While crossing the West Seattle Bridge and then cruising Alki, test-driving the noiseless, battery-powered, zero-emissions Fusion Red Tesla Sport Roadster, letting loose from zero to 60 mph in 3.7 hair-raising seconds, it is hard to find an adjective to describe the sense of acceleration, especially while your racing heart feels like it's hiding behind your backbone. During our test-drive from Tesla Seattle at 435 Westlake Avenue North, to Alki Beach, my pilot and co-pilot, Patrick Robinson (we took turns at the small, leather wheel) the West Seattle Herald web editor, somewhat of a car maven, and equally impressed by Tesla's zip, said, “Let’s put it this way. We left the dealership at 2:30 p.m. and now it’s 2:25 p.m.”

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Now that's fast. And it’s yours for $100,000, that’s after two tax rebate incentives that save you nine grand. A four-door, still-sporty 7-passenger sedan, the Telsa-S, is due out in 2012 for half that price. There will be three rows of seating. The rear seat faces the rear window. It will not be carbon fiber like the Roadsters, but promises to be plenty fast, and what you may give up on the “Wow! factor” you make up on practicality, like if you have kids and a golden retriever to transport. About 1,000 Tesla Roadsters are made each year, and plans are to produce about 20,000 Tesla sedans annually.

Salesman Lance Merkin, a West Seattle resident, pointed out that the storefront’s one-year anniversary is this month, so Patrick and I decided to celebrate, at their expense. However, we didn’t burn any gasoline doing so. To “fill up,” or charge the car’s 6,831 lithium ion batteries, each the size of a pack of Rolaids, the same kind of batteries that may run your computer, it costs about four bucks of electricity. The Tesla averages 245 miles on a full charge, according to EPA estimates, and takes three and a half hours to fully charge, with a special charger unit, slightly longer if you plug it into your garage wall with either a 110 or 220 volt adapter. The circular electrical plug-in is under the gas cap, a cute touch.

Tesla prefers not to call its worldwide stable of now16 dealerships, well, “dealerships.” They are called stores, and want to avoid the image of the stereotypical high-pressure salesman who races toward you and says, “What will it take to get you to drive away in our new car today?” (For most working stiffs, a miracle.)

Their marketing strategy seems to be paying off. Merkin said six Tesla’s sprinted out his door in the last month.

Merkin explained, “Stopping in is definitely different than a (traditional) car dealership. We offer a different customer experience. We don’t intimidate people walking by. We encourage them to come in, sit in one of our cars, and ask technical questions.”

“We compare our retail experience to the Apple Store and Starbucks rather than to GM,” said Khobi Brooklyn, communications manager for Tesla North America, Asia and Australia, who happened to be be born and raised in Seattle and was visiting the Seattle shop, the first outside California. She now lives in San Francisco. So why was Seattle chosen first?

“The Seattle area is a community that cares about the environment, and appreciates new tech and innovation,” she said. “It’s been a great move.” She said the corner location brings in a lot of foot traffic and yes, impulse buyers. Imagine the conversation that ensues when you say, “Honey, I’m home,” and pull in the driveway with your new $100,000 four-wheel surprise, particularly if you chose "very orange." Tesla's color options are referred to as "flavors."

“We understand this is a new technology, a new idea of driving,” Brooklyn said. “The Tesla is not just a premium sports car. It’s also a great example of the next generation of technology.”

“It’s a mind shift not going to a gas station again,” Merkin added. “You just come home at night and plug it in and that’s it. You don’t have to be a car lover to look at it and go, ‘Geeze. That’s a nice car.'"

The Tesla was started in Silicon Valley and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. Colorful and wildly successful entrepreneur, Elon Musk, 39, first invested in the company in 2004 and is now the CEO. The former South African with Canadian parents co-founded PayPal and is CEO of Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, which develops space launch vehicles.

Merkin, who owned a custom data base development company for 15 years , has two kids who attend Alki Elementary School, Max, a second-grader, and Sabrina who is in fourth grade.

“They love the cars,” he said, adding that on occasion they mildly boast to friends about their dad’s cool job.

“Our car was named in honor of Nikola Tesla because of his alternating current invention since we use AC engines,” said Merkin, referring to the much-fabled genius who some consider an unsung hero dwarfed by Thomas Edison in the history books.

“Nikola Tesla’s biggest problem happened when he made electricity wireless because you couldn’t meter that,” said Merkin. “It was not a good business proposition.”

So did the Telsa pass the test with Patrick?

"There's not enough leg room, it's difficult to climb in and out of your seat, you feel all the bumps, and I really want one."