View Full Version : Roadster at the Oscars
WarpedOne
02-24-2007, 07:53 AM
Tesla Roadsters will be amongst the cars available to celebs on sunday to ride to the red carpet.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17275950
So you are an "A" list celebrity.
It's time to go to the Oscars. Your image is everything.
There is a Tesla Roadster sitting there looking all sexy and cool.
As lucious as it is, you could pick one up for a week (or less) of a paycheck on one of your feature films.
Then someone guides you away from that beauty over to one of the electric "punishment cars"...
ouch
Froom BBC worldnews
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_6390000/newsid_6394100?redirect=6394111.stm&news=1&nbwm=1&bbwm=1&bbram=1&nbram=1 >
330 celebrities who bought one? Is that number correct? I didn't know that many celebs could afford a $92K car.
330 celebrities who bought one?* Is that number correct?* I didn't know that many celebs could afford a $92K car.
I'm sure that many celebs could afford the car, but I think the number is a little confused. On the Tesla Motors blog, the moderator recently mentioned that "more than 330" Roadsters have been reserved. I think that's in total, and not all of those people are what we'd call celebrities. Though, they may be well known within their own circles.
Also another article on the same topic mentioned that Global Green USA had 30 Tesla prototypes to shuttle celebs to the Oscars. That got my attention because as far as I knew there were still only the 2 cars in the US. But it looks like that was also a mixup. It was 30 cars total that Global Green had. I'm guessing that was a variety of cars and only the 1 red Tesla.
tonybelding
09-11-2007, 12:03 PM
Way back in February there was a lot of press reporting on Global Green and how they were going to bring stars to the Oscars in eco-friendly cars. The Tesla Roadster was there and was widely regarded as the car to be seen in. Everybody wanted to know who was going to be the lucky celebrity to arrive in it.
After the event. . . Nothing. There was no reporting, no mention of it. All I ever saw was a cryptic remark from Darryl Siry -- he said nobody had ridden in the Roadster after all, and the reason would be explained in a future blog on the Tesla website.
Thus far, no such blog has been posted.
Recently I heard the first plausible explanation for what went wrong. My understanding is that nobody wanted to be seen arriving without their date, as the Roadster's sole passenger. (A Tesla employee would be driving, of course.) Who you arrive with is more important than what you arrive in, and arriving by yourself was a non-starter, socially speaking.
I'm sure we'll see the Roadster at some future ceremonies -- after some celebs have had a chance to get their own Roadsters and thus be able to arrive together with their dates.
Ah... The mysteries. Was that really it? Could the Roadster have had technical difficulties?
Also, the drive to Tahoe had a nice Hyatt mention with the SF mayor, but I didn't hear what happened in Sacramento... I think they must have been hoping for some big name politicians to come out in support there, but I have yet to find any write up about how things went in Sacramento that day.
tonybelding
09-11-2007, 12:57 PM
The pace of information from Tesla has slowed quite a bit recently. I think that's understandable. . . They are slated to begin manufacturing Roadsters -- not prototypes, but cars for actual buyers -- within about three weeks, as I understand.
I can just imagine how hectic things must be.
"Who you arrive with is more important than what you arrive in, and arriving by yourself was a non-starter, socially speaking."
I only half-buy this.
I have not yet been to the Oscars but I can imagine that a big star like Dennis Haysbert Dennis Haysbert - Biography (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0371660/bio) or another green actor who does not have a "celebrity" wife or husband might want to make the visual statement by arriving in the Roadster.
That said, if it was me, if my wife would agreed to such a scheme I know she had better be in the car right behind mine or I'm sure it will be no dice.
ABC News: Celebs Go Green at Pre-Oscar Gala (http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2895089)
"The celebrities all arrived to the party in a green car. The hottest new green car is the Tesla, an electric car that has zero emissions and goes from zero to 60 in less than four seconds."
Global Green (http://www.globalgreen.org/press/releases/2007_2_14_oscars.htm)
"Test drive the Green Cars going to the Oscars including the Tesla Roadster, plug-in Hybrids, Compressed Natural Gas Vehicles and more."
GMA Weatherman Touts Celebrities at Green Party: 'If There's No Nature, There's No Us' (http://newsbusters.org/node/10994/print)
Sam Champion: "Now, all the celebs got to this green party in a green car. None of them are hotter though then this Tesla: All electric, that means zero emissions, and, believe it or not, zero to 60 in under four seconds. No gas guzzling limousines here, only the latest green machines."
Who Rode in the Tesla Roadster Oscar Night? | the IDT Energy Blog (http://www.idtenergystore.com/blog/2007/02/28/who-rode-in-the-tesla-roadster-oscar-night/)
"After spending hours on the web trying to figure out which celebrity got to ride in the Tesla Roadster Oscar night, I was relieved to see that my inability to find the answer was not a function of my searching skills – evidently there is scant reporting on green vehicles from the red carpet."
Oscar Auto Beat: Which Green Wheels Hit The Red Carpet? | ecorazzi.com :: the latest in green gossip (http://www.ecorazzi.com/?p=1713)
"The Tesla Roadster: We’re still not sure who had the privilege of riding in this vehicle."
http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autobloggreen.com/media/2007/02/tesla-roadster-at-ocsars.jpg
http://f3.yahoofs.com/ymg/autos_content_landing_pages/autos_content_landing_pages-860580146-1172180805.jpg?ymGN6E9CEpnYAI9y
Tesla Roadster at the Ocsars - AutoblogGreen (http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/02/26/tesla-roadster-at-the-ocsars/)
"I saw the reference to 30 roadsters doing drop offs. Not true - there was not a single one! I'll tell the complete story in a blog on the tesla site in the near future. Posted at 5:49PM (http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/02/26/tesla-roadster-at-the-ocsars/#c3741628) on Feb 26th 2007 by siry (http://www.blogsmith.com/profile/670970/)"
So Daryl said "there was not a single one" (at the Oscars). So did celebs not ride in one because there wasn't one there, or did they not bother to show up because they decided no one wanted to ride in it? I find it hard to believe that they would have no takers. Also, if they went to the trouble of planning to be there, announcing they would be there, and apparently having a car there beforehand, then why back out at the last minute?
Wild theory: fender bender in the parking lot?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQRhmO9ZNXg
It’s The Year of the Car at the Oscars - The Car Connection (http://www.thecarconnection.com/Auto_News/Daily_Auto_News/Its_The_Year_of_the_Car_at_the_Oscars.S173.A11962.html)
The Driving Woman - Green Vehicles Drive Oscars (http://blogs.edmunds.com/women/452)
"I find it hard to believe that they would have no takers."
Exactly. What about the Celebrity singles due to recent breakups.
And even weeding out just the Green folks, there are thousands of attendies that at only celebrities in their disiplines like hair, wardrobe, makeup, sound, editing etc, etc... Were they denied?
It is hard to believe there would be no takers. If Ed Bagley Jr. was invited, I could just see him tooling up to the red carpet on a bike with Rachelle in the Roadster behind him yelling, "Get off the road!"
I know! Green Peace activists saw the hot red sports car and spray painted it. Nah, that would have made great press.
With the Academy Awards show tonight I thought it might be worth revisiting the red carpet debut of the Tesla Roadster. Would Elon lend P1 to George Clooney?
There are at least a dozen cars avalible in California and a few of them have been driven without a Tesla babysitter. Perhaps there could be multiple Roadster's put into Valet mode at the drive up.
GM and BMW have both stepped up the greening of the show this 2008 year Cameron Diaz to skip Tahoe hybrid, arrive at Oscars in BMW H7 - AutoblogGreen (http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/02/23/cameron-diaz-to-skip-tahoe-hybrid-arrive-at-oscars-in-bmw-h7/)
All or nearly all of the 600 cars should be in the hands of owners by next year's Oscars. A single car this year will get more press than dozens next year but coverage both years would not be bad either.
Notice on the "Global Green pre-Oscar party (http://www.globalgreen.org/oscars/)" one of the "Event Co-Chairs" was Elon Musk...
This video (http://www.livevideo.com/video/HollywoodLive/22FB98BA82F14478ABC385B9B92A3EB2/oscar-party-season-begins-with.aspx) (at the end) shows the Aptera on display.
From this press release (http://globalgreen.org/press/releases/2008_02_21_preoscars.htm):
"The party featured the latest in green automobiles, including the Tesla Roadster electric vehicle and the Fisker Karma hybrid electric, as well as cutting edge green home products and design. The event also kicks-off Global Green’s Red Carpet/Green Cars campaign, where celebrities arrive at the Oscars in fuel-efficient vehicles instead of gas-guzzling limousines.
To add to TEGs digging: The Fisker Karma (http://holycrossproject.globalgreen.org/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=776) shots 26 and 27 are of the Fisker, 24 is the Aptera.
So why no pix of a Tesla there?
And I wonder if any of the Karma's are drivable?
Lots of Hybrid SUVs coming...
GM To Bring Fleet Of Giant ‘Green’ Vehicles To Academy Awards // Archives // ecorazzi.com :: the latest in green gossip (http://www.ecorazzi.com/2008/02/14/gm-to-bring-fleet-of-giant-green-vehicles-to-academy-awards/)
SByer
02-24-2008, 08:20 PM
SUVs are, have always been, and will always be lame. In all but the most narrow of circumstances, they are more dangerous, carry less, and are less efficient than a station wagon or sedan. Let's ignore everything we know about center of gravity, weight, and space to create a compensating-for-something vehicle - oh, and so you can feel good about yourself, we'll put hybrid junk in it so it'll get half the mileage of a good wagon instead of just a third.
Greenwashing sucks.
Cool video TEG. Nothing is sexier to me than a Green good looking woman (except perhaps an Orion female)!
SUVs race the Prius to Oscar green carpet | Entertainment | Reuters (http://in.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idINIndia-32104620080223)
I went down to the Oscar red carpet last night. I can see why the Roadster does not work as a drive up. There is the limo entrance that is of course perpendicular to the red carpet so if you were to drive up with a two seater there would be no one to take the car away if both people get out. About 50 feet away is a Valet drop off but it's away from any serious camera action. So you could do the Valet thing but noone would know who you are or what you are (were) driving. Paking in a lot by yourself would be even more useless.
Each ticket gets one guest so if the atendee does want to go alone the Roadster with a (limo) driver works. They only get one limo pass so having the wife / partner in the following limo doeas not work.
Saw George Clooney and Ed Begley. Did not see them arrive though Eco Limo takes a lot of the Green celebs.
@vfx - that is exactly right. We were going to loan Scott Burns a Roadster last year but then we learned about all the constraints and at the end of the day it would be him driving to a parking lot which is pointless! Things were a lot more straightforward in pre-9/11 days but since then security is very tight on arrivals.
Wow! Mystery solved at last!
Ahh... the Oscars again.... :smile:
Star Turn: Audi and Tesla Motors Expected To Make High-Profile Academy Awards Appearances (http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=142310)
The buzz throughout Hollywood is that such megastars as Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney, Matt Damon and Brad Pitt may be driving their Teslas to the Oscar ceremony. Pitt has been nominated for an award in the actor in a leading role category for his performance in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. But Tesla Motors is skittish about confirming who will show up at the red carpet in a $109,000 Tesla Roadster (http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FirstDrives/articleId=124716).
"Your question about the Oscars actually is not a simple one to answer," responded Rachel Konrad, Tesla Motors senior communications manager, in an e-mailed response to an Inside Line query. "Tesla doesn't disclose its customer list; many Roadster owners are celebrities and high-net-worth individuals who don't necessarily want the world to know what kind of car they or their family members drive. We need to respect their privacy and security.
"That said, many of our high-profile customers have been very outspoken advocates for Tesla — and, as you can imagine, we certainly would never stop them from raving about their cars! So although we don't actually disclose who our customers are, I can say that all of the people you mention here have been huge advocates."
Maybe this year's organizers can be smarter about the valet service so that celebs can show up in their Roadsters with a date, particularly since now they their own cars. It would be quite a PR coup for Tesla. Heck, I'd rather pull up in some snazzy sports car than the run-of-the-mill limo. Might be harder for my date to exit the vehicle gracefully, however.
Kevin Harney
02-18-2009, 07:02 PM
Might be harder for my date to exit the vehicle gracefully, however.
That is when you really need to be a gentleman and open the door for her :biggrin: Though Elon did lower those door sills
Umm... that goes with out saying. It still would be a challenge to not look awkward. I takes some practice.
.
Kevin Harney
02-18-2009, 07:25 PM
Sometimes it seems that nothing needs to go without saying in this day and age. Most people have lost their manners. ( I am certainly not implying that you did Doug ) Just the ME generation type attitude.
graham
02-18-2009, 07:37 PM
I have found that exiting the Roadster is much less awkward when the top is down. I wonder if this would be too detrimental to people's hair for the Oscars.
I hope various Oscar attendees and their dates get to practice entering and exiting the Roadster a few times before doing it in front of the camera.
I'm not going this year but unless they radically change the layout it will be pointless to drive a Roadster. If the Oscar planners plan to "Go Green (http://www.oscars.org/science-technology/scienceofmovies/realgreen.html)" like some of these Hollywood events have been then they might go ahead and make the drive up part of the "show."
LA is has a serious car culture so that could shift things as well.
Check out how many street get closed to the public on the day of the show:
http://oscar.com/media/2009/pdf/StreetClosures.pdf
The cars get driven by valet to an undisclosed location. When I go to dinner at a fancy eatery I always hate the pressure of having to quickly hop out of the car. Add to hiding sunglasses, grabbing jacket, and generally cleaning up my carmess now add the process of reprogramming the car to valet mode while a thousand cameras are pointed at you. How hard is it?
As for the hair thing, high profile celebs could always switch cars a block away
James
02-22-2009, 07:13 PM
Did anyone spot a Tesla Roadster at the Oscars? I was recording a few different channels with red carpet coverage, but I have not seen anything yet.
This turned out to be a no show:
Just another article saying there would be Teslas. (http://www.allcarselectric.com/blog/1018739_tesla-roadsters-taking-in-the-oscars)
Global green had nothing and even ecorazzi was a bust.
Found nothing on Tesla here:
Global Green USA (http://globalgreen.org/news/157)
Toyota Hoping Big Stars Hit The Oscars In Next-Generation Prius // Archives // ecorazzi.com :: the latest in green gossip (http://www.ecorazzi.com/2009/02/20/toyota-hoping-big-stars-hit-the-oscars-in-next-generation-prius/#comments)
Velvetpark - Dyke Culture in Bloom Blog Archive Eco Maniac: How Green Does Your Oscar Glow? (http://www.velvetparkmedia.com/2009/02/23/eco-maniac-how-green-does-your-oscar-glow/)
Global Green USA (http://globalgreen.org/press/89)
edit:
This article (http://www.ecorazzi.com/2009/02/18/is-the-2009-academy-awards-show-ignoring-the-environment/)
sort of says that green has gone undercover. Others say the economy is a reason not to be flashy this year.