Unique 'Tesla'

[Floyd Pink]

I arrived at my neighborhood Tesla service center this morning to get yet another windshield replaced, and saw this.

I asked about it, and got a bit of info before I was yelled at for taking pics inside the holy Tesla building. I was told someone took this Lotus, removed the ICE parts, and replaced with batteries and a Tesla motor. And it's in the shop for reasons I didn't discover.

 

[Watts_Up]

Did you get the VIN number to find out about if it was a Tesla Roadster or a Lotus Roadster?

 

[ggr]

It's a Tesla Roadster. The Lotus Elise is similar but definitely different at the rear. See my photo <===

 

[Tex EV]

I was told someone took this Lotus, removed the ICE parts, and replaced with batteries and a Tesla motor. And it's in the shop for reasons I didn't discover.

Did those words come from a Tesla employee?

 

[Stavinski]

I can’t tell if this is sarcastic or not. All the original Tesla roadsters were a lotus Elise with electric power train. The “swap” done by none other than Elon and his budding company. Have we gotten to a point where modern Tesla owners don’t know the company history that far back? There’s even a roadster forum on this board full of pics of these things. Elon even sent his personal one to swim with the aliens.

 

[RichardL]

I can’t tell if this is sarcastic or not. All the original Tesla roadsters were a lotus Elise with electric power train. The “swap” done by none other than Elon and his budding company. Have we gotten to a point where modern Tesla owners don’t know the company history that far back? There’s even a roadster forum on this board full of pics of these things. Elon even sent his personal one to swim with the aliens.

Not quite, they look a lot like the Elise, but there was really very little overlap. They were built by Lotus at Hethel but on their own line, not the same as the Elise/Exige line. European cars had the powertrain, US cars received that at the Menlo Park facility when they were received back.

This picture taken at Hethel in 2011 shows a US Roadster just after finishing assembly (I was an Elise owner on a private tour that day)

This shows the Roadster assembly line, the Elise line is further left:

I recall there is only around 7% commonality of parts. Lotus were simply sub-contracted by Tesla to do this, and started using the Elise design then changed it

 

[slcasner]

Not quite, they look a lot like the Elise, but there was really very little overlap. They were built by Lotus at Hethel but on their own line, not the same as the Elise/Exige line. European cars had the powertrain, US cars received that at the Menlo Park facility when they were received back.

My wife and I were given a tour of the Hethel factory in October 2008 when our Roadster VIN 33 had just completed assembly the day before. At that time the Elise and Roadster cars were definitely interleaved on the line. I recall two lines going the length of the factory, but they were in series (the cars passed along both to be completed). I was particularly impressed by the jig pictured below that holds the side body panels in alignment as they are attached to the chassis. It has two reversible sides, red for Roadster and blue for Elise, since both the chassis and body panels were different between the two cars. It is our incomplete Radiant Red Roadster shown in the photo (taken before our visit).

We got to sit in our car (without powertrain) in the final inspection room at the end of the line. Our car flew to the US before we returned home, then it was delivered to us two weeks later after the powertrain was installed at Menlo Park.

 

[TEG]

Did you get the VIN number to find out about if it was a Tesla Roadster

Tesla Roadster VIN #543...

 

[bolosky]

I'm not sure what to think about the idea that a Roadster is a 'Tesla' with quotes around it. Funny, but a little sad I guess.

 

[OakvilleMYP]

View attachment 712913

Is it just me, or is the silver/gunmetal roadster an offroad raised vehicle?
The red beside it has way less space between the tire and body in the wheel well.

 

[kavyboy]

Is it just me, or is the silver/gunmetal roadster an offroad raised vehicle?
The red beside it has way less space between the tire and body in the wheel well.

Maybe no battery pack installed yet? Just guessing.

 

[slcasner]

Maybe no battery pack installed yet? Just guessing.

Right, when we saw (and sat in) our car at the factory it was sitting high like that because there was no battery installed.

 

[OakvilleMYP]

That totally makes sense. It's clearly way higher, so it's missing something really heavy to get it to the correct height. Must be the lack of battery.

 

[ggr]

Roadster Sport also had adjustable suspension, but I suspect it was mostly weight.

 

[TEG]

The other thing is that thunder gray roadster lacks side repeater lights so it could well have been a "glider" headed for a flight to USA to get its' battery and drivetrain installed in Menlo Park.

Looks similar to @smorgasbord 's Roadster...

 

[Floyd Pink]

Did those words come from a Tesla employee?

Yes. It was the guy who took my fob, gave me a loaner, etc. when I brought my Model 3 in for new glass. I asked 'Oooh, is that a Roadstar?', he replied no, the car was a Lotus, that was converted into an electric. A Lotus with Tesla guts. Based on the previous posts, it appears dude was just screwing with me.

 

[bolosky]

Yes. It was the guy who took my fob, gave me a loaner, etc. when I brought my Model 3 in for new glass. I asked 'Oooh, is that a Roadstar?', he replied no, the car was a Lotus, that was converted into an electric. A Lotus with Tesla guts. Based on the previous posts, it appears dude was just screwing with me.

That is for sure a Tesla Roadster, not some weird thing. It's got the Roadster body and the Tesla badge. The salesdrone probably didn't have the foggiest idea what a Roadster is. Or maybe he was screwing with you.

 

[TEG]

Well in some ways he was right. I heard some Lotus interviews where they referred to it as a Lotus Roadster with Tesla drivetrain. They were making the chassis and assembling the bodies, so I guess they could try to call it their own if they wanted to.

Back in the day when Tesla was selling Roadsters they tried hard to say it wasn't really a Lotus anymore, thinking of them more like a contract manufacturer. But fact is that the Roadster has gobs of Lotus DNA, and Lotus factory, and Lotus staff built a lot of it.

 

[X.l.r.8]

I bet in those interviews they didn’t mention a thing about the Asuna Sunfires lol. Doesn’t really have the same bragging rights.

 

[rudholm]

Mythbusters Part 2: The Tesla Roadster is not a Converted Lotus Elise | Tesla

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