Nary two months after the Tesla Roadster finally hit production, the automaker's first dealership has swung its doors wide open. Not surprisingly, the establishment is planted in gridlock heaven, better known as Los Angeles, California. Even less shocking is the fact that it opened at one of the busiest intersections in the city -- near the practically useless (we kid... sort of) 405 freeway and the always-packed corner of Santa Monica and Sepulveda boulevards. Of course, the 10,000-square-foot dealership isn't exactly rolling cars off of the showroom floor just yet (something about a lingering transmission issue), but it's hoping the $2 million cost of construction more than pays itself off in a couple of years. And if you're hankering for a Telsa Motors store near you, you can look forward to others popping up in Menlo Park (CA), New York, Miami, Seattle and Chicago in the next year or so.

The drama surrounding the Tesla Roadster's transmission and the company's attempts to build a system that can transmit power from the motor to the wheels without breaking under the strain took another strange twist today, with the revelation the that first supplier Tesla contracted to design the part is suing the company for $5.6M. Magna Powertrain USA says Tesla hired it to develop a two-speed transmission in September 2006, and when things fell behind schedule, Tesla canceled the contract and walked away without paying. Saucy! Of course, problems with the proposed two-speed transmission are why Tesla plans to ship early production Roadsters with "temporary" one-speed units and swap them out later, but there's no word on where the two-speed versions are going to come from apart from Tesla saying "We need to have more control over our fate and manage the process in house." Sure, sure, just as long as we get one for "testing," okay?

Remember a few dozen years ago when we heard the first batch of 100 Tesla Roadsters had sold out? Us neither, but we're assuming those were heady days. Since then we've seen delays, setbacks and untimely retirements, but Tesla Motors claims it finally has the car under production, and is naturally taking orders for the 2009 run -- 900 cars have been reserved so far. Despite the concrete language in this press release, we'll believe it when these silent beasts start hitting the road. And run our cycling-asses down.

Tesla VP of Sales, Marketing, and Service, Darryl Siry, set the record straight on the whole airbag wavier thing: in case it wasn't already clear, the Roadster does indeed have driver and passenger airbags. The waiver was regarding the fact that currently "front passenger airbag does not vary its deployment based on the weight of the passenger," and thus needed the waiver not unlike other boutique automakers (he cites the Ferrari F430 as an example). Of course, this misunderstandings and misinformation might have been mitigated if Tesla just addressed the issue at the time (instead of waiting a month after the fact); we can only hope their non-metaphoric airbags don't take as long to deploy.

Apparently when you're saving the planet with an all-electric car, there's no need to kill yourself over safety. The Tesla Roadster has been granted a waiver in regards to advanced air bags by the NHTSA, since the "public interest is served by encouraging the development of fuel-efficient and alternative-fueled vehicles." Standard air bags are still included, and Tesla apparently tried to comply with the advanced requirement, but told the NHTSA that it's in the hole financially, and would have to cancel the planned sedan and "ultimately have to terminate its operations" if forced to go through with the fancy air bags. All 2008 Roadsters have been pre-sold, and Tesla is supposed to start delivering the cars in Q1 2008.

It's shots like these of the Tesla Roadster getting pwned passing those federal safety tests that make vast government bureaucracy worth it, don't you think? A full gallery over at AutoBlog.

Between all the hoopla surrounding "temporary transmissions" and ever-shifting EPA range targets, one critical aspect of the Tesla Roadster's long, strange trip to market has been mostly overlooked: federal safety approval. Yep, no matter how sleek, fast, and quiet the little red (green) machine might be, Uncle Sam still needed to make sure the signals signaled and the bumpers bumped -- but according to a post on the Tesla blog by a VP named Malcom Powell, the Roadster is now fully approved and can legally go on sale. Don't jump for the piggy bank just yet, though -- while Elon Musk will be getting his straight off, everyone else will have to wait until March 17th for the production line to kick into gear. Once that happens, though, Tesla says it'll churn out 40 of the $100,000 cars per week -- so hopefully that waiting list'll get trimmed soonish.

[Via TG Daily]

We've already had a pretty good idea of the reasons for delays with Tesla Motors' all-electric Roadster vehicle, but it looks like the company's new CEO, Ze'ev Drori, is now trying to set the record straight himself, with him recently posting a fairly lengthy letter addressing the matter on the company's blog. That letter is apparently the very same one that was sent to buyers of the car earlier this month and, as you might have guessed if you've been following this thing as closely as we have, it pegs most of the blame on the car's transmission troubles. As we previously reported, that has forced Tesla to ship the roadster with a temporary transmission, which is apparently slower than the final version, but assuredly safe. Drori also confirms that the company will begin full production of the vehicle in the spring of 2008, and that while they plan to ramp up production throughout the year, he admits that some of the initial run of cars won't be in the hands of customers until early 2009. Among other things, he also attempted to clarify some of the confusion over those initial EPA range targets,saying that the lab that conducted the tests "made a small error in the testing procedure," resulting in an overstated range figure. According to Drori, the revised figures now stand at 221 miles per charge, although he says the real world figures are actually as high as 267 miles per charge in "slow city driving," or 165 miles in aggressive highway driving. Those looking for more details can get the full explanation from the man himself by hitting up the read link below.

[Via CNET News.com]

We'd heard that problems with the Tesla Roadster's transmission were going to lead the company to ship the cars with "temporary" transmissions, but our friends over at AutoblogGreen were recently contacted by Tesla and told that while the company is indeed considering shipping cars with a different tranny than originally planned, they won't be designed to fail, as we'd originally heard. Rather, it'll be a single-speed transmission that won't allow the all-electric hot rod to run as fast as the planned two-speed version. Tesla still plans to swap out the units for the real deal when they're finally strong enough to handle the electric's massive torque, but at least now when Tesla owners are stranded by the side of the road they'll just need an extension cord, not a whole new transmission.

The Tesla Roadster was supposed to be out before the end of the year, but it looks like the wicked-fast electric car won't make that target -- apparently the company is having problems finding a transmission strong enough to handle gear shifts while the car remains at full torque. The problem is somewhat unique to electric cars, and Tesla's got two different suppliers scrambling to find a solution -- but in the meantime, the company is considering providing vehicles outfitted with "temporary" transmissions that are basically guaranteed to fail after a few thousand miles. The first of these has already been built for company chairman Elon Musk, and Tesla is deciding whether to start shipping cars with the temporary units to other customers and then replacing them when a final transmission becomes available. That's the price of progress, we suppose, but something tells us quite a few people would rather just wait for the final product.

While we doubt it'll be enough to get any of the lucky few first customers to cancel their orders, those planning a long haul trip in their shiny new Tesla Roadster may find themselves slightly disappointed when they finally get the keys, as the company's pulling back a bit on its promised 250 mile range on a single charge. Apparently, testing the car on an EPA-compliant dynamometer proved to be a bit more taxing than their initial estimates, forcing them to reconsider their boasting. While Tesla's not quite ready to get specific with the new numbers, it says it'll still come in at greater than 200 miles, which would still peg it well above other, less stylish electric vehicles. Now, if they'd only find an excuse to scale back the price.