Latest News

Jan 29, 2008

Tesla Sports Car Gets Air Bag Waiver

Tesla Sports Car Gets Air Bag Waiver

By KEN THOMAS – 1 day ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tesla Motors received a waiver from the government on a federal air bag standard Monday, bringing it a step closer toward the production of its all-electric Roadster later this year.

Tesla, based in San Carlos, Calif., has pre-sold all of its 2008 Tesla Roadsters, a fully electric sports car that sells for $98,000. The company expects to begin deliveries in the first quarter of this year but needed the waiver to be able to sell in the United States.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it would give the company a three-year exemption from the advanced air bag rule, noting that Tesla tried to comply with the requirements and would still have standard air bags on the vehicle.

Based on information provided by the automaker, NHTSA estimates the waiver will cover 3,825 Roadsters, including 625 vehicles this year and 1,600 in each of the following two years.

NHTSA called the Roadster "one of the most advanced full electric vehicles available" and said the "public interest is served by encouraging the development of fuel-efficient and alternative-fueled vehicles."

The federal agency said Tesla posted operating losses of $43 million from 2003-2006 and that without the waiver, Tesla would "have to cancel its pending development of an electric-powered sedan, and would ultimately have to terminate its operations."

Tesla said in a statement last week that it had received all regulatory approvals to import the first production Roadster for sale in the United States and production would begin March 17.

Tesla has based its Roadster on the two-seat Lotus Elise sports car, which also could not comply with the advanced air bag rule and received an exemption from NHTSA in August 2006. The vehicle will be manufactured at a Lotus factory in Hethel, England, under Tesla's supervision.

Tesla also has announced plans to produce at least 10,000 all-electric, five-passenger sedans a year at a plant in Albuquerque, N.M., beginning in the fall of 2009.
On the Net:

* Tesla Motors: http://www.teslamotors.com

No comments: