Driving the Tesla Roadster - Ben Rosen

[graham]

Ben Rosen received his car:

Tesla Motors - hear

Two weeks ago, the evening before we were to leave our Manhattan apartment on a 10-day trip to London, we received a phone call informing us that our Tesla Roadster would arrive the next morning at our Litchfield County home. We immediately headed north. Nearly three years after ordering the car, and a year and a half after its initially promised delivery date, it arrived.

It was worth waiting for.

Because of the imminent trip abroad, I only had a few hours to test drive it. And then, after returning home from London, once again I had only a short time to drive it before heading off for New Orleans for the opening of Prospect.1, the new international art biennial. So here are my initial impressions.

 

[TEG]

Link to his bigger story

Note - since Tesla hasn't apparently updated their published power/torque graph (which Mr. Rosen included on his write-up), his description describes 1.5 performance, but apparently with the chart for 1.0 PEM/motor.

Price: Originally $100,000, now $109,000. The forthcoming Model S sedan, scheduled for 2011 delivery, will be less than half that price.

I think the original base price was $92,000 not $100K...
Also, the Model S has been quoted as estimated $60K base price, not "less than half of $109K".

By the way, JB used to work for "Rosen Motors" before joining Tesla.

 

[doug]

Electric car predecessor to the Tesla Roadster, circa 1900

That's Edison in this photo.

 

[vfx]

Where is it made? The body, a modified Lotus Elise sports car, is manufactured in England.

Technically true but misleads to the extent of the modification.

The powertrain is made and final assembly performed in San Carlos, California.

Assembly, yes. Made no.

 

[graham]

Tesla emailed all the owners this evening with a link to Ben Rosen blog on the TM site. It was accompanied by a short bio. For those of you not familiar with him:

Given some inaccurate blog postings and false rumors circulating recently about Tesla Motors recently, we figured you might enjoy a review from an early customer.

Ben Rosen, venture capitalist and former chairman of Compaq, is one of the most influential personalities in the technology industry. Under Ben's leadership in the 1990s, Compaq Computer became world's largest PC maker. Less well known is Ben’s history as an automotive pioneer.

More than 15 years ago, Ben and his brother Harold (father of the geostationary communications satellite) started a company to build a hybrid-electric powertrain for cars. Rosen Motors hoped to dramatically improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions – without compromising performance and style. Despite the brothers’ enthusiasm and demonstrations to major automakers, their vehicle was never commercialized.

Ben's expertise in both the technology and automotive industries gives him special insight into the Tesla Roadster -- and we're proud to say that Ben called his first drive in his new Signature One Hundred No. 7 "an exhilarating experience."

Please check out his detailed blog post here.

His VC company also has a Wikipedia page for those interested: Sevin Rosen Funds - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Edit to add: And Signature #007 (a Bondian number...) would make him car #34 I suppose...

 

[doug]

He has Sig#7. So I guess his car has drivetrain 1.0.

 

[TEG]

He has Sig#7. So I guess his car has drivetrain 1.0.

Then why did he say this?:

Acceleration: The promised spec is 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds. ... I suspect from my whiplash it’s very close to that.

 

[tomsax]

I think the original base price was $92,000 not $100K...

The base price may have been $92,000, but the Signature 100 folks, as well as the next group of slightly over 100, had to purchase the fully loaded model, which I believe totaled $100,000. It wasn't until the final group of 2008 sales that owners got to start with the $92,000 base price and choose which upgrades to add on.

 

[TEG]

Ah yes, that's right - $92K "base price", but you couldn't order the base model!
(At least not for a while).

Still, I think Model S is expected to be more than $54,500...

 

[doug]

He has Sig#7. So I guess his car has drivetrain 1.0.

Then why did he say this?:

Acceleration: The promised spec is 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds. ... I suspect from my whiplash it’s very close to that.

Well I doubt he actually made a quantitative measurement. I don't think the cars started getting DT1.5 till about Sig#15 or so.