No sooner has Tesla announced a new "gallery" in the heart of oil country, than the Palo Alto-based electric car company has now revealed plans for three more retail stores in North America.
The stores are part of the preparation for the upcoming 2012 Tesla Model S sedan that's due to go on sale next year.
The first store to open this weekend, November 5, is Tesla Bellevue Square at the high end shopping center in Bellevue, WA. A store in Chicago's Oakbrook Center will follow a week later on November 12 and the following week, a store at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, California.
The Bellevue Square store will open with a display of a Model S Beta prototype and drivetrain components. Every store is designed to demonstrate the technology involved in the new Model S and the benefits of driving electric. Each will include hands-on exhibits, interactive features and a design center where you can customize a Model S to your own tastes.
The whole experience is a new take on the car-buying process. Each store is located in an easily accessible location to encourage people in to learn about electric cars.
Elon Musk describes it by saying “Tesla is reinventing the way people buy cars, with stores designed to engage and inform prospective customers".
If the stores impress prospective customers in the same way our first ride in the 2012 Tesla Model S Beta did to us, then the strategy could well pay off.
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