Another electric car company may come to Menlo Park

dpeilow · 10-05-2008, 09:46 AM

Almanac : Another electric car company may come to MP

Edit: Just seen Graham's post on the MP store thread - apologies.

graham · 10-05-2008, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dpeilow

Edit: Just seen Graham's post on the MP store thread - apologies.

No apologies required, I debated for a while whether this belonged in the old topic or deserved a new. Yours may well have been the better decision

doug · 10-06-2008, 06:02 AM

I appreciate you guys taking the time to think about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by graham

Zap! to move in next door to the Menlo Park store? I can't decide if this is a good thing or not.
Almanac : Another electric car company may come to MP

Quote:

Tesla Motors' days as the only electric car dealership in Menlo Park may be numbered.

ZAP!, a Santa Rosa-based electric vehicle company, is in talks with the city to open a dealership at 550 El Camino Real — the site of the abandoned Buick/Cadillac/GMC dealership.

As you know, that's only about 300 meters down the street from Tesla. My guess is Zap hopes to benefit from Tesla's close proximity. Certainly doesn't help the EV image as a performance vehicle. Will make an interesting contrast, though. I would probably stop by for a look at some point. I wish the reporter could bother to do more research on Zap than just reading their website.

graham · 10-06-2008, 09:41 AM

Quote:

My guess is Zap hopes to benefit from Tesla's close proximity.

That is my thought as well... but we know (and certainly they know) that Tesla at that site is a short-term thing. I wonder how much good it will do them.

Of course, they should make the Tesla look good! And Tesla should make them look inexpensive...

doug · 10-06-2008, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by graham

That is my thought as well... but we know (and certainly they know) that Tesla at that site is a short-term thing. I wonder how much good it will do them.

If they get it, Zap would only be there a short time as well, since Stanford plans to build on all those lots at the same time once all the leases are up.

graham · 10-06-2008, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doug

If they get it, Zap would only be there a short time as well, since Stanford plans to build on all those lots at the same time once all the leases are up.

True! But I guess I was making the (bad?) assumption that once Tesla had land of their own in San Jose, they would move their sales there. I thought Tesla would move out before Zap.

Although, admittedly being across from Stanford Mall is a nicer location for shopping than being across from the Waste Treatment Plant...

doug · 10-06-2008, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by graham

True! But I guess I was making the (bad?) assumption that once Tesla had land of their own in San Jose, they would move their sales there. I thought Tesla would move out before Zap.

Yeah, I wouldn't be so quick to make that assumption. That Menlo Park store is in a great location and also I think they probably have a pretty good deal on the rent. I'd think they would at least keep a store front there as long as they can. If the San Jose campus does work out, I suppose they might start doing Roadster drivetrain installations there since they could potentially build in a test track for validation. The current solution of trailoring the cars to Moffett is not sustainable.

TEG · 10-06-2008, 01:20 PM

FYI, there is already a Zap dealer not too far away.
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