Orphan adopted ...so glad I have all of you now as family

[hmbprius]

Hi Tesla Roadster Family, I am the proud mother of newly adopted #412, my blue baby. I have been watching Tesla roadsters forever, having been an early adopted of the hybrid ice in 2004 prius to save the world for my newborn kid. Had to shed my first life 1990 Supra Sport convertible to be all grown up as a new mom. So when roadster came out wasn't in budget or babyseat territory. But as retirement approaches now and soon to be empty nest and visions of drives to wine country with top down dance in my head, have been watching ebay for last few years. #412 was first blue I had seen (as I expanded search and got more serious about acquiring). Anyhow just an initial post to forum, will share some of adventures with service and of course how helpful this forum has already been (with kudos to Henry and his CAN Sr.and Jr. Tech)

 

[josh-io]

Yessss!!! Congratulations!!! Feel free to share some photos, I’d sure love to see!

 

[hmbprius]

 

[hmbprius]

Isn't she gorgeous! (Don't look at weeds in my herb garden, been neglected a bit)

 

[im4uttx]

Hi Tesla Roadster Family, I am the proud mother of newly adopted #412, my blue baby. ..

Congrats! I picked up my dream Roadster a couple weeks ago, #1073. I agree that this forum is very helpful and informative. Picking up new tidbits everyday as I go through threads from start to end...

As new owners, we could share thoughts and questions, and perhaps could make a separate thread for "new roadster owners" to reduce the need to go through all the old threads for the tidbits...perhaps asking questions of the experts to get a compiled list of updated answers...

 

[josh-io]

View attachment 416430

Beautiful! Just stunning in Electric Blue. Congratulations!

 

[Timothy]

As pretty as mine! I hope you will love it as well as I have mine these last 8 years!

 

[hcsharp]

Congrats! Really is beautiful!

 

[mbp11]

Beautiful car. This is based on the Lotus Elise, I read in the Elon Musk unauthorized biography. How is this car with charging? Do you have to have a special charger or adaptor or can you charge at any supercharger?

 

[Timothy]

I can't see well enough in the photo, but is that a 1958 Chev Impala? My dad had a turquoise blue one -- convertible -- when I was a kid. He would drive around with our Golden Retriever sitting next to him--and leaning on him--and neighbors would think he had some hot chick with him instead of my mother--until they saw the long nose! That was in San Francisco by the way.

 

[X.l.r.8]

You can tell this is the roadster section, a modern electric vehicle sits next to a 58 and everyone’s looking at the 58. As for charging, level 2 only, 70A and has a proprietary plug, pretty much everyone has a J1772 or conventional Tesla adaptor hidden in their car so we can charge elsewhere.

 

[X.l.r.8]

@hmbprius congratulations on getting a Roadster. Great color and it looks amazing, a lot of people have a soft spot for that color car.
And I don’t think most of us know what a herb garden is supposed to look like so you are safe here.

 

[hmbprius]

Thank you all for the welcome, responding en mass:
1) totally agree with new owner "crib sheet " need....I was about to reply to another post that was 3 years old, and someone else had a year ago, and I learned that late reply's are flagged as potential spam (which of course makes sense) but I have also seen (like on the VMS reboot thread) how links to older posts can be used (when I figure that out...will add any goodies!)
2) It just came with the standard 110V cable, (alas no 220, used and I believe the prior owner is taking advantage of selling bits on ebay), but have ordered the Tesla mobile (surprisingly current price at Tesla was cheaper than ebay) and the Tesla wall charger (which is back in stock, again cheaper than ebay). NOw for both of those Tesla charging units (I have learned on this web site) a roadster adapter is needed and I got Henry's Can Jr and Can Sr to address the J1772 and proprietary Tesla Gen 2 issues. NOt sure if kosher to plug by listing web site, so I will defer but you can find the CANs on this forum by searching. They will allow me to charge at "destination" chargers out there, but alas the Tesla supercharger stations are not available /compatible with the roadster (well at least not without mods, and I am not there yet). She charge to 188 mi range (regular not range charge, 40amp)...only 9950 miles on her so we hopefully will have lots of wine country jogs and well within range. I also found the website for finding charging stations on this forum as not commercial I think it is safe to give: PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You.
3) Alas to all of those impala fans, the car next to my blue baby is our Prius V (need trunk space for mom's wheel chair etc)
4) Thanks for the herb garden understanding

I have found (perhaps of interest to new owners, old forum user's are probably aware) both EU and US sites for service manual and the tesla part lists (albiet for "general public"...amazing what you can find with google.

Other things I have learned on this site:
Never allow dealer to wash car, (she had her first bath yesterday with microfiber after coming home filthy from dealer)
The EU folks seem happier with service than US (but not always)
That, reminisent of 2004 when I was first driving my Prius (and when you ran across one (rarely in those days) both would smile and wave!), roadster owners seem very special and helpful.

 

[hmbprius]

Oh, also learned on this forum about covers, and mice eating wires (have experienced that with my prior cars so as has always lived near fields/open spaces) so will be doing the peppermint oil prophylaxis....

 

[mbp11]

Yes, that is my Dad's 1958 Chevy Impala, he bought it new in 1958 and all of my siblings learned to drive in it. I got it eventually and had it restored and take it out for drives now and then. I grew up in Visalia, California. It is completely stock, a 283 4 barrel, electric windows and top, power assisted brakes and steering. It is fun to drive, and scary, you have to plan braking and steering way in advance. A good comparison of old and new technology.

Stop by, I will take you for a drive some time.

 

[DeedWest]

Congratulations on a beautiful vehicle in my favorite color.
You now have 1 of 87 U.S. production cars in Electric Blue.

 

[Timothy]

So it looks like I have another one of the 87. Do you know how many of each color were produced? I've never been able to find the numbers.

 

[DeedWest]

There are no official numbers, but I have been painstakingly working on that for many, many years now. I'll publish them soon!

 

[hmbprius]

That is cool. A contrast to the feed this morning on the wrecked roadster registry ....nightmare!
Re Roadster colors.... I came across something related somewhere but can't find now...can someone repoint me to where the paint for the lotus Elise is lined up to that of the Roadster? Or options for touch ups? I found this on Amazon and seems to be just about perfect in lieu of paint. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MNNL18M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[Timothy]

There are no official numbers, but I have been painstakingly working on that for many, many years now. I'll publish them soon!

Thanks! An interesting project!