Tesla Motors Opens D.C. Showroom

Tesla Motors -- the pioneering Palo Alto, California-based electric car company -- recently opened their sixteenth worldwide showroom and first in Washington, D.C.

In addition to showcasing the iconic Roadster -- the zero emissions sports car that gets 245 miles per charge and 0-60 mph in 3.7 seconds -- the opening night reception also featured the Model S Sedan, which will be available in 2012 and is slated to get 300 miles to a charge. The Model S Sedan will be entirely manufactured in California, creating thousands of domestic jobs in the process.

"We think D.C. is a fantastic market," said Tesla spokesperson Camille Rickets, who also told Green Center that there are close to 50 Roadsters already owned in the D.C. area.

"We are hoping to sell a lot of cars in the D.C. area. We think the people in D.C. are very savvy and have a great sense of the environmental goals behind Tesla, but also value energy security and energy independence," said Rickets.

Uniquely, the opening night event also celebrated SpaceX's historic December flight of the Dragon spacecraft by displaying the charred but intact module (the reentry into the earth's atmosphere through temperatures of 2,000 to 3,000 degrees really leaves a mark). The space exploration company is owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, which is the reason behind the joint celebration.

"I think we really share a philosophy of innovation, and what that means is we are both taking very unique approaches to goals that have been stated for years – commercial space flight and electric vehicles," said Rickets.

Added Rickets: "It’s incredibly fun to see people respond to the cars in the showroom. Yesterday people were just walking by with the lights on and just put their faces up against the glass. And people were like 'wow, this is an electric car?' For some reason there is this disbelief where they say 'no really, there is no gas in this car?' And you have to tell them a couple times before they catch on."