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Yes, I finally got my car back late last week. The bodywork was done at Chilton's Auto Body in San Carlos, CA, where Tesla had the bodywork done after they crashed the car the first time... Much of the work this time was done at Tesla (replacing the battery, for example). I believe that several...

Can it be repaired I think so. Though the door was smashed, it still opened fine. The frame seemed undamaged, though an alignment test will tell for sure. There is a big foam block on the side, just behind the door and behind the rocker panel, and this seems to have taken most of the impact (as...

What happened No big story really. I was driving home from work in the rain and the dark, going up highway 84. I was maybe 4th in a line of 5 cars, going about 15 mph. The next thing I knew, my glasses flew off my face and the car spun around and off the road from an impact just behind the...

I built 15 RFMC's, so I guess there are actually 15 Founder's Series RFMCs including my own. They are all serial numbered, though I did not always put a serial number sticker on the bottom. But every unit I built has the serial number written in black pen on the label of the Lambda power supply...

Anyone interested in the design of the RFMC, take a look at my blog Tesla Founders Blog. I explain a bit about how it works, give you full schematics, and source code. Our friend TEG has already pointed out a handful of typos and spelling errors in my comments! I am sure there are more, and I...

Great. Hopefully, all Tesla owners who have received a car have read that topic and applied for their rebates. As previously mentioned, I am no longer participating in the Tesla Owner's forum. Darryl Siry sent me a note saying that my ban would be lifted provided that I only write nice things...

We just got approved for a $5,000 rebate check from CARB - an incentive program that Tesla never mentioned to us. Read about it at my blog: www.teslafounders.com. This incentive program also applies to other EVs and to natural gas vehicles as well.

Unfortunately, it takes extraordinary action to charge to 50% - the "normal" charge takes to to well above 80%. Also, it kind of takes away the point of the fancy battery pack if you only charge it half way. Part of the point of a 200+ mile driving range is that you don't have to worry about...

TEG, It's been more than a year since I was relieved of control at Tesla. Lots and lots of technical decisions have been made since then. When I left my post as CEO, we were not yet ready to ship the car; there were many technical issues left to resolve. Were I still there, I would have...

Zak's explanation on the Owner's Forum is more detailed than the explanations any Tesla employee gave me, though I did ask why the pump behaved as it did. Note that I get "special treatment" at the Owner's Forum - Darryl Siry told me that any negative comments that I post there will be deleted...

Edmunds also has a funny definition of the word "courtesy" as in "photo courtesy of teslafounders.com". What they mean here is that they scraped the image from my website without even asking me...

When I left, the engineers were still refining the control algorithms. At that stage, we all knew that we still had a lot of work to do before the car was ready for prime time. Obviously, I cannot be specific. :cool:

Totally. I hope they let the pump rest with the 1.5 drive train!

Have you ever noticed the sound of a water pump running in the back of a parked Tesla? It runs pretty much all the time, and makes the coolant gurgle in its overflow tank in the back of the car. I got curious about it and did a few experiments to determine how much energy this little pump...

Guess what? Making a decent, production electric car is REALLY HARD. Although $40K will push the Volt out of the price range for many consumers, it is still a major, major advance for electric cars and will drive the auto industry in the direction it desperately needs to go. Even at $40K, I...

Sorry, I haven't been following this thread. My car was in the shop to fix a few things. They replaced the satellite radio module (!) to fix both my iPod and iPhone problems. Both work correctly now. Note that I am not a satellite radio subscriber... And I still think the radio sucks - the user...

SpaceX loses Scotty Spaceflight's not easy: Space X loses "Scotty" (and a rocket)

Tony, I am also sorry to hear that you canceled your order, though I certainly understand. If you ever get the urge to drive one again sometime and find yourself in the SF Bay Area, let me know and we can go for a drive. For my own part, I am happy to be driving my Roadster - Carolyn and I...

I would love to come. But if my being there spoils it for Tesla, I also would not want to be the spoiler. Maybe I can join the rest of you for an after-party someplace off the Tesla premises.:frown:

No, I am no race driver.

Yeah or on a manual sphisorinctum thingamabobometer. You see 'em all the time.:rolleyes:

And the answer is...

Sorry I missed you, Jon! I would have stopped had you yelled :wink:

Racer X maybe?

Marc didn't order a Roadster - he's just not a 2-seater convertible kind of guy. Especially so now that he has 3 kids! Marc is much more a Whitestar customer. Perhaps when that car comes out it will still appeal to him. But Marc was the first person after Carolyn and me to drive mine. And...

We really struggled as to where to put a cupholder in the Roadster's small interior. Marc was adamant that we had at least one - he often stops at Peets for coffee on the way to work: where would you put a cup of hot coffee when you are driving alone, he asked. My old Z3 has no cupholder and it...

There is one cupholder hidden away in the Roadster. I will post pictures, but before then, who can tell me where it is? Pop quiz :tongue:

I'm totally stressed about the stickers. I will probably decide when the stickers actually arrive. Why do they need so many big, ugly stickers? Why not a window sticker? Or a different-colored license plate?

Hmm. If it's at the Tesla store, odds are I will not be invited. :frown:

The last time I was in the UK, I asked Barney Hatt for suggestions for a custom paint job for my car. (It had become apparent that a clear coat-over-carbon fiber was impossible, and I still wanted something unique.) I asked Barney for a few suggestions that would push me outside my tame fashion...

The way it works here in California is that I have to wait for my normal license plates to arrive - Tesla applies for them on the day I receive the car. Once they arrive, I get to go stand in line at the DMV to hand them back and transfer my custom plates to my Tesla. This will be the subject of...

And before any of you try to get me busted, Carolyn knows all about the beautiful woman in the Roadster with me in David's photo. That's Roberta Vesprimi. :rolleyes: The car's a babe magnet, what can I say?:biggrin:

I'll be posting again this week over at Tesla Founders Blog, with more photos of my car. I will include some detail shots for you - if there's anything in particular that you'd like to see (that does not involve disassembly:eek:), let me know there.

Note that Venturi's own press releases said that they intended to produce only about 10 fetishes, total.

No, not yet.

You guys are having WAY too much fun with this :smile:

No definitive delivery date yet.

Good job finding me! Look for me also at the Marin County Fair next Thursday evening.

No, not yet.

I had hoped to bring mine there.:frown:

I guess Darryl didn't ban himself from the Forum for that infraction either. :cool:

11:00 am June 3, Southbound on US 101 in San Jose. So I am told.

As many of you know, Tesla Motors runs a "private" forum for Tesla owners, part of the package of services that comprise Roadster Club membership. The purpose of this forum is to allow owners to talk among themselves about their experiences with Tesla and their Roadsters. I do read this forum...

More lawyers You have to wonder what will be the impact of adding another lawyer to Tesla's board. Will they become even more litigious? Note that Board Member Ira Ehrenpreis worked for a while as a lawyer at Wilson Sonsini.

Marc and I appointed Laurie shortly after we founded the company. We knew her from our stint at Packet Design, where she was part of the Marketing team. I was impressed by the connections she had in Silicon Valley - connections that served Tesla well in its fund raising efforts. You can imagine...

As I have commented elsewhere, I think these lawsuits are a shame. I don't think they are good for either company (especially in their fragile, young positions) and I don't think they are good at all for the whole EV field. I certainly understand Fisker's desire to protect his reputation (heck...

I hired DS.

Yes, as well as the other two documents on the AutoblogGreen site - two letters that Tesla sent (while I was CEO) to all paid customers. That certificate and its accompanying letter were all that customers received when they sent Tesla $100,000. Note that our former VP of Sales wanted a lot...

This all started because Carolyn demanded that I find a way to keep the ground squirrels from sneaking up behind her and sniffing her feet when she went outside. For some reason, she screamed rather loudly when this happened.:rolleyes: The good news is that we are animal lovers and no ground...

Some More History The timing of my departure is interesting. I was informed that I was being replaced as CEO the day before my talk to the Motor Press Guild - the beginning of Tesla's rollout in the the automotive magazines. I was informed that I was to be entirely out of the company the week...