How many Roadsters will be produced?

[S-2000 Roadster]

Yeah, yeah. I'll believe there are "no more order slots available" when someone actually tries to write a check for the car and they say no. Like all car sales, don't believe what you hear from the "dealer".

I'm not saying that we can trust Tesla Motors to stick to the same story for any stretch of time, but they certainly said "no" to my check for a custom-order Roadster in the middle of May. That's after they first announced the end of production and watched the available slots sell like mad. They obviously took note of the demand and found a way to provide. Not only did they find a way to milk $200,000 each out of 5 people, but they found a way to convince Lotus to cough up more gliders.

I see no reason why there would be any advantage to Tesla for anyone there to say that custom orders were unavailable at the time of my purchase. Therefore I believe that there really were "no more order slots available" at that particular time. Unfortunately for me, the period of unavailability seemed to last less than a month, on the order of a week or two.

One thing I note is that this new batch of 100 custom-order slots is not selling nearly as fast as the last 'final' VINs. I have a feeling that they've hit the actual limit of demand. Either there are many more people willing to buy Roadsters who are pissed because of the $200K 'final' bait-and-switch (regardless of whether the switch was intentional or not) and therefore not buying despite their desire, or there just aren't that many people willing to buy up the remaining 50/100 (or 30, or whatever actually remains in custom-order land).

Good news is that two new Roadster 2.5 models were in the Seattle store today - just delivered with plastic still on the seats and ready for their new owners. One goes to someone buying a second Roadster.

I also noticed that the beautiful black Sport at the Seattle store has been changed to a less-interesting interior color, and I no longer lust after it. I guess it's really hard to predict what will sell in this market, and Tesla Motors are doing the best they can to adjust.

 

[3lectronica]

I wonder if the last 5 of these final 50 US custom orders will also sell for $200,000 and come in another pair of exclusive colors. Then again, I wonder if there will be another "unexpected" negotiation after August that brings in even more.

Don't be silly... Tesla pushed the final 5 cars back after the additional allocation was obtained. I asked my rep and he said that there will only be 5 special edition Roadsters and they will be the last ones produced.

 

[vfx]

How long will they last?

The primary goal of the Inside Sales Advisor is to sell Roadsters. The Inside Sales Advisor will accomplish this by contacting marketing generated leads, developing the lead through continued phone follow up and initiating the close process either on the phone or by directing the prospect to a store for a test drive. If a prospect has been directed to a store, the Inside Sales Advisor will team with the Store Sales Advisor to close the sale. An implicit responsibility of the Inside Sales Representative is to conduct business dealings in a way that creates a superior prospect experience that represents the Tesla brand values.



Responsibilities:

· Achieve a minimum of 4 sales per month

http://tbe.taleo.net/NA7/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=TESLA&cws=1&rid=2405

 

[strider]

The next version of the Elise/Exige which the Roadster currently shares production lines. However, I'd think they could figure out a way to continue to supply Tesla if they really wanted to, or if Tesla really wanted them to. My guess is Tesla is ready to move on and focus on the Model S, though I'd think it would be preferable to continue to sell their flagship (and only) vehicle until they're actually shipping the next vehicle.

I'm sure for enough money Lotus could make it work but then they'd be running up against the end of the airbag exemption. So either Lotus' price is too high or the airbag exemption deadline too difficult to fight. I'm fine w/ them focusing on Model S and maybe working on tweaks for the Roadsters they've sold (upgraded PEM, Sport motor/PEM upgrades, etc).

 

[3lectronica]

Got an email this evening that there are no more custom orders available. Roughly 50 "spec" cars which include store demos. Seems that the Roadsters are selling well!

 

[S-2000 Roadster]

Interesting. That must be 50 spec cars worldwide, since there are probably fewer than 50 in the U.S.

Strangely, the Tesla Motors online inventory went up recently from 28 to 31 cars. However, since I've already found examples where known vehicles were not listed publicly, this could just be a matter of the database catching up to actual inventory. ... or it could be people backing out of purchases, etc.

EDIT: Duh, the three new ones are all higher VINs listed as In Transit to Store. #1368, #1369 and #1372. I don't quite understand how spec cars could be turning up during this end-of-production buying frenzy - I would have assumed that every new arrival these days would be a custom car with an owner already. Maybe they squeezed through during the window when custom orders previously disappeared. What a mess.

FYI: Thunder Gray is available again, and I'm glad to see they have two more Fusion Red!

 

[3lectronica]

I would guess that Tesla continues to produce "spec" cars, alongside the custom orders so that there is a car or two in showrooms across the country.

 

[vfx]

I would guess that Tesla continues to produce "spec" cars, alongside the custom orders so that there is a car or two in showrooms across the country.

Or maybe they start buying used ones and "refurbish them".

 

[richkae]

Has Tesla sold all the validation prototypes?
What they will do when they run completely out of cars? I wonder if they will try to purchase cars on the used market so they have something in the showroom they can sell until the Model S is available to sell.

 

[smorgasbord]

Or maybe they start buying used ones and "refurbish them".

At least one used Roadster showed up on Tesla's inventory page last month.

 

[S-2000 Roadster]

I would guess that Tesla continues to produce "spec" cars, alongside the custom orders so that there is a car or two in showrooms across the country.

They can only produce cars so fast with their current method, and I would imagine that if they're selling custom orders at a higher rate than they can produce them then they would not be making spec cars because that would force paying customers to wait longer. Not to mention that there is a much higher risk in making a spec car that might not sell when they could make a custom car that they've already sold. 2,500 cars in 5 years is less than the 100 per month that they predicted a few years back. I was told that sales die down in winter months, and that's why they made the spec cars. But in the summer - especially this end-of-production frenzy - I would bet that they're making 100% custom orders, and only end up with unsold cars when a buyer has financial troubles.

Has Tesla sold all the validation prototypes?

Good question. Can they even sell them legally? I ask because there might be a difference in federal standards compliance, although I have no idea whether the VP VINs are any different than other Roadster 1.x models. For that matter, was there ever a Roadster 1.0 sold? Is there a thread here which defines Roadster 2.25 (seen in the Tesla Motors inventory in May, at least) or other mysterious model numbers?

At least one used Roadster showed up on Tesla's inventory page last month.

When I was younger I was surprised to see used cars on the lots of a competing manufacturer, as if there was some rule that nobody else should be allowed to sell their car. But asking around it became clear that people would trade in one brand for another, meaning that the dealer had used cars from their (less successful) competitors. If Tesla is selling their own Roadster used, then are they all trade-ins? Do owners go back to Tesla Motors for first right of refusal on buy-backs? How many used Roadsters have been sold by third-party used car dealers (versus person-to-person or back to Tesla)?

 

[TEG]

...Good question. Can they even sell them legally? I ask because there might be a difference in federal standards compliance, although I have no idea whether the VP VINs are any different than other Roadster 1.x models. For that matter, was there ever a Roadster 1.0 sold?...

The first maybe 15 or so of the "Signature 100" Roadsters were sold as 1.0
But they offered a free retrofit to 1.5 when it became available.
And word is that all of the production 1.0s got upgraded to 1.5s long ago.

The VPs had a "V" in their VIN #.
But I heard of more than one time when VPs were sold as used to "retail" customers.
So it does seem they were able to sell the old VPs.

 

[smorgasbord]

And word is that all of the production 1.0s got upgraded to 1.5s long ago.

I love that Tesla is using software version numbering for their cars.

But, it seems to me that what they call 1.5 really should have been 2.0. It was a major drivetrain overhaul with:

An improved inverter (PEM) to deliver higher motor current
An improved motor to handle higher current and torque
A new single-speed gearbox
A new motor to gearbox coupler and an improved motor cable
Upgraded vehicle firmware

That from Tesla's blog

To me that's a version 2.0.

 

[TEG]

You only bump the major version number when you add the next major feature from the roadmap... Not when you have to do an unexpected "mega-patch"!

 

[Mycroft]

FYI, I was just notified by my sales rep that all custom orders in the US have been sold out and that they're likely to be sold out of pre-config Roadsters within the next two months.

 

[Doug_G]

FYI, I was just notified by my sales rep that all custom orders in the US have been sold out and that they're likely to be sold out of pre-config Roadsters within the next two months.

The site now shows just 28 pre-config Roadsters. Presumably there may be some more that are not shown yet.

They show "VIN: 0848 - Roadster Sport 2.25". Interesting. Does that mean my 919 is also a 2.25???

 

[smorgasbord]

They show "VIN: 0848 - Roadster Sport 2.25". Interesting. Does that mean my 919 is also a 2.25???

I was at Menlo Monday. Here's a shot of 0848 that show the 2.5 front end body work:

Here's the VIN:

There was also a red car that had a card on it "China Car - Keep Inside."

BTW, I'm updating the Countdown: thread every few days or so.

 

[Doug_G]

I was at Menlo Monday. Here's a shot of 0848 that show the 2.5 front end body work:
View attachment 2240

Ah... so a "2.25" is a 2.0 that's been upgraded with the 2.5 external appearance.

 

[NigelM]

From Tesla Q2 announcement:

As of June 30, we have delivered about 1,840 Roadsters worldwide....Given the strong demand for our Roadsters, we increased the program size to 2,500 Roadsters, up from 2,400. We expect to build all remaining Roadsters by January 2012. We plan to sell the last of the North American Roadsters by early next year and continue selling in Europe and Asia until inventory is fully depleted in 2012.

 

[Doug_G]

From Tesla Q2 announcement:

The following sentence was interesting:

This transition is planned to mirror the geographic roll-out of deliveries for Model S, which will begin in North America, Tesla Roadster in Japan followed by Europe and then Asia. As we wind down our selling efforts on the Roadster in the United States through the balance of this year, we plan to transition our sales team to more active support of Model S.

There has been some speculation on why Roadster sales were being terminated in North America first. This explanation actually makes sense.