On our way to the Automotive News conference yesterday morning my colleague and I spotted a sweet new building near the corner of santa monica blvd just off the fwy...



A quick glance at our watches and we figured we had a some time to stop in for a visit since I had heard they just opened their first retail location. A former coworker of ours is also the GM of their retail ops so we thought we might say hi if he was in the office as well.


We were in luck and ended up chatting with our buddy Tom for quite a bit about their recent endeavors and his thoughts behind the design of the retail venture. The place was immaculate; very modern and hip, yet had a relaxed appeal. Plasma's showing the car tearing up some cali roads, plenty of enthusiast reading material, and bar height tables to lean against while taking it all in and chatting.


the lab...aka the shop floor.


This one had just come back from a spirited drive when we walked over...the fans keeping the batteries cool were humming away (very refreshing considering the car is awkwardly silent compared to what us car nuts are used to)


It'll be interesting to watch this company grow. They plan to sell them with no markup and the first 2yrs or so are pretty much spoken for. Their LA location is fantastic too...a parking lot all day long out front with ppl sitting in traffic staring in the windows lol. I'm planning on keeping more in touch with him and sharing more with you guys when I have a chance to hook back up with his crew in menlo park for a test drive


Afterwards we drove our rental 350z around for 30min looking for parking at the hotel before the conference. Every parking lot was full and we finally ended up making our own spot...parking in LA is FTL!!! (took this pic as we were leaving)

 

Just saw one at Monaco with huge ELECTRIC decals on. Not so sure about the looks but for shit and giggles, it sure is efficient!

 

Great spot! Thanks for sharing man!

 

Thanks for posting this, I was really wondering what the dealership looks like but too lazy to roam flickr for pics lol.

 

Absolutely! Ya, its not up to the standard of my usual pics, but the iphone isnt that bad. Definitely stop by in person and check the store out. Really cool place!