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For 20+ years, Eric has lived his dream in the Visual Effects industry. It wasn’t until he rode in a Roadster at its Santa Monica debut that he found a new passion. Eric is co-founder of Tesla owner’s Socal Greenspeed Club and thinks the future is electric.
Roadster ownership is not limited to one kind of person – really, anyone can be a “Teslaficionado.” Sure, there are owners who send their Roadsters to an eternal slumber in a temperature-controlled warehouse with their other exotics and seminal vehicles of their day, but Tesla employees will tell you the vast majority of Roadsters aren’t suffering from a Storage-Mode museum fate. Electric cars are meant to be driven!
There also are owners out there who believe so strongly in Tesla and the mission to fill the road with electric cars that they make the unprecedented purchase of a Tesla Roadster by selling family stock, property, other cars, or vintage comic books. Many even make payments (shudder) on a car that promises to save the world. Indeed, the mere existence of Tesla has shaken the industry and become a major force in moving other manufactures to offer EVs.
On Nov 15th 2009, 12 Southern California Roadster owners of all types from Ventura to San Diego met on a beautiful day at Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes. Only open since June 2009, it is the 20-year-old site of the Marineland of the Pacific.
It started as a couple of owners thought it might be a great place to meet for a group Brunch and Drive. A few of us checked out the Resort the week before and on the event day we arrived early to scout a good site for a photo op.
Any resort would love the idea of hosting a group of exotic cars owners and serving a buffet brunch for 19 people. But when we found a path with a nice ocean backdrop for the photo op, the resort managers were a little unsure about letting us drive on a path designed for walking and electric maintenance carts. They weren’t thrilled initially to have “dirty” cars parked in an exclusive area of the Resort between the pool and the ocean. They were also worried about a ruckus from a dozen supercars disturbing the quiet of an exclusive resort. Once we explained that our Roadsters were quiet, exhaustless, and have no oil to drip, they were excited to host the cars anywhere we liked. Turns out, this time, comparing our 0-60 in 3.9 (or 3.7) machines to “golf carts” was a good thing!
Another great part of the day was meeting two very special passengers. Sitting next to me at brunch was 16-year-old Chasen Bell. The first car Chasen ever drove after passing the California learner’s permit test was his dad’s Roadster. He’s probably the first boy to learn to drive in a Tesla, but I’m certain he will not be the last. Across from me was Howard Dunholter, who at 98 years young, might be the only Roadster owner to remember the ladies driving their electric cars back in the 1920’s. Interestingly, both Howard and Chasen’s father shared the vision of a world of electric cars as EV1 owners. Our regular drive events in Southern California (and I’m sure owners around the world will agree) always remind me that anyone can become a “Teslaficionado” and we can’t wait to share the road with you.
Our group, Socal Greenspeed goes for a drive every month or so. If you are a fellow Roadster owner in Southern California please join us by calling Jeremy at Tesla Store Los Angeles for our info.
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These pictures are beautiful Eric! Nice job. SoCal Greenspeed Club is a lot of fun.
just set the second pic as my new desktop wallpaper on my computer.
I share you passion Eric of the look of a roadster as I have seen great sporty roadsters/ coops cruising the highways and the rare scenes of the local roadways in the bay area, I still have the passion of the electric cars of Tesla and the curosity has caught my eye becuse yes the new era is what we can do to elminate the greenhouse gases and the hybrids yet new and catching on still we need to build the light and electric way to the future. The roadster as seen from our past has eclicticly paved its way in to our passion with the Tesla’s and looked as I saw first hand as a ‘Lotus’ (What I thought when first viewed the Tesla) . As I pursue the Green futures of A California, and am pursueing a employment with the Teslas Motors, I am very optimistic in getting my good foot forward and will hopefully keep the passion of Push onward with the ‘Electric Vehicles’. I hope the future looks as Bright as the wave of those Great looking Teslas on our roadway today. Thanks for letting me contribute to the Tesla’s Blog. Please if at all possible look for helping me employ myself in a position with Tesla ? Much Appreciated, Roy Silva of Mt View, Ca.
Great story. Glad to be part of this “back to the future” movement!
This sort of loyalty and enthusiam is great to see, and particuarly now, since Tesla is going to need the good publicity and support. With their IPO coming and the realization that the last Roadster will roll of the line in March of 2011, with no vehicles to sell until about the same time in 2012 when the first production Model S rolls off the line, Tesla needs all the support it can get, both reputation and financial.
I’d love to help by buying a Roadster - since they will be discontinued and any new model will never be exactly like the current model, they would be great collector’s items and sell for more than the MSRP on the used market (if one had to part with one for financial reasons). However, I can barely afford one, and it’s hard to face putting up that kind of money on a 2-seater with just enough trunk space for a universal charging cable and a suitcase or two. Add the increased insurance premiums, and it’s quite a financial burden for anyone in the middle class to want to help out, and benefit from, Tesla in this way.
My other option would be to keep telling people I know about Tesla, getting the facts across and shooting down the B.S., putting in a reservation for a Model S and buy some stock. That much, I can do, and it’s all useful and needed.
Tesla has the best products out there - the Nissan Leaf, Ford Focus EV, BMW 1-series electric, etc. - none can match Tesla in terms of fundamental physics (providing superior efficiency and handling), 0-60 times, battery range, etc. What concerns me is that Ford and Nissan can, eventually, with their auto experience and massive manufacturing capabilities.
Good luck Tesla! We are watching, hoping and waiting.
That was excellent! Thanks, Eric.
Tom A.
A bit clarification:
What do you mean by
“…realization that the last Roadster will roll of the line in March of 2011, with no vehicles to sell until about the same time in 2012 when the first production Model S rolls off the line…”?
Tesla stops Roadster production? Why? Where this has been said? A year without car production? What is going on? I have obviously missed something.
Timo
The Green autoblog carried a story about SEC filings from Tesla related to their IPO. The filings included a note that one of the Roadster suppliers would be offline for retooling or something in 2011 and that Roadster sales would cease until a new model was released in 2013. In the worst case there would be no sales for about a year.
It’s assumed at this point that Lotus is going to be retooling for the replacement of the Elise and/or Exige at that point. it appears that neither Tesla nor Lotus want to renew that contract, and it further appears that Tesla will want to make their own, new Roadster in a US plant rather than start a new contract with Lotus for a new round of gliders. Tesla is aiming for 2013 for this new Roadster.
Telsa also plans at least two spin-offs of the Model S platform, including a crossover-type SUV and a coupe. I don’t know if that is intended to be concurrent with, or subsequent to, the sub-$30k car launch in 2015.
Of course, much of this is contingent upon how successfull the Model S will be (and there’s no reason to think that it won’t), as well as how stiff the sub-$30k EV competition is by that time.
Still, Tesla has the best. They are essentially incapable of having the kind of brake failures that the various hybrids are having. That’s another brilliant move for Tesla - being the essence of simplicity in design, from the single-speed gearbox to the brakes being “just brakes”. The regen is hardwired into the throttle control and is completely independent of the all-critical brake pedal and braking system. In a Tesla, if you hit the brakes, then you get braking, just like any pure ICE vehicle, and just as reiliable.
Tesla has the best product. Their sub-$30k car will have range comparable to the Roadster and Model S (probably more by then with improved battery tech). All these 100-mile or less EVs and these range-extended EVs aren’t the future. They’ll help, certainly, but they aren’t the sustainable future - just stepping stones. Tesla has it right.
I noticed recent news that Shell is dropping its focus on solar/wind and wants to get in on sugarcane ethanol.
I guess they decided that since you only really sell solar panels once (relatively speaking) and ethanol repeatedly - they want to see the IC engine go on forever.
I hope to see Americans agressively support the Tesla IPO and put its money where they want to see our energy future go.
The model S should do very well. Maybe a few years after I finish school you’ll have a model around the $30,000 price point - if so I will definitely own one.
I’ve been going on for months, in various comments, saying how I’m going to put down my $5k reservation. Well, after seriously sitting down and crunching the numbers, it’s making me think hard:
MSRP = $57.4 w/160 mile range.
Upgrade to the 230 mile battery pack (very important to me), we’re looking at another, what, $7k? That puts the total to $64.4k. For me, I already have a Garmin GPS that does the job just fine, the Model S already has leather seats (presumably heated), and all sorts of acoutrements, so that’s already more than I would choose for myself. That’s it for upgrades.
On to the warranties: I think that the battery replacement warranty currently in force for the Roadster is a good idea; however, that’s another $12k up front. It will be at least that much for the Model S, maybe more if you select an upgraded pack size. Extended warranties are usually good ideas for new tech, so (for the Roadster at least), the additional 3-yr, 36k mile warranty is another $3k.
That raises the purchase price to a generously-low estimate of $79.4k.
Subtract the initial $5k reservation paid in 2010, and we’re left with $74.4k. The additional reservation deposit, once options are selected (sometime in 2011), runs at least another $5k, let’s say $10k (which is no small chunk of change). That leaves a balance of $64.4k due upon delivery in 2012.
Putting down another $7.5k for financing, and the remaining loan amount will be $56.9k, not including taxes, tltle, etc. That’s a hefty amount, even with a credit union rate of, say, 4.9% APR over 5 years.
The $7.5k tax credit would be a nice shot in the arm the following Spring after you file your 2012 taxes in early 2013.
Considering the insurance premiums for such a vehicle (certainly more than the $800/yr that I pay on my 2004 Scion xA), it’s just not in the cards for many people, unless they like being slaves to monthly payments on something that can be totaled just as easily as any other vehicle on the road.
I love the Model S for so many reasons, from the elegant simplicity in drivetrain to stunning styling and performance, I’m afraid I’ll have to eat my words for the foreseeable future - based upon this analysis, I won’t be reserving a Model S.
Sorry, Tesla. Don’t get me wrong, the Model S is ahead of the pure EV curve, and elegantly so. I am rooting for Tesla’s success, and I know that new tech is expensive (like VCRs and CD and DVD players used to be, in their time). However, the rest of us are hoping your wealthy fans keep buying. They’ve enjoyed historically rock-bottom taxes for 22 years while our social structure has rotted - time to cough up for the betterment of society.
P.S. - bitter? Perhaps, but it’s true. Check out the IRS website for historical data on federal income taxes from 1910 to 2010.
I just attended the car show in Grand Rapids Michigan yesterday and saw the Tesla for the first time. FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!! The Tesla is going to look great parked next to my 2007 Mustang Shelby. I will be test driving one in the spring, and most likely ordering one also. I learned alot from Lawrence who works in the Chicago area, so see ya in the spring Lawrence!