Roadster Production Countdown

[doug]

And there appears to be no way of charging these special editions.

Looks like they took an image of the RHD version and mirrored it, thus the missing charging port (since it's on the other side). Also the side repeater on the copper/atomic red car has been clumsily erased out.

 

[TEG]

... For example, they could build a few Roadster battery packs with the more recent cells. A Roadster with a 300 mile or better range would be awesome, and would be a great promotion for the Model S.

Why just a few? They should offer it as an option to all Roadster owners in coming years.
The old packs will wear out eventually, and hopefully the replacements Tesla offers will be improved.
Something with the same kWh, power output, but lighter weight would be nice.

The best way to "soup up" a car : "add lightness."

 

[doug]

Why just a few?

If you read what I said in context, I was talking specifically about these 5 or so "Final Edition" Roadsters, to make them truly special and to show what can be done (and since price apparently is no object). I would think it is something they could do now, leveraging the testing they've been doing for the Model S.

After a while, certainly offer an improved pack as an upgrade to all Roadsters when it becomes cheaper to do so.

 

[Doug_G]

(Both are just mock-ups I assume.)

Obviously - you'll note that there is no charge port on these cars...

 

[S-2000 Roadster]

Um, the $200,000 special edition was a last-minute opportunistic price increase to respond to market demand. As soon as Tesla Motors announced the end of U.S. production this summer, suddenly everyone came out of the woodwork to buy them as investments or because they had just been procrastinating (me). It's no coincidence that the 'special' options are all existing available options, including custom color (TM just selected the two colors to minimize their costs).

They really don't have time to design a different battery pack that is reliable, considering such changes have not been tried in a shipping roadster and it would require firmware development, too. The special edition is all about maximum profit for minimal effort, with a nod towards making the cars at least look different so the suckers paying $200k have bragging rights. ;-)

 

[strider]

Grey wheels!?!?!?! Must....Have....Them.... I had Competition Grey wheels on my LeMans Blue Metallic Corvette (bascially the same as Twilight Blue on my Roadster) and it looked fantastic. I would LOVE grey wheels. Anyone know if they're just painting or powdercoating the polished forged wheels?

 

[TEG]

If you read what I said in context, I was talking specifically about these 5 or so "Final Edition" Roadsters, to make them truly special and to show what can be done...

Yes, I know you were suggesting a desirable, "do-able" bonus feature that would justify extreme markup for something special.
My response, was in effect "if they go to the trouble of engineering something like that it really ought to be made available to the masses right away".
Keeping something fundamental like that as a limited availability "only for the few" option would be a shame.
On the other hand, all the high markup "bling" they want to add to maximize profits on the last few makes a lot of sense.
Custom paint... Custom stripes... Yep. I wonder if the badging will just say "Sport" or if they wanted to do more limited availability cosmetics and have a new badge like "Special Edition" or "Limited" or some-such as other auto makers have done.

 

[TEG]

They could sell some special editions through Neiman Marcus...

2010 Jaguar XJL Neiman Marcus Sells out in 4 Hours
100 Chevy Camaro Neiman Marcus Special Edition Sold Out in 3 Minutes - Car News and Used Car Reviews on Ploong.com

 

[smorgasbord]

There was a time in May when custom ordering was closed, but it's supposedly open again. From what I know, this was not intentional on Tesla's part.

The SF Chronicle just ran the story, so I can explain. The original deal with Lotus was for 2400 gliders. They just amended that to 2500, so there are an additional 100 cars to be made and sold. That re-opened the custom orders for the US.

But, that window is closing fast.