Differences in roadster versions

[SByer]

I've got the black directionals on mine, for example. Mine came with the silver spoked because the black ones hadn't gotten in yet - my delivery was early on in the switch over / cost increase. The initial spoked gunmetal color was an accident that looked good, so a number of owners kept them. I might have had I the chance, and had I known what I know now - the black directionals look super fantastic after a wash/wax, but quickly gather dust and almost become gunmetal colored themselves (even in that state, I far prefer them on my car over the silver ones).

Yes, this is all vouja des.

 

[strider]

And I have a 2.5 with the earlier forged wheels. My wife didn't like how shiny the newer forged wheels were while the older ones were more brushed instead of polished. Tesla had spares so they swapped them for us.

Then you have the 2.25's which are 2.0's with the 2.5 front and rear fascia's and perhaps the 2.5 sound dampening.

So yeah, the joy of a boutique manufacturer is that they are willing to do one-off's for their customers. Though it makes specific model identification (aside from the big stuff) difficult.

 

[daniel]

Some of the EPs, VPs, Founders and very early sig 100 started out with 1.0 drivetrain, but got upgraded/retrofitted with 1.5 as soon as it was available.
The original 1.0 idea called for a 2 speed gearbox. The 1.5 "redo" switched to single speed gearbox, but a vastly improved PEM that provided enough more low end torque to make up for the loss of a lower gear.

Ah ha! The two-speed tranny. That was one of several reasons I decided not to get a Roadster way back when. I thought it was a very bad idea. They were actually having trouble with it already, and in the prototype they gave me a ride in they had disabled low gear. (The seats in the prototype were another reason, and the loudness of the cooling system was another. All that was greatly improved later, though after a hard drive on a hot day mine is pretty loud as well.)

 

[wiztecy]

I'm curious in the cooling differences between the 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 releases. In the car cover discussion Eric indicated that the 1.5 had smaller cooling capacity for the battery pack as compared to the 2.x models. Any technical details on this?

I'm very happy on the gunmetal rim "mistake", it really looks good on my radiant red as well as with other color schemes like Eric's.

 

[jordanthompson]

Hasn't all this been done before?

I've got to believe this is true... I wanted to know how many sports were made. This should be in a wiki or something... yeah, I did check Wikipedia ;-)

 

[TEG]

I wanted to know how many sports were made...

Just over 500 total for North America, I think...

 

[jordanthompson]

Just over 500 total for North America, I think...

I'm dieing to know where you got this from. Is it on the web somewhere?

Also-your avatar and handle are hilarious!

 

[TEG]

I have had a hobby of trying to keep track of all the North American Roadsters that were produced.

 

[jordanthompson]

How do you do this? Where do you get your data?

 

[TEG]

I wrote a program to generate hypothetical VINs, and painstakingly typed them into Carfax one by one to see if there were any records for each VIN.
That way, I could tell which Roadsters got registered and which variations (sport/non-sport, Canadian/USA) actually got produced.
I also have a list of a few dozen VINs which never got registered but from the sequence should have been produced. I am guessing that those ones either got shipped overseas, or someone just put it in their own personal "museum" without ever registering the car.

 

[smorgasbord]

Hey TEG, any chance of rolling up your Roadster VIN information (at least for the US) into some public database for all to access? I know you have at least one photo of most of them.

It would be useful information for people looking to buy used Roadsters. As an owner myself, it'd be interesting to see which are still on the road, etc.

 

[jbadger]

Hey TEG, any chance of rolling up your Roadster VIN information (at least for the US) into some public database for all to access? I know you have at least one photo of most of them.

It would be useful information for people looking to buy used Roadsters. As an owner myself, it'd be interesting to see which are still on the road, etc.

Could use the new ".directory" TLD. http://teslaroadster.directory $17 on namecheap.com

 

[Marlot]

Ok good so far, here are some specifics, please confirm or correct as needed:

Early Versions
Engineering Prototypes 5
Validation Prototypes 17

Version 1.5
Founders series 27
Signature series 100
Production series 400

Version 2.0 VIN#'s 501-?
New Motor design
New PEM design
Introduction of Sport model
VDS moved from left to center console
Push button shifting replaced lever shift knob
Replaced tach meter with kW power meter.

Version 2.5 Vin#'s ?-2500
Double DIN dashboard NAV upgrade option, 7" touchscreen display with back-up camera
A new look, which includes a new front fascia with diffusing vents, and rear diffuser
Directional forged wheels available in both silver and black
New seats with improved comfort, larger more supportive bolsters and a new lumbar support system
Power control hardware that enables spirited driving in exceptionally hot climates
Improved interior sound reduction including new front fender liner material to make the cabin quieter
PEM improvements for cooling

Roadsters shipped by Geo
North America 1464
Europe 799 ???
Asia 237 ???

My Roadster Sport is VIN #0168 (shipped to Belgium in January 2010) has
Push button shifting replaced lever shift knob
Replaced tach meter with kW power meter.

 

[TEG]

Push button shift was introduced in 2010 with all the 2.x Roadsters.
The lever was only on the 2008 1.5s before then.
The sequence for NorthAmerica was different then for Europe.

All of the USA "Signature 100" (NA VIN 1-100) were 2008 1.5s with the lever.
In USA, last 1.5 Roadster (with shift lever) was 5YJRE......000500

In Europe, the "Signature 250" introduced with 2010 2.0, so all the "proper" European Roadsters have the button shift.
So "EU Signature 250 VIN 1" already has the buttons. Starting with SFZRE2B3XA3000001

But Europe previously saw some small number of 2008 1.5 "VPs" and gray market imports, so there were a limited number of them found with shift levers before the proper production started.

 

[TEG]

Ok good so far, here are some specifics, please confirm or correct as needed:

Early Versions
Engineering Prototypes 5
Validation Prototypes 17

Version 1.5
Founders series 27
Signature series 100
Production series 400

Version 2.0 VIN#'s 501-?
...

2006:
10 Engineering Prototypes

2007:
14 Validation Prototypes

2008:
18 Validation Prototypes
27 Founders' Series
100 Signature 100
384 Regular Production

2010:
~1169 Regular Production 2.x (North America)
~480 Regular Production 2.x (EU / APAC)

2011:
~294 Regular Production 2.x (North America)
~456 Regular Production 2.x (EU / APAC)

2012:
~74 Regular Production 2.x (EU / APAC)