Would you spend your own hard earned money on one?
Would you spend your own hard earned money on one?
In reply to Toyman01 + Sized and :
And how do you think history will view it? About 2500 were made. It was (one of? the?) first electric car to show that they didn't have to weird little penalty boxes, but it was the S that really made things happen. Is the Roadster interesting because it's an direct ancestor of the modern EV, or is it an oddity or a side note?
As EVs go, it's more like an MGB than an ND Miata. There's been a lot of development and progress since the Roadster showed up.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I'm curious what they could do with newer tech. The Roadster is generations old, in a fairly fast paced field of innovation.
Well, there has been at least one battery update rolled out. It was actually a pretty efficient little car, surprisingly more so than you would expect given the era.
It's worth noting that the Roadster did not catch on fire for Top Gear. They made a big deal about fire when testing the Capari T1 at around the same time because it self-immolated when being tested by Fifth Gear. They have also burned the achingly pretty Mazda Furai, an Alpine 110 and the Zenvo ST1. But not the Roadster.
Top Gear did get themselves sued for slander after being Top Gear about battery range on track. Tesla corporate had a pretty thin skin at the time.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
They also tried to claim it ran out of power and overheated multiple times, honestly went from taking the piss to being openly malicious real fast.
I think there's been one or two Roadster's that have caught fire or have had a problem that killed their pack, but nothing concrete. Their owners apparently keep firm hold on the remaining ones.
Does it use the same chargers as a "regular" Tesla?
My engineer buddy was so annoyed that I responded that the Roadster was my favorite of the Tesla's after a great day at their Freemont factory. Still so interesting to me.
Toyman01 + Sized and said:Would you spend your own hard earned money on one?
Absolutely. One of the coolest cars I've ever driven, and I'm pretty sure it will be this generation's 289 Cobra value-wise. A $100k Tesla Roadster would be a great investment.
Dusterbd13-michael said:Does it feel like cheap consumer electronics? Thats what the console and seats remind me of, like the old steering wheel and pedals for the ps2.
It feels like an Elise that Georgia Tech's Challenge team spent a few weeks with. So.... yeah.
WonkoTheSane said:Boring questions, but how's the range holding up, and what kinda mileage did they rack up in the last 13 years?
I picked this up with about 75% charge, and it was showing 138 miles remaining. It had 27,000 miles.
Gzwg said:How are the seats? Are the backs as hard as the Lotus ones, or softer?
Pretty comparable; think more "leather race seat" than "GT cruiser"
Keith Tanner said:Top Gear did get themselves sued for slander after being Top Gear about battery range on track. Tesla corporate had a pretty thin skin at the time.
And we should also not neglect to mention that a judge tossed Tesla's lawsuit finding nothing that could be construed as defamatory in the program.
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
Like I said, Tesla had a pretty thin skin at the time and you can understand why they'd be a little upset at being mocked with what they figured was untruths on the biggest motoring show...in the world. Nobody came out looking very good. The result of the lawsuit isn't important, my point was that the only fireworks were in the courtroom and not actually on the track.
Tom Suddard said:Dusterbd13-michael said:Does it feel like cheap consumer electronics? Thats what the console and seats remind me of, like the old steering wheel and pedals for the ps2.
It feels like an Elise that Georgia Tech's Challenge team spent a few weeks with. So.... yeah.
Put on your Classic Motorsports hat. So do you think it's a significant car? Or an odd historical artifact? Gotta say it's a heck of an interesting rental.
Tom Suddard said:Dusterbd13-michael said:Does it feel like cheap consumer electronics? Thats what the console and seats remind me of, like the old steering wheel and pedals for the ps2.
It feels like an Elise that Georgia Tech's Challenge team spent a few weeks with. So.... yeah.
I'll take this as a compliment.
Keith Tanner said:Tom Suddard said:Dusterbd13-michael said:Does it feel like cheap consumer electronics? Thats what the console and seats remind me of, like the old steering wheel and pedals for the ps2.
It feels like an Elise that Georgia Tech's Challenge team spent a few weeks with. So.... yeah.
Put on your Classic Motorsports hat. So do you think it's a significant car? Or an odd historical artifact? Gotta say it's a heck of an interesting rental.
Oh absolutely. For a while, when it wasn't clear Tesla would ever be a big/mainstream/long-lasting company, the Roadster had two paths in the collector market: Tesla gets huge and it becomes the first ever Tesla and an amazing collectible, or Tesla fails and it becomes another Edsel. I think it's pretty obvious at this point that Tesla isn't another Edsel (at least not yet) so I think it's a significant car.
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