Tesla Roadster by lucianotourn

Grow Detroit has a post (What? Never heard of Tesla Motors? You will...) on Tesla Motors that piqued our interest in this company that has pledged to build a new manufacturing plant for their electric-powered Tesla Roadster in Michigan. In a Michigan Economic Development Corporation news release Tuesday, Tesla Motors CEO Martin Eberhard said:

Tesla Motors is excited about this milestone in the growth of our company. By locating our R&D center near Detroit (Rochester Hills), we will have access to the great talent pool that exists here in automotive engineering and design. The State of Michigan and Governor Granholm have been very helpful in making this happen. The team we build in this office will be shaping the future of automobiles in the backyard of the city that defined the American automobile industry one century ago.

Flowery release speak aside, getting a "next generation" car company to locate in Michigan is a major deal. If our state can become the hub for green autos, it'll be a very big thing indeed!

More Tesla Motors News & Links

Tesla Motors web site includes a nice Tesla Motors blog. One of the recent posts is a reflection on the 2007 Detroit Auto Show by Martin Eberhard.

Popular Mechanics Test Drive of the Tesla Roadster and their audio interview of Tesla Motors co-founder and CEO Martin Eberhard on the Popular Mechanics Show.

A regular reader just sent us a link to this extended video interview by WIRED Science titled Conversation with Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal. Musk believes electric vehicles are key to combating the rise in greenhouse gases and protecting the environment and it's a great show! (Tesla stuff is in the 2nd half, but his stuff about his space exploration company is fascinating). He says that Tesla Motors plans to follow the sports car with a  family sedan in the $30,000 price range.
The video reminded me that not everyone may not know where the "Tesla" in Tesla Motors comes from, so here's a link to Tesla: Master of Lightning from PBS.