Altitude Dream Cars

Holy crap exotic car lovers, Tesla has opened a show room in Boulder Colorado. How cool is that? Well, according to recent articles in the Daily Camera and other publications, it’s pretty cool.

While the show room appears to be a temporary space until they can determine a more permanent location, currently, it’s chock full of Tesla’s to ogle, touch and beg the sales representative to test drive. I’m sure they’ll approve taking photos both in and out of the car, but test driving might actually be a little more difficult. I called the other day and was told that it was nearly impossible. I did explain to them that as a former owner of an exotic car company, that I as “Okay”. They didn’t seem to buy it.

I’m going to try and make a trip over sometime this next month, but I’m sure they still wont let me take one out for a drive. Instead, I’ll just relegate my visit to photo ops and asking lots of questions. Like how fast is it? How many kilowatts to the mile do you get? How long does it take to charge up? What’s the range on a “fill-up”?… all of those really important questions. I know, I know, I can go look all this up on their website or on any good respectable car web site, but I think it’ll be more fun to be standing there next to one asking the sales person.

What’s next for Tesla? Well, as I understand it, a four-door version is in the works and soon to be released. I’m hoping I can talk my financial advisor, AKA, my wife, into at least considering it as a next family car. I’m not sure it’s classified as a family car, but I figure anything that’ll seat three, which is all we need for our family, qualifies.

While I’m not a purist when it comes to the environment, I do my part. As a car lover, I have to think that when you can merge both worlds, environmental aware human AND car enthusiast, you have a winning combination. While most car enthusiasts are not usually considered environmentally friendly, the Tesla points us in that direction.

Now, where did I put that really long extension cord?

Cheers – Shane

Tesla in Boulder

So, I’m not a car spotter by trade or go out of my way to chase down cool, exotic cars (Although, that would probably be a lot of fun, so I’ll leave it to the college kids), but, I did stumble across a real live little Tesla the other day in Boulder Colorado.

While heading over to the Farmers Market just off Canyon & 15th, there it was, just sitting there, minding it’s own business. Nice to see one outside of California, but of course, it was in Boulder. Not as great looking up close as I expected, but stylish. My wife commented… “It’s not as cute as the Lotus”. I actually agree, but “cute” didn’t come to mind. More like, not as sexy. There is something about the lines on the Lotus Elise that just make it look so damn great.

This particular Tesla had been customized a little. The owner had installed black wheels that looked like they were originally for the Lotus, well, since the core frame and steering is from Lotus, no wonder. Not sure I liked the blacked out wheels on this car, but to each his own.

I wasn’t really sold on the styling. In pictures and magazines, it looks pretty nice. Little NSX-ish, but decent first gen styling. Still, not as sexy and as eye catching as the Elise, but it’s a great start. Personally, I’m looking forward to the next generation Tesla styling. Hopefully they’ll add some sizzle.