per mile to operate, compared to as much as 32p per mile for petrol-powered sports cars. But it’s true that government incentives have played a role in making the car more visible and intriguing to some people who qualify for various schemes. For instance, if you are a UK business owner and your company purchases a Roadster, you could be entitled to a 100 percent Writing Down Allowance, meaning you could deduct the full price of the car from your taxable profits. The Roadster is the only sports car that has ever qualified for a such a tax incentive in the UK.
At a time when government lending is hard to come by, how easy did you find it to secure the loan for the new factory build in California from the US government’s Department of of Energy?
Tesla underwent rigorous scrutiny and had to demonstrate technological and financial merit. Only after a shrewd analysis did the US government announce it would loan the company $465 million under the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program. These are interest-bearing loans that were not a handout or a bailout.
What keeps you ahead of the competitors in the market?
PROFILE:
Production Director for Ogilvy and Mather, Don Cochrane was instrumental in creating over 600 broadcast commercials for Ford, Mattel, BUPA, AMEX, IBM, Shell, BP, Unilever and Guinness. He was director for Formula One Management working on F1 production around the world. A lust for electric cars lead him to the role of Marketing Director for TH!NK electric vehicles and from there to Tesla. At Tesla, he is currently sales and Marketing Director for UK, Russia, UAE and Asia.
One of the many things that distinguishes Tesla from its competitors is that Tesla owns its retail network. All of our stores – including those in London, Munich and Monaco – are owned by Tesla and staffed by direct Tesla employees, not independent franchise dealers. So customers who come into our stores are talking directly to Tesla employees. Our customers said that they loved the convenience of the car – the idea of charging it from the peace and quiet of their garage, and the fact that they didn’t have to bring the car in for oil changes every three months. We simply asked, “what else can we do?” They responded, “If something does go wrong, wouldn’t it be great if you could fix it at my house, just like a doctor who makes house calls?” So we launched a programme in which our trained technicians can perform service, maintenance and repairs at your home or office. You don’t even have to come to a showroom, we come to you.
For more information on Tesla visit their website teslamotors.com or visit one of their showrooms in London, Switzerland, Boston, New York, Washington or South Florida and at other international locations.
THE -ELEVATOR.COM THE -ELEVATOR.COM
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