The british underpinnings of this car are proudly displayed by the use of Duct Tape Technology on securing the roof!

In a city of the future
It is difficult to concentrate
Drive a Tesla, meet the wife
Everybody's happy
Everyone is made for life

Maybe it's just me, but I can't get with this enthusiasm for unpainted carbonfiber.
OK, the Tesla's not the worst offender, but it still looks like someone's herringbone tweed sports coat, fresh from the dry-cleaners and still in the bag, has been caught in the targa roof.
I just don't want a car that looks like it might be worn by a middle-aged science teacher, or knitted by someone's grandmother.
Better than snakeskin, I suppose.

As long as we don't delude ourselves into believing that this car is our oil independent salvation, we should be able to agree that it's a cool car. It's small, quick, and arguably better looking than the Lotus on which it is based. It doesn't solve anything, but it adds to the relatively small pool of coolness in today's autodom.

I want to want one, but for the $50k price difference, I could fill up the tank on an Elise many, many times.

It looks like a kit car, but I would still be interested if it were affordable.

I sincerely hope Tesla (et al) are successful, because I fear that there will be no other real catalyst for the long-overdue overhaul of our dirty power grid.

In 10 years, I can see owning an electric sedan. I really want to get a fuel cell car or something other than a dinosaur burning technology. I am ready, but the technology is not here. I am sad. Possibly emo.

Hell! I have a shareholder meeting to attend. Projects to plan. Go live on tax software and methodology. I'll schedule emo for Friday afternoon between 2:30pm and 3:30pm.

@smalleyxb122: I agree, the Tesla is great, but mostly on it's own merits, rather than some greater philosophical underpinning.

@cgarison: Not using oil would be awesome.

Maybe I'll go buy a used forklift, and make it's parts propel my xB. If I could do 55mph, and get 20 miles out of a charge, that takes care of all of my commuting.

@cgarison: No one should be Emo on a Friday! Try scheduling Emo early in the week to get it out of your system prior to the weekend.

Electric cars will be awesome when we can download custom engine sounds, like you can ringtones. One day you're driving an Auto Union, the next a diesel electric locomotive. Boring people will choose automatic Toyota Corolla or pay extra for Avalon V-6.

@smalleyxb122: Smalley hit the nail on the head. This car (or any one car) is not our deliverance from oil dependence. But it is good to see this interesting car actually on the street. It is good to know we have an economy that can continue to produce such a dizzying variety of wheels. Some will make it, some will not. But I'll bet that whatever is "The Answer" that will enable us to enjoy the open road in the future, it will come from ventures like Tesla; from someone,whether inside a big car company or in a rented shop down by the airport, who is dreaming big things or just trying to make a buck -- and not from some massive government scheme.

@Number_Six: re: downloading car engine sounds for electrics like ringtones. I'd like one of Steven Wright saying "vroom vroooooom."

@Eldorado: re: "he Answer" for the future not coming "from some massive government scheme." As long as gas remains over $4 a gallon, manufacturers will have lots of incentive to develop alternative fuel technology. Right now, it doesn't look like it's going to take much government interference to get there, but from a policy perspective, I'd recommend that the government tax gas to make the total price $4 a gallon whenever the market would have it dip below. Of course, no politician that would support such a thing would ever get elected again, but it would generate a lot of revenue and provide the proper market incentives going forward.

@cgarison & OldeEnglishD: What's all this talk of Elmo? You guys have small kids? Don't nobody here go asking me to tickle 'em, homey don't play dat!

Jetta, V40, Boxster.

Why don't we play that game any more? Because the snow is melted?

@Number_Six:

We have the technology!

[www.vroombox.com]

What is that extra circle on the driver's side tail lamp assembly? A keyhole, a trunk "pop" button? These things don't actually have a trunk you can put stuff in, do they? I just know that I'd love to take something like this for a test drive.

@DeadFlorist:That would definitely be one day a week.

@smoke~:I like the Vespa option.

@AshOfTheTitans: What, you don't care about the Mustang and the Explorer? And don't forget the...the...late 80s Toyota Camry wagon?

I'm still waiting for my call back from Tesla for that Inventory Management Director job they had open. Dear Tesla HR dept, I am the cream of the crop...A-number 1. Top of the list, king of the hill, A-number 1.

Actually, It always bugged me that Sinatra used "A-number 1" twice in that line.

@AshOfTheTitans: Because "Veronamino" became unfunny?

@Number_Six: Apply "y" as required.

The back looks like a front!

Happy smiling friendly electric car is smiling.

@Euromobile: Back when they new how to make a record....

Interesting aerodynamic rear valance, guess you can make some changes when you don't have an exhaust.

Scooping dead, wet leaves and possibly rabid squirrels out of that vented hood in autumn will be SWEET.

The anonymous tipster is... Tesla!

+ Watch video

BTW- the people who do car camo need to take a gander at these pics. The sun filtering through the leaves makes a paint job that's almost impossible to see through.

Haha, love the duct tape on the wires. I don't mind unpainted carbon fiber as long as it's for accenting purposes; considering the whole body is basically carbon fiber I don't think they went overboard on the exposed parts.

@dylanseals: It's nice to see someone else with good taste.

Comment on Tesla Spotted In Palo Alto, Price Of Electrons Climbs Just wanted to drop a note and say that I saw a Tesla this past Sunday rolling around in the Mission district of San Francisco. Two young women were in the car with the top down going in circles looking for parking. By the time I got my camera out, they were gone and I couldn't find them again. Hopefully the car will be back. - jacobe

@DeadFlorist: "As long as gas remains over $4 a gallon, manufacturers will have lots of incentive to develop alternative fuel technology."

Mmmmm... mayyybe. European fuel is consistently twice as high, so the US manufacturers have a comparative disadvantage. I believe that the low gas prices over here should take a lot of responsibility for the lack of technological innovation over here.

It would be interesting to imagine what the US automotive industry would have looked like had gas prices over here been equal to those in the rest of the industrialized world.