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The following is a letter that was sent to Tesla Roadster customers today to review key developments in the Roadster program.
Since we last provided a program update we have achieved an extraordinary milestone - on March 17th, the Tesla Roadster entered regular production. In this program update we will focus on a wide variety of topics that relate to the program now that we are in this new phase, including:
- Production Schedule
- “Powertrain 1.5”
- Warranty
- New “Out of Service Area” Policy
- Store and Service Center locations and timing
- Additional News
Production Schedule
Now that production has started, we would like to provide you with an update on the plan and status of production. Although everyone is eager to receive their cars as soon as possible, it is important in this program, and any automobile program, to start the production line slowly and to increase the rate at which cars are manufactured at a very deliberate pace. This “slow ramp” ensures a high level of quality even with the first cars off the line. Inevitably, there are process and quality issues that come up as one increases the rate of production and a slow ramp rate enables us to address a myriad of issues in a controlled manner – remember that the Roadster is not just a new car it is a new automotive paradigm.
After an initial period of slow production rates, the pace of production starts to pick up until we are producing in excess of 100 cars per month by November. For this reason, the delivery of the approximately 600 2008 Model Year cars is weighted toward the end of this year and beginning of next year.
The data below is intended to provide a guideline as to when we plan to achieve specific milestones in vehicle production. While this data will give you a sense of when your car will be produced, the actual delivery time will lag by about 8 weeks to allow for shipping and finishing. You will be contacted by Member Services 3 months prior to your expected production date to confirm details.
In the past 2 months, we have moved more slowly than our planned pace of 1 car per week. At the time of this writing, we are preparing to put cars number 6 and 7 on the line. This is by our own doing, as we have identified and addressed some minor supplier issues and teething pains. We expect to get back on pace so have not changed the overall schedule.
This is exactly the kind of situation we anticipated and is the reason for the slow initial ramp. In the early going, it is easier to address issues that inevitably crop up and then get back on track without major impact to the overall schedule. One thing is for certain: we will not sacrifice quality or customer satisfaction to force the schedule.
As we have mentioned before, the plan is to stick to a relatively slow pace of production until “Powertrain 1.5” is ready for insertion into the production process. At this time, we can then start to accelerate the production pace.
“Powertrain 1.5”
The development of “Powertrain 1.5” is progressing very well. We have the newly designed PEM (Power Electronics Module) running at the higher 850 amp level in a prototype car being used for durability and other testing. The higher current levels are generating the expected higher levels of torque (~280 lb. ft) that will enable the same 3.9 second 0-60 acceleration with the new single speed gearbox under development. This new powertrain configuration is planned to be inserted into the production schedule in September, at about the 40th car. All cars produced prior to this switchover will be upgraded free of charge as previously discussed.
Warranty
Tesla has established a comprehensive warranty for the Roadster. The 3 year/36,000 mile base warranty covers all aspects of the car for defects in materials and workmanship. The battery pack is part of this comprehensive warranty. Details about the warranty will be covered in your owner’s documentation.
Tesla will offer an extended warranty option at no cost to 2008 Roadster Club members, extending the coverage to 4 years/50,000 miles. Purchasers of later model year Roadsters will be offered the extended warranty at additional cost.
The battery pack is expected to last longer than the warranty period, although repairs beyond the warranty period will be charged at regular part and labor rates.
All high-energy lithium ion cells experience a gradual loss in maximum capacity based on usage levels, time, and other factors. Your owner’s documentation will include information on expected behavior of the battery over time and the factors that affect the rate of wear.
Out of Service Area Service Policy
Based on customer feedback and other practical considerations, the “Out of Service Area” policy has been changed. The original policy required a fee of $8,000 to be paid on delivery of the car to cover additional transport costs over the life of the warranty for customers who are located further than 100 miles from a Tesla Service Center.
This policy has been replaced with a simpler approach. Instead of paying an up-front fee, customers who are located outside a Tesla service area are responsible for the costs associated with transport to and from Tesla Service Centers. Tesla Customer Service will coordinate long distance transport on behalf of the customer if desired.
Store and Service Center Locations
Tesla’s flagship Los Angeles Store is now open to the public. The Menlo Park Store will open this summer, although it will be operational and servicing cars sooner than that.
Over time Tesla Motors will build additional Stores containing both sales/service facilities across the country. For now, the priority is to establish purpose-built service facilities to service cars that are planned for delivery over the next 12 months. Based on the number of cars due to be delivered in various markets, we anticipate opening additional service facilities in the following order:
- Los Angeles – Open
- Menlo Park – Summer 2008
- New York – Q4 2008
- Chicago – Q1 2009
- Miami – Q1 2009
- Seattle – Q1 2009
Specific locations and dates are yet to be established. Additional locations will be announced in the future. We expect to establish service offerings in all major US cities by 2010.
Additional News
Tesla Motors recently announced that the Tesla Roadster would be available for delivery in Europe beginning April, 2009. For the first year, a special “Signature Edition” of 250 cars will be offered for all of Europe. This special edition car, fully loaded and highly customized, sells for 99,000 Euro (excl. VAT). We plan to establish service facilities in key European cities, starting with London, Paris, Munich, Northern Germany, Milan, Oslo, Copenhagen (this list is being finalized). Many of you have enquired about European delivery for yourself or on behalf of a friend or colleague, so we wanted to let you know about this special offer. If you are interested in learning more or want to help us with our European launch, just let us know or email eurosales@teslamotors.com .
We recently announced pricing on the 2009 Tesla Roadster in the U.S. The base price is expected to be $109,000. With all factory options, the Roadster will cost about $120,200. This price increase does not affect any member who has already reserved a 2008 Roadster.








FINALLY !!!! Timely and useful information !!!!! You are to be commended on suppling it in a much better fashion than in the past. Hopefully these GREAT changes will continue in the future !!!!
On a side note - how many cars are there in the Founder’s series ? I have heard between 40 and 100 and from this it seems there are 99 or 100 is that the case ?
Interesting that Washington DC is not close to the top of the list of service centers but I guess NY is close enough if needed until a new store can be opened
Yes!!! Finally. So I guess it’s confirmed? The location is in Miami?
And 280 ft-lb of torque. Wow! When Edmunds estimated powertrain 1.5 to have the kind of power, people were kind of cautious about their estimates, but it’s true.
Thank you for including Munich! Now let’s show BMW what real cars are made of
Thank you for listing Oslo by name, I’ll be waiting for it to open.
Sindre
PS: And if you want someone to scout out a nice location …
Thanks a lot for the much anticipated update!
It’s exciting for those on the outside to see some progress.
Could you explain how you guys define a Tesla model year? Seems that by normal convention, the cars produced after the Signature 100 series (starting October 2008) would just be called the 2009 model year.
As it is, is there any material difference between the 2008 and planned 2009 model year cars? Thank you.
In order for a store to be open in Maimi by Q1 2009 you must have a site selected. If not, being a Miamian, I recommend 2 locations: Lincoln Road area of South Beach (great for international exposure) or Coral Gables Bird Road & Ponce area (fine automobile hub with Lotus, Ferrari, Jaguar, etc in close proximity).
Thanks for the update! It’s great to hear about the progress. It was also very cool to hear Darryl Siry speak at SF Green on Monday (and to see the Roadster that was there). For those of you who didn’t get to go, I posted quite a few pictures of the Tesla Roadster (it was an orange one) here: greenhome.huddler.com/products/2008-tesla-roadster-coupe (just click the view more images button).
Or else check out this forum thread for a look at just a few of the pictures: greenhome.huddler.com/forum/thread/329/up-close-and-personal-with-the-tesla-roadster?replies=6
And if you’re interested in what Darryl talked about, check out this blog post from Gas 2.0: gas2.org/2008/05/15/tesla-roadster-pictures-from-sf-green-pics/
Yes it is great to get a report, and particularly on the schedule so we can stop taking wild guesses. Kevin, if you follow the description of 100 cars/month by November then 80 to 90 cars in October would mean that the last Signature series VIN# would be 110 to 120, so it seems unlikely there are even 40 Founders’ Series. Contrary to normal auto manufacturing it appears that the 2008 model year will extend until March 2009. Is that true?
Powertrain 1.5 = 0-60 in 3.9 sec.
But what does that do to the range?
Roy,
I got the impression that there were 100 of the Signature series from Signature Series 100 being produced in July- October and the Founder’s series was seperate and before those. I do not think the number of one has anything to do with the number of the other…
But from the anticipated start up rate of 1/ week that would mean about 15 founder’s series vehicles in the time frame of March-June. Darryl is this number one that can be confirmed ?
“This is exactly the kind of situation we anticipated and is the reason for the slow initial ramp. In the early going, it is easier to address issues that inevitably crop up and then get back on track without major impact to the overall schedule. One thing is for certain: we will not sacrifice quality or customer satisfaction to force the schedule.”
That is typical textbook theory, but terrible practice. You will be enjoying the worst of both worlds - slow ramp and an even longer lead time to find the real problems that you don’t learn until you’ve made dozens or hundreds of vehicles. Fisker is going to deliver a sedan far earlier than Tesla will, and it will be sourced by an existing Tier 1 supplier. After that, GM will start shipping the Volt, and your window of opportunity will have closed.
The only upside to this approach, is that the manufacturing planners can maintain their image of not making any mistakes, because they didn’t really do anything.
Roy,
Models in the US are typically determined as to when they were SOLD. Therefore, since all of the first 600 were sold in 2008 they are technically 2008 model year. I know that you are going to say that some of them were actually SOLD in 2007. But what was sold then was a membership in the Tesla Roadster Club and then that is applied to your car.
Wikipedia says this :
In the United States, automobile model years traditionally start in the third quarter of the preceding year. So model year refers to the “sales” model year; for example, vehicles sold during the period from October 1 to the next September 30 is considered one model year.
In other cases products of a previous model year can continue production, especially if a newer model hasn’t yet been released. In that case, the model year remains the same until a new model is introduced. This is to ensure that the model will be seen by the public and will actually sell an amount of vehicles before a new vehicle model is produced and people will look at the newer model rather than the previous one.
Not that wikipedia is totally reiable but a good start.