Greetings, fellow Roadster fans and Tesla enthusiasts. For those of you interested in the Tesla Roadster, I felt compelled to set up a Tesla Motors Club forum account to share my experience going into Tesla and speaking with them about the Tesla Roadster today.
At first, let me emphasize that for several years now, I have been a big fan of the new and upcoming Tesla Roadster. It is my understanding that with the exception of a very, very few prototype Roadsters, the car has not been manufactured. At the time of this writing, if I were to estimate, there are probably less than 5 Tesla Roadster 2020+ prototype models in the entire world. I believe these prototypes were created with no 620 mile range battery, no internal dash board/LED behind the steering wheel on the driver's side, and no side mirrors at all. The purpose of these ultra rare prototype Roadsters is to simply illustrate a high level conceptual overview of the body design as well as a first-hand demonstration of the torque and raw speed as it is likely pulling heavily from a smaller capacity battery. All unimplemented parts of Roadster such as the side mirrors that may use cameras and the drivers side dash board have simply not been designed or even determined this early on in the process.
Yesterday, I drove to my local Tesla dealership to ask them questions about the upcoming Roadster. I wanted to ask a Tesla sales associate face to face to see their response in person rather than asking over the phone. My primary question related to whether or not my $5k + $45k reservation guarantees me a spot in production for whenever Tesla eventually gets around to manufacturing the Roadster even if we are still a long way off from production. My concern is that I do not want to reserve a Tesla Roadster for $50k and then be caught years later after Roadster production cycle ends with Tesla saying, "Sorry, we only decided to make 10,000 of these Roadsters and you are number 10,001, so we won't be making one for you at all." The Tesla representative told me that once Tesla reaches the maximum number of vehicles being produced based on reservations, Tesla will end the opportunity for new users to reserve a new Roadster on their website. As long as you have a reservation, you will definitely be eventually contacted when a VIN is assigned to your account to selection options and for a purchase/transfer of the remaining balance.
When explaining all of this to me, the Tesla representative wanted to emphasize that we are still a long ways off from Roadster 2020+ production. To support his point, the Tesla rep told me that the Cyber Truck and Semi must be built first and "they have not even finished building the Tesla factory in Austin, TX where they will be building the Cyber Truck." WOW. So they still have to build the Cyber Truck factory, the Cyber Truck, and the Semi!
I pressed the Tesla rep for his estimation on when production will begin and he said, "Late 2022". Take that for whatever it is worth. My conclusion? I am patient and fully understand we are still a long ways off from production. It still feels good to know that I would have a guaranteed place in line whenever the time comes that the Roadster is produced, however. It feels good to know that a person's reservation cannot fall into the category if remaining unfulfilled because they've reached the maximum number of Roadsters being built whenever the time comes that they manufacture the Roadster. In my mind, the Tesla Roadster should be reserved ($50k) with the attitude that the Roadster will eventually be produced but that it's best to forget about the Roadster between now and then. Keep driving whatever it is that you drive right now, hold the remaining balance in a savings account, move on with life, and someday in the future you absolutely will be contacted by Tesla about the Roadster.
How does that sound? Are you willing to live your life knowing that some day years later, you will be assigned a VIN for one of the fastest street legal cars in the world? How does that make you feel?
At first, let me emphasize that for several years now, I have been a big fan of the new and upcoming Tesla Roadster. It is my understanding that with the exception of a very, very few prototype Roadsters, the car has not been manufactured. At the time of this writing, if I were to estimate, there are probably less than 5 Tesla Roadster 2020+ prototype models in the entire world. I believe these prototypes were created with no 620 mile range battery, no internal dash board/LED behind the steering wheel on the driver's side, and no side mirrors at all. The purpose of these ultra rare prototype Roadsters is to simply illustrate a high level conceptual overview of the body design as well as a first-hand demonstration of the torque and raw speed as it is likely pulling heavily from a smaller capacity battery. All unimplemented parts of Roadster such as the side mirrors that may use cameras and the drivers side dash board have simply not been designed or even determined this early on in the process.
Yesterday, I drove to my local Tesla dealership to ask them questions about the upcoming Roadster. I wanted to ask a Tesla sales associate face to face to see their response in person rather than asking over the phone. My primary question related to whether or not my $5k + $45k reservation guarantees me a spot in production for whenever Tesla eventually gets around to manufacturing the Roadster even if we are still a long way off from production. My concern is that I do not want to reserve a Tesla Roadster for $50k and then be caught years later after Roadster production cycle ends with Tesla saying, "Sorry, we only decided to make 10,000 of these Roadsters and you are number 10,001, so we won't be making one for you at all." The Tesla representative told me that once Tesla reaches the maximum number of vehicles being produced based on reservations, Tesla will end the opportunity for new users to reserve a new Roadster on their website. As long as you have a reservation, you will definitely be eventually contacted when a VIN is assigned to your account to selection options and for a purchase/transfer of the remaining balance.
When explaining all of this to me, the Tesla representative wanted to emphasize that we are still a long ways off from Roadster 2020+ production. To support his point, the Tesla rep told me that the Cyber Truck and Semi must be built first and "they have not even finished building the Tesla factory in Austin, TX where they will be building the Cyber Truck." WOW. So they still have to build the Cyber Truck factory, the Cyber Truck, and the Semi!
I pressed the Tesla rep for his estimation on when production will begin and he said, "Late 2022". Take that for whatever it is worth. My conclusion? I am patient and fully understand we are still a long ways off from production. It still feels good to know that I would have a guaranteed place in line whenever the time comes that the Roadster is produced, however. It feels good to know that a person's reservation cannot fall into the category if remaining unfulfilled because they've reached the maximum number of Roadsters being built whenever the time comes that they manufacture the Roadster. In my mind, the Tesla Roadster should be reserved ($50k) with the attitude that the Roadster will eventually be produced but that it's best to forget about the Roadster between now and then. Keep driving whatever it is that you drive right now, hold the remaining balance in a savings account, move on with life, and someday in the future you absolutely will be contacted by Tesla about the Roadster.
How does that sound? Are you willing to live your life knowing that some day years later, you will be assigned a VIN for one of the fastest street legal cars in the world? How does that make you feel?