Tesla’s sleek, $1,500 carbon fiber surfboard sold out in a day, and it’s not surprising: The company, in collaboration with a Southern California board maker, said it was producing a limited edition of 200, and Tesla has many die-hard fans.
The board “features a mix of the same high-quality matte and gloss finishes used on all our cars,” Tesla said in promotional material for the product.
“The deck is reinforced with light-weight ‘Black Dart’ carbon fiber, inspired by the interiors in our cars.”
But it looks like at least 10 percent of the board’s buyers were speculators. The product went up for sale on Saturday, and Tesla said production and delivery of each board would take two to 10 weeks.
Now, less than a week after orders were submitted, 21 of the boards — sized to fit in the Palo Alto electric car maker’s Model 3 and Model S sedans, and the Model X SUV — are up for sale on eBay.
Asking prices are steep, as high as $6,450, with most sellers wanting $3,000 to $4,000. Tesla boards priced at $2,500 to $3,100 had by Thursday afternoon attracted the most bids.
Tesla did not immediately answer an inquiry from this news organization about whether it would make more surfboards beyond the 200.
Board maker Matt Biolos told The Orange County Register that the project was a “full on collaboration” with Tesla. His shop provided the company with boards 80 percent complete, he said, while Tesla “did the glossy finishes, which was pretty unique and rare in the collaboration world. They put the bells and whistles on. It’s a legitimate surfboard.”
The six-foot-eight-inch boards are replicas of Biolos’ personal board, he said.
“It’s one of the lightest, strongest and most expensive constructions we’ve made,” he said. “Materials are all top end.”
