New York, New York – Tesla has delivered its 500th electric Tesla Roadster, an important milestone for the electric vehicle manufacturer.

The 500th car was purchased by Martin Tuchman, a philanthropist in New Jersey. A former automotive engineer who converted his 1937 Chris-Craft into an electric boat, Tuchman plans to use his Roadster as his primary commuter car, and will partially charge it with solar energy via photovoltaic panels he helped install throughout his hometown of Kingston, New Jersey.

Tuchman took delivery of a Twilight Blue Roadster last weekend, a few weeks before the anticipated opening of a Tesla showroom in New York. Greater New York is Tesla’s largest market outside of California. Zero-emission vehicles are exempt from New Jersey’s sales, use and luxury taxes, and single occupants of alternative-fuel vehicles may also use the high-occupancy commuter lanes on the New Jersey Turnpike.

Tesla will also open stores in Chicago, London, Seattle, Miami, Washington, Monaco and Munich shortly, and expects to begin deliveries in Europe this summer.

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