Tesla Roadster celebrates its 15th birthday: The flight is normal
15 years ago, on February 1, 2008, Elon Musk got behind the wheel of the first Tesla, becoming its first owner. Celebrating the 15th birthday of the Tesla Roadster, we can safely state that the flight is normal! After all, the Roadster is not only Tesla’s first model, but also a real “astronaut”, the world’s first production car launched into outer space on a Falcon rocket. It is also the first mass-produced all-electric car using lithium-ion batteries, and the first mass-produced electric car capable of driving more than 320 km on a single charge.
It is noteworthy that both the rocket and the electric car itself were manufactured at the factories owned by Elon Musk. During the launch, the car's sound system produced D. Bowie's song "Space Oddity". Apparently, Elon Musk is not only an ardent supporter of electric cars, but also has a good sense of humor.
The Tesla Roadster is a very important model, as it has paved the way for more affordable and mass-produced cars of the brand, which is currently the leading electric vehicle manufacturer. According to The Wall Street Journal, the title of the most successful public company, rightfully belongs to Tesla Motors, named after the greatest inventor Nikola Tesla, who probably had more original inventions than any other person in history.
Historical notes
The first concept car of the Roadster was officially presented on July 19, 2006. Therefore, from a formal point of view, the car turns not 15, but 17 years old. At a private event, in one of the hangars of the Santa Monica airport in California, 350 guests saw the first Tesla. The guest list included major politicians, movie stars and billionaires, including even, at that time, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The purpose of the presentation was the formation of the ‘List of a hundred’ of the first buyers of the car. They were invited to take a checkbook to the party, test drive the prototype and buy an exclusive model, endowed with a special plate with the signatures of its creators: Eberhard, Tarpenning and Musk.
PR is a big deal: within two weeks of the presentation, Tesla sold 127 vehicles. Everyone started talking about the company. It was reviewed by The Washington Post, The New York Times and other American news publications. Well, after this, it was already possible to arrange an official premiere for the general public. It took place at the San Francisco International Auto Show from November 18 to 26, 2006.
And so it happened that even before the release of the Roadster, the whole world already knew about Tesla. And yet, the official birthday is February 1, 2008, the official release date of the first production Tesla Roadster. A photo of a smiling Elon Musk driving a convertible has literally spread all over the world. At the time, a happy Musk declared that this electric car ‘brings more driving pleasure than the McLaren F1 or the Porsche 911 Turbo’. The first 100 units were made within a month. One car cost 100,000 dollars. Elon Musk is not the only known owner of the Roadster. The silver 2008 Tesla Roadster is one of Tony Stark’s cars that can be seen in his garage in the Iron Man movie alongside such supercars as the Saleen S7, Shelby Cobra.
What was the first Tesla like?
The first Tesla Roadster was created in collaboration with the famous British sports car manufacturer Lotus on the basis of the already legendary Lotus Elise. The British company produced the chassis and body parts, while Tesla was responsible for the electric powertrains and final assembly. Yes, yes, at its core, the first Roadster is just a plagiarism… However, it is worth clarifying that after the 2017 restyling, no more than 6% of the parts remained from the donor.
The electric car received one electric motor with 288 hp. It took 3.7 seconds to accelerate the Roadster from 0 to 100 km/h, while the maximum speed was limited at around 201 km/h, which allowed increasing a driving range. The Tesla Roadster drove up to 320 km on a single charge, which was an unthinkable distance for electric vehicles at that time. Since Tesla’s contract with Lotus for the supply of 2.5 thousand cars expired at the end of 2011, the model ceased to be sold in 2012. In total, from 2008 to 2012, about 2,500 units were produced.
Tesla Roadster today
The fast and light sports car is no longer in the model range, and nothing was known about the successor for a long time, until 2017. Then the world saw a pre-production sample. Now the Roadster is a 2-door 4-seater targa. The removable roof that retracts into the trunk is almost entirely made of tinted glass. And Musk also dreams of the option of flying at a height of up to two meters…
According to preliminary data, the model has three electric motors: one in front and two in the back. The torque of the electric motors reaches 10,000 Nm, while the battery capacity is 200 kWh. The all-wheel drive targa accelerates from 0 to 97 km/h in 1.9 seconds and from 0 to 160 km/h in 4.2 seconds. The maximum speed of the two-door car is over 400 km/h. With a fully charged battery, the new Tesla Roadster will be able to cover a distance of almost 1,000 km. The base price of the electric car is 200,000 dollars. At the same time, the welcome series of 1,000 Founders Editions cars will cost 250,000 dollars.
But there’s a catch: the release of the production model is constantly being postponed… It’s already 2023, but the Roadster is still missing. Although earlier Elon Musk himself reported on his Twitter that the car would be put on the conveyor in 2023, and later officially confirmed the postponement of the release to 2023 at a shareholders meeting. Musk states that the new Roadster is ‘the dessert’ and that ‘everyone who has been waiting, they won’t be sorry’. At the same time, it can already be booked for 50,000 dollars on the Tesla website. So let’s wait… After all, 2023 has just begun. But if the new Tesla Roadster does appear, it will become almost the fastest electric car on the planet: with an additional SpaceX package, it will accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in about 1.1 seconds.
Tesla has updated the 2023 price list for its models in Israel: the price increase is due the increase in electric vehicle purchase tax. The price of the most popular and best-selling model, the Tesla Model 3, has increased by 18,000-20,000 shekels, the Model Y has risen in price by 20,000 shekels.
