charge the car I don’t think anyone took him serious….. You guys ran as fast as a GT3 on the test track being piloted by Stig along with some other things that got me super pumped about the Tesla and now you are just annoying us all.

Watch the video from Top Gear: http://luxuryvice.com/blog/2008/12/15/telsa-on-top-gear-runs-same-time-on-test-track-as-porsche-gt3/

Wired Magazine Tesla Complains:

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/12/tesla-cries-fou.html#more

A 1:27.2 at the Top Gear test track clocked it right with the Porsche GT3 on the test track. Jeremy Clarkson gave it his typical great reviews and put it up against the Lotus Elise. You will learn some great information on the Telsa about the gearbox and the 6,000 laptop batteries it backs under the trunk! This is one of the best 10 minute pieces Top Gear has done to date but at the end I must agree with Clarkson, it just doesn’t seem to work in the real world. A step in the right direction however. Given the choice of a Gee Whiz, Prius, or the Telsa I think the choice for all of us is clear.