Swiss Racecar Driver Buys One-of-a-Kind Tesla Roadster

ZURICH--Swiss racecar driver and promoter Fredy Lienhard has bought a Tesla Roadster Sport that gained fame as the record-setting winner of the Monte Carlo Alternative Energy Rally.

"And this particular car wrote history as the first fully electric car to win an international FIA race. Automobile racing must fully embrace environmentally clean driving -- otherwise the sport would have no long term future."

This is the second Tesla owned by Lienhard, who has driven some of the world's fastest cars and has competed professionally since 1968.

Lienhard has competed in Formula Vee and Formula Two, as well as the American Le Mans Series, the Rolex Sports Car Series and 24 Hours of Daytona. (He was the only Swiss driver to win Daytona after Joe Siffert). He has raced a Lola Can-Am, Dallara SP1 and a Ferrari 333 SP, among many others.

"Tesla is the first electric car to meet my standards of good design, speed and functionality," Lienhard said. "And this particular car wrote history as the first fully electric car to win an international FIA race. Automobile racing must fully embrace environmentally clean driving -- otherwise the sport would have no long term future."

Lienhard plans to drive his newest car a 2010 European Signature Edition Arctic White Roadster Sport -- at Autobau and other circuits, as well as on open roads. He will charge the car from a solar-energy garage in Romanshorn "" and he plans to use the car to show that high-performance driving can also be environmentally and socially responsible.

"Because you really need to drive the Roadster in order to get the message and a clear impression of the car, we will let people drive it," Lienhard said.

Epicenter of Tesla's fast-growing Swiss community

Lienhard bought the Roadster Sport earlier this month, when Tesla (TSLA) opened its newest retail store and service center, in Zurich. The store at Pelikanstrasse 10, in the heart of Switzerland's largest city, will be the base for more zero-emission Alpine road rallies, owner-appreciation parties and other exclusive events.

Tesla has already delivered about 50 Roadsters throughout Switzerland, the company's largest per-capita market.

The Roadster accelerates faster than other sports car in its price class yet has zero tailpipe emissions. It consumes no petroleum and plugs into conventional sockets "" at owners' garages or offices, hotels, parking decks or at a growing number of charging stations throughout Switzerland. It's the only sports car that can be fully or partially recharged by renewable energy "" and several Swiss customers charge on 100 percent solar power from their photovoltaic panels in "off the grid" homes.

The Roadster qualifies for numerous incentives in Switzerland, a hydroelectricity-dominated country with one of the cleanest grids in Europe. In some cantons, EVs get a 100 percent waiver of the annual road tax. Some cities, including Zermatt, ban internal combustion engine cars from the city center and only allow EVs to drive and park there.

About Tesla

Tesla's goal is to produce increasingly affordable electric cars to mainstream buyers "" relentlessly driving down the cost of EVs. The Tesla Roadster accelerates faster than most sports cars yet produces no emissions. Based in California's Silicon Valley, Tesla has delivered more than 1000 Roadsters to customers in Europe, North America and Asia. Tesla designs and manufactures EVs and EV powertrain components.