A Silicon Valley startup called Tesla Motors designs and manufactures high-performance, highly efficient electric sports cars. Tesla Motors cars not only produce zero-emission, they combine style, acceleration and advanced technologies that make them among the fastest and most energy-efficient cars on the road.

Tesla Motors, which unveiled its electric sports car Roadster in 2006 and went into production last month, said it has already pre-sold all the 600 Roadsters the company planned to produce in 2008. The company is now taking orders of the 1,500 cars it plans to produce for 2009.

The Roadster car was developed with more than $40 million of venture capital from investors such as Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The 2-seat car goes from 0 to 60 mph in under 4 seconds and reaches a top speed of 125 mph. It ranges about 220 miles on one charge and can be fully recharged like a cell phone in about 3.5 hours. The 2009 Roadster base price is $109,000.

Tesla Motors recently opened its first store in Los Angeles and plans to open another one in Silicon Valley in the next 2 months. More stores will also be opened within the next year in Chicago and New York as well as Europe.