A party atmosphere greeted us at the IAC Building in New York last night for the East Coast launch event of the Tesla Model S Prototype.

On show was the Roadster, the showroom model of the S and the Smart-E. Plenty of attention was lavished on the roadster with many seeing it for the first time. The Model S was studied in detail but the star of the party may well have been the Smart. I was surprised to see and watch a large cross section of people check it out in detail; many commenting that this was the car they’d choose. In the US, where SUVasaurus roam the highways it really was refreshing to see the enthusiasm for such a radical car.

Elon Musk (CEO) and Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen were on hand to announce the arrival of the car. Musk also confirmed the location of the New York store as “555 West 25th Street, it’s currently an art gallery and it’s actually going to remain and art gallery even after it becomes a Tesla’s service center. Chelsea’s not going to loose an art gallery as we go up in the world… It should open in a few months.”

Later in the evening, the Model S prototype was set up in the Chelsea Piers car park; a hundred yards or more of parking space was setup as a track to allow potential owners to experience electric drive for the first time. Along with the S was a Roadster open for driving up and down the same stretch of tarmac.

Talking to Zak Edson, Owner Advocate, I asked how much of this prototype is the end product? “It depends on which aspect you look at; design, technology, manufacturing. If I was to put an overall number I’d have to say about 50%.” That was quickly backed up when we looked inside; everything from the seats to the door trim looked complete, ready to roll. The only issue during the driving experience; “The software for the console is a little buggy” said the driver, not surprising given the complexity.

I can’t comment on the engineering underneath other than to say that it executed the launch up and down the car park in typical electric fashion; even four-up it was a quiet, ‘torquey’, shove in the back experience; the suspension felt firm and controlled much more Audi/BMW/Mercedes than Lincoln Continental! I’m guessing, but suspect that Mercedes would be the closest comparison.

After the run, we took strong espresso and discussed the experience; “I chose an all electric over hybrid. Sure, hybrid makes some sense today as gas is plentiful and available but battery electric will be the future.” commented one passenger,  “I don’t understand how a silicon valley startup can kick start the development of an exotic roadster with a $25M startup fund when traditional auto makers need up to a $1B on the engine alone.” he continued, indeed, Ford recently estimated that an an entirely new engine could cost $1 billion, while a transmission could cost upwards of $800 million.

Given the enthusiasm of the capacity crowd at the IAC building and tasting the performance and handling of the prototype I’m beginning to see how 2011 could be a real possibly for a launch date.

MPT