Santana Row has a Tesla CyberCab

San Jose has the first Tesla Store in the world. It has been significantly expanded since it's inception and is still tremendously popular after more than 12 years. As a flagship store, it also has been one of the first if not the first store to show off upcoming products. These included the Model X prototype, the Model 3, and Cybertruck in the past. 

Right now the Tesla Store at Santana Row has a working prototype of the Cybercab, Tesla's first vehicle that is exclusively designed for autonomous driving. It has no steering wheel or pedals. The craziest part is that consumers will be able to purchase it (estimated to be around $30k) and rent it out like an uber when not in use.

San Jose has a very high density of EVs, especially Teslas. When these start hitting roads in 2026 I think we'll see quite a lot of them. Tesla plans to build about 2 million Cybercabs per year, which is equal to all of the cars Tesla makes today combined. It's very cool that we are one of the first cities in the world where you can get up close and personal to one of these futuristic models (the production version will be nearly identical).

Source: X

Massive new Tesla sales and service center proposed for Evergreen in San Jose

A whopping 49,600 SQFT Tesla store and service center is being proposed near Eastridge Mall and the Costco Business Center at the border of Evergreen and East San Jose. San Jose is Tesla's top market per capita in the US (30% of all San Jose car sales are EVs), so any expansion of service and delivery centers would be very welcome. I already know several people on their 2nd or 3rd Tesla.

The new location would be built on 3.6 acres of empty land close to the corner of East Capitol Expressway and Evergreen Palace. If you look at the site on Google Maps, you'll notice quite a bit of vacant land. Arcadia Development made the proposal to build the Tesla center, but that wasn't the full scope of the project. Next to Tesla would be 250 new homes, sports fields, retail, restaurants, parks, and a medical office.

Source: The Mercury News

Lucid Motors opens Valley Fair "Studio"

Valley Fair has a new flagship electric car store, and it's not Tesla. Lucid Motors is an ultra-luxury car brand that just has a single model, the Lucid Air. It's a $100k+ sedan that competes with the likes of the Mercedes S-Class or BMW 7-Series and comes with a staggering 1,000 horsepower powertrain.

If the car and store seem eerily similar to Tesla, that's because most of the team behind Lucid are ex-Tesla engineers that helped design the Tesla Model S. Coincidentally, the very first Tesla "Store" was across the street at Santana Row. Lucid event built a high-speed charging station in the Valley Fair garage, very similar to what Tesla did across the street at the row.

While you won't be able to test drive a Lucid Air yet, you can see all of the options and trims (which are named after Californian destinations like Santa Barbara). The showroom also looks stunning, it's worth checking out if you're at Valley Fair already.

This location is one of only four with the others being Lucid's Headquarters in Newark, Beverly Hills, and Century City (LA). Eventually they will have 20 studios. Long term, they plan to offer SUVs and more affordable models as well.

Source: SVBJ

NextEV (Chinese Tesla Competitor) Building R&D in San Jose

There is a little known fact that before purchasing the NUMMI plant, Tesla was trying to build their factory in North San Jose. Since they would not qualify for federal incentives at that location, the deal fell through. However, Tesla still does have some history with San Jose as they chose to open the first Tesla Store in San Jose--which is still considered to be the United States flagship store. I should also note that they are rumored to be seeking office space in San Jose.

Well, it turns out Tesla won't be the only electric vehicle (EV) company in town for very long. A Chinese company called NextEV has selected North San Jose as their location for a significant R&D center. The company already has a supercar that competes in the Formula E racing series. Now their goal is to manufacture a mass-market electric car in 2017 for the Chinese market as well as a US-bound electric car in 2019. The company seems pretty serious unlike previous EV companies like Coda. They have hired a former CEO of Maserati and poached employees from both Tesla and BMW.

NextEV has leased a 85,000 SQFT building at 3200 North First Street. The R&D center will focus on "connected car" functionality. Manufacturing will be done in China while car design will be handled in Germany.

Now all we need is an Apple facility for their future self-driving cars as well as a relocation of the Tesla Headquarters to San Jose--then we'll have hands-down the EV capital of the world.

Source: SVBJ

San Jose's Tesla Store is Expanding

The very first Tesla store--which just so happens to be located at Santana Row--has outgrown its space. Unofficially I have heard that this is the most successful store in the Tesla network. The fact that I now see up to nine Model S sedans each morning on my commute is evidence that they are doing pretty damn well (I can't help but to count them). At the Row, Tesla is just moving a few spaces down into to the store formerly occupied by Burberry. In addition, they will continue to keep the area in the parking structure where they store test drive vehicles and let Tesla owners charge their cars for free.

Tesla is also hosting a party on April 3rd between 6:30pm and 9pm to celebrate the new store!

"Many of you may recall about two years ago when we opened our first new design Tesla Store at Santana Row in San Jose, California. It was our first prototype new-design store and has been a great learning experience for us during the past two years. Customer response has been so positive that we need to expand. We will be relocating to a new, larger location in the next few weeks. Thanks to everyone who has frequented our Santana Row store and has made it such a great success. We’re growing because of your support." -George Blankenship 

Source: Tesla Blog

Saturday Stats: Elon Musk Infographic

Connecting this post to San Jose is going to be a little bit challenging. Elon Musk is the CEO of Tesla and they did try to set up shop in North San Jose at one point. In addition, the flagship Tesla store is in Santana Row. Okay, I'm stretching it... but this infographic is so neat that I had to share.


Created by: OnlineGraduatePrograms.com

Tesla Santana Row - Grand Opening Weekend

My favorite car company is having their grand opening at Santana Row starting today. This is their 18th "store" and is the first to utilize a new concept that encourages customers to come in and fully customize a virtual vehicle inside and out. The feel is more like an Apple store than a dealership. In fact, they are encouraging everyone to come in and play with the cars--even those that can't afford a $100k roadster. They want people to keep Tesla in mind when cars roll of the line with more accessible price ranges, so I don't think you're going to get the same level of pretentiousness that you would at a luxury dealer. It's a new model that I hope other car manufacturer's will adopt in the future (Saturn is the only other company that I think came close to a low-pressure experience).

Tesla is Coming to Santana Row!

Tesla may not have been able to relocate their offices and factory to North San Jose as originally planned, but they will have a presence here. The word just got out that they are planning to build a "store" at Santana Row! Instead of using dealers and 3rd parties, they are planning to sell cars directly to consumers much like an Apple store. They already have 30 of these worldwide that are either open already or near opening, and the closest one right now is the original in Menlo Park.

I imagine the first car they will sell at the store will be the Model S (pictured below), a $56k all electric vehicle with up to a 300 mile battery, 0-60 of 5.6 seconds, a 17 inch LCD touchscreen, and seating for up to 7 people. These will start shipping in late 2012.

This year Tesla will also announce the Model X, which is a crossover version built on the same platform as the Model S. Eventually they will also release a Model C (~$30k compact or midsize electric car) and a new roadster to replace their current $100k+ speed demon--which may transform into a 4-seat convertible in it's second life. While I'm a huge advocate of Downtown San Jose, I think Tesla made the right choice with Santana Row. Now please excuse me while I check my couch for some spare change.