Eldon Musk put a fair bit of his personal cash into the deal and while that is a plus there are some "avoided" and "unanswered" questions about operations.
1. The whole sales model of the company relies on people placing orders on line and shipping the car direct to the owner. I have been told that there are at least regional service centers for the car but the same people telling me this cannot produce a list showing cities, addresses etc. Is the info top secret? No, the places referred to are actually these "quick change" battery facilities that have no abilities other than swap battery sets. If the car needs to be fixed it goes back to the factory for repair. That's why the bulk of the sales are either on the West Coast or to people who have the $$$$$$$$$$$$$ to ship the car in for repair and pay the freight cost of getting it back after repair.
2. Most states in the United States will not allow a brand of new car to be sold in their state unless there is a dealership with parts and service abilities to support the car while in a retail customer's possession. Eldon Musk is on record saying that the laws are antiquated and should be abolished. He apparently does not care that people cannot fix one of these themselves. If he cannot get the laws overturned or an exemption, the alternative to expand sales would be to set up dealerships in the classic sense. That would require a price hike of between 28-35% to cover dealer margins that are normal for a car selling in the Model S price range.
3. The Tesla model S is a well engineered car. GM, Ford, Chrysler and several other auto makers have learned a lot about building an electric car based on their tear downs of Model S automobiles that they purchased for competitive intelligence purposes. If the actual market for such a car at the approximate $79,000 price point (and above) rises from niche level, they are able to get their versions in the marketplace and sell it through dealers they already have at a price lower than Tesla Motors could build for, just like in the 1950's when their marketing tactics put the independents out of the general marketplace and into their own niches.
