Designer

Tesla Motors

The Tesla Roadster is a battery electric vehicle (BEV) sports car produced by the electric car firm Tesla Motors in California.

 

The Roadster was the first highway-capable all-electric vehicle in serial production for sale in the United States in the modern era. Since 2008 Tesla has sold more than 2,350 Roadsters in 31 countries through June 2012. Tesla began producing right-hand-drive Roadsters in early 2010. The Roadster has a base price of US$109,000 in the United States, GB£86,950 in the United Kingdom, A$191,888 in Australia, and €84,000 in continental Europe.[5] As an electric vehicle, the Roadster also qualifies for several government incentives in many nations.

 

The Roadster is the first production automobile to use lithium-ion battery cells and the first production BEV (all-electric) to travel more than 200 miles (320 km) per charge.[8] The world distance record of 501 km (311 mi) for a production electric car on a single charge was set by a Roadster on October 27, 2009, during the Global Green Challenge in outback Australia, in which it averaged a speed of 25 mph (40 km/h). In March 2010, a Tesla Roadster became the first electric vehicle to win the Monte Carlo Alternative Energy Rally and the first to win any Federation Internationale de l'Automobile-sanctioned championship when a Roadster driven by former Formula One driver Érik Comas beat 96 competitors for range, efficiency and performance in the three-day, nearly 1,000-kilometer (620 mi) challenge.

 

According to the U.S. EPA, the Roadster can travel 244 miles (393 km) on a single charge of its lithium-ion battery pack, and can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 km/h) in 3.7 or 3.9 seconds depending on the model. The Roadster's efficiency, as of September 2008, was reported as 120 mpgge (2.0 L/100 km). It uses 135 Wh/km (21.7 kW•h/100 mi, 13.5 kW•h/100 km or 490 kJ/km) battery-to-wheel, and has an efficiency of 88% on average.

 

Tesla produced the Roadster until January 2012, when its supply of Lotus Elisegliders ran out, as its contract with Lotus Cars for 2,500 gliders expired at the end of 2011. Tesla stopped taking orders for the Roadster in the U.S. market in August 2011. The next generation is expected to be introduced in 2014 and will not be based on the Lotus gliders but instead on a shortened version of the architecture developed for the Tesla Model S.

 

Featuring new options and enhanced components, the 2012 Tesla Roadster is being sold in limited numbers only in Europe, Asia and Australia. Tesla's U.S. exemption for not having special two-stage passenger airbags expired for cars made after the end of 2011 so the last Roadsters cannot be sold in the American market. Also a total of 15 Final Edition Roadsters were produced to close the manufacturing cycle of Tesla's first electric car. As of June 2012 the car is still on sale in Europe and Asia until inventories are depleted.

 

History

The car was officially revealed to the public on July 19, 2006, in Santa Monica, California, at a 350-person invitation-only event held in Barker Hangar at Santa Monica Airport.

 

A Roadster running at the Goodwood circuit. The Tesla Roadster is increasingly popular on circuits throughout Europe, including the UK's Crystal Palace.

 

The San Francisco International Auto Show, held on November 18–26, 2006, was the Tesla Roadster's first auto show. Tesla Roadsters have been featured in numerous subsequent auto shows, including international shows in Los Angeles, Detroit and Frankfurt.

 

The first Tesla Roadster was delivered in February 2008 to Tesla co-founder, chairman and product architect Elon Musk. The company produced 500 similar vehicles through June 2009. In July 2009, Tesla began production of its 2010 model-year Roadster—the first major product upgrade since Tesla began production in 2008.

Simultaneously, Tesla began producing the Roadster Sport, the first derivative of Tesla's proprietary, patented powertrain. The car accelerates from 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 km/h) in 3.7 seconds, compared to 3.9 seconds for the standard Roadster. Changes for the 2010 model-year cars include:

 

• An upgraded interior and push-button gear selector, including "executive interior" of exposed carbon fiber and premium leather, and clear-coat carbon fiber body accents.

 

• Locking, push-button glove box wrapped in leather.

 

• A centrally mounted video display screen to monitor real-time data, including estimated range, power regenerated, and the number of barrels of oil saved. This convenient screen is visible to the driver and passenger.

 

• Adjustable, custom-tuned suspension. The shock absorbers' response and anti-sway bars are manually adjustable.

 

• More powerful and immediate heating, ventilation and air-conditioning.
 

• More efficient motor and hand-wound stator. The new motor generates more kilowatts per amp—more mechanical power—than the predecessor.

 

• A suite of sound-deadening measures to dramatically reduce noise, vibration and harshness. For instance, engineers added pellets to a member of the chassis side rail. These pellets expand by 50 times original volume during the adhesive heating cycle to eliminate rattles.

 

All of these features, except for the motor were available either as standard or as add-on option for the non-sport model.

 

Beginning mid-March 2010, Tesla Motors, in an effort to show off the practicality of its electric cars, sent one of its Roadsters around the world. Starting at the Geneva auto show, the Roadster completed its journey upon its arrival in Paris on September 28, 2010.

 

In July 2010, Tesla introduced the "Roadster 2.5", the latest update of the Roadster.New features in Roadster 2.5 include:

 

• A new look, which includes a new front fascia with diffusing vents, and rear diffuser reflecting the future of Tesla design

 

• 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

 

• An optional 7" touchscreen display with back-up camera

 

• Improved interior sound reduction including new front fender liner material make the cabin quieter

 

The Roadster was the most expensive single prize ever offered to date on The Price Is Right, in a playing of Golden Road on April 22, 2010, in celebration of Earth Day. It was not won—according to the show, its price was US$112,845.

 

A Roadster is used as a promotional tool for sustainable energy.

 

Development

The Roadster was developed by Tesla Motors to mass produce AC Propulsion's tzero concept car. The production idea was conceived by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning who incorporated Tesla Motors in Delaware on July 1, 2003, to pursue the idea commercially. South African-born entrepreneur Elon Musk took an active role within the company starting in 2004, including investing US$7.5 million, overseeing Roadster product design from the beginning, and greatly expanding Tesla's long-term strategic sales goals to include developing mainstream vehicles after the sports car. Musk became Tesla's Chairman of the Board in April 2004 and had helped recruit JB Straubel as chief technology officer in March 2004.[31] Musk received the Global Green 2006 product design award for the design of the Tesla Roadster, presented by Mikhail Gorbachev, and he received the 2007 Index Design award for the design of the Tesla Roadster.

 

Frontal and rear views of the 2008 Tesla Roadster

Before Tesla had developed the Roadster's proprietary powertrain, the company licensed AC Propulsion's EV Power System design and Reductive Charging patent which covers integration of the charging electronics with the inverter, thus reducing mass, complexity, and cost. Tesla then designed and built its own power electronics, motor, and other drivetrain components that incorporated this licensed technology from AC Propulsion. Given the extensive redevelopment of the vehicle, Tesla Motors no longer licenses any proprietary technology from AC Propulsion. The Roadster's powertrain is unique.

 

On 11 July 2005, Tesla and British sports car maker Lotus entered an agreement about products and services based on the Lotus Elise, where Lotus provided advice on designing and developing a vehicle as well as producing partly assembled vehicles, and amended in 2009.[39]helped with basic chassis development. The Roadster has a parts overlap of roughly 6 percent with the Lotus Elise. Tesla's designers chose to construct the body panels using resin transfer molded carbon fiber composite to minimize weight; this choice makes the Roadster one of the least expensive cars with an entirely carbon fiber skin.

 

Several prototypes of the Tesla Roadster were produced from 2004 through 2007. Initial studies were done in two "test mule" vehicles based on Lotus Elises equipped with all-electric drive systems. Ten Engineering Prototypes (EP1 through EP10) which led to many minor changes were then built and tested in late 2006 and early 2007. Tesla then produced at least 26 Validation Prototypes (VP1 through VP26) which were delivered beginning in March 2007. These final revisions were endurance and crash tested in preparation for series production.

 

In August 2007, Martin Eberhard was replaced by an interim CEO, Michael Marks.[41] Marks accepted the temporary position while a recruitment drive went into place. In December 2007, Ze'evDrori became the CEO and President of Tesla Motors. In October 2008, Musk succeeded Ze'evDrori as CEO. Drori became Vice Chairman and left the company in December. In January 2008, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced that it would grant a waiver of the advanced air bag rule noting that the Tesla Roadster already includes standard air bags; similar waivers have been granted to many other small volume manufacturers as well, including Lotus, Ferrari, and Bugatti.

 

Tesla announced in early August 2009 that Roadster sales had resulted in overall corporate profitability for the month of July 2009 The company said it earned approximately US$1 million on revenue of US$20 million. Profitability arose primarily from improved gross margin on the 2010 Roadster, the second iteration of Tesla’s award-winning sports car. Tesla, which like all automakers records revenue when products are delivered, shipped a record 109 vehicles in July and reported a surge in new Roadster purchases.

 

Tesla, which signed a production contract with Group Lotus in 2007 to produce "gliders" (complete cars minus electric powertrain) for the Roadster, announced in early 2010 that Roadster production would continue until early 2012, in part due to tooling changes at Lotus' assembly plant in the UK.

 

Production

Tesla cumulative production of the Roadster reached 1,000 cars in January 2010.[47] The Roadster is an American car with a Vehicle Identification Number common to all cars considered American manufactured, but it has parts from around the world. The body panels come from French supplier Sotira. These are sent from France to Hethel, U.K., where Tesla contracts with Lotus to build the Roadster's unique chassis. The Roadster shares roughly 6 percent of its components with the Lotus Elise; shared components include the windshield, air bags, some tires, some dashboard parts, and suspension components. The Roadster's single-speed gearbox is made in Detroit to Tesla's specifications by Auburn Hills, Michigan-based supplier BorgWarner. Brakes and airbags are made by Siemens in Germany, and some crash testing was conducted at Siemens as well.

 

For Roadsters bound for customers in North America, the chassis is then sent to Menlo Park, California, for final assembly. For Roadsters bound for customers in Europe or elsewhere outside of North America, the chassis is sent to a facility near Hethel, U.K., for final assembly. At these final assembly locations, Tesla employees install the entire powertrain, which consists of the battery pack, power electronics module, gearbox and motor. Tesla also performs rigorous "pre-delivery inspection" on every car before customers take ownership.

 

Tesla ordered 2,500 gliders from Lotus, which ended supplies in December 2011 when their contract expired. Tesla ended production of the Roadster in January 2012.

 

Timeline

Subsequent to completion of production car number one at Hethel, the company announced problems with transmission reliability. The development transmission, with first gear enabled to accelerate 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 km/h) in 4 seconds, was reported to have a life expectancy of as low as only a few thousand miles. Tesla Motors' first two transmission suppliers were unable to produce transmissions, in quantity, that could withstand the gear-shift requirements of the high torque, high rpm electric motor. In December 2007, Tesla Motors announced plans to ship the initial Roadsters with the transmissions locked into second gear to provide 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 km/h) acceleration in 5.7 seconds. The first production car was not delivered with this interim solution; P1 has both transmission gears enabled. According to the plan, the initial transmissions were to be swapped out under warranty when the finalized transmission, power electronics module (PEM), and cooling system became available. The EPA range of the car was also restated downward from 245 to 221 miles (394 to 356 km). The downward revision was attributed to an error in equipment calibration at the laboratory that conducted the original test.

 

• During the first two months of production, Tesla produced a total of three Roadsters (P3/VINF002, P4/VINF004, and P5/VINF005). Production car # 1 (P1) and P2 were built prior to the start of regular series production, which began March 17, 2008.

 

• By September 10, 2008, Tesla had delivered 27 of the cars to customers. It was also reported that a newer, better transmission had been developed and that production of the car was hoped to reach 20 per week by December 2008, and 40 per week by March 2009. Over the next 20 days, however, only 3 more cars had been delivered to customers which brought the total to 30 as of September 30, 2008.

 

• By November 19, 2008, more than 70 of the cars had been delivered to customers.

 

• By December 9, 2008, the 100th car had been delivered to its customer.

 

• By February 11, 2009, 200 Roadsters had been produced.

 

• By April 2, 2009, 320 Roadsters had been delivered.

 

• In May 2009, Tesla issued a safety recall for all 345 of its Roadsters that were manufactured before April 22, 2009. Tesla sent technicians to customers' homes to tighten the rear, inner hub flange bolts. Tesla Motors told customers that without this adjustment, the driver could lose control of the car and crash. The problem originated at the Lotus assembly line that builds the Roadster and Lotus is also recalling some of its own vehicles. Tesla reminded customers that millions of cars are recalled every year.

 

• By the end of May 2009, the 500th Roadster had been delivered.

 

• Tesla made its first profit ever in July 2009, when it shipped 109 vehicles, the most ever so far for a single month.

 

• By September 15, 2009, 700 Roadsters had been delivered.

 

• Tesla announced on January 13, 2010, that it had produced its 1,000th Roadster. The company has delivered vehicles to customers in 43 states and 21 countries worldwide.In 2009 Tesla began taking orders from customers in Canada, and Canadian deliveries began in February 2010.

 

• In January 2010, Tesla began producing its first right-hand-drive Roadsters for the UK and Ireland. The 2010 model-year right-hand-drive Roadster includes a suite of unique noise-reduction materials and an upgraded sound system. The Roadster starts at £86,950 and costs about 1.5p per mile.

 

• On 29 January 2010, in a Form S-1 filing of its preliminary prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company stated that it would halt production of the Roadster in 2011 and replace it with a new model which would not be introduced until 2013 at the earliest: "...we do not plan to sell our current generation Tesla Roadster after 2011 due to planned tooling changes at a supplier for the Tesla Roadster, and we do not currently plan to begin selling our next generation Tesla Roadster until at least one year after the launch of the Model S, which is not expected to be in production until 2012"...

 

• On 16 March 2010, Tesla Motors announced that it had "negotiated agreements with key suppliers that will increase total Roadster production by 40 percent and extend sales into 2012", also indicating that it would expand into the Asian and Australian markets by 2011.

 

• On 2 December 2010, Tesla had delivered more than 1400 Roadsters.

 

• On 28 September 2011, Tesla delivered its 100th Roadster in Switzerland.

 

• Production ended in January 2012 and no longer available for sale the U.S. after December 2011.

 

• More than 2,350 units were sold worldwide through June 2012, but the remaining cars are still available for sale in Europe and Asia.

 

Special final edition

Tesla produced a special edition of 15 Final Edition Roadsters to close the production cycle of the electric car. The 15 special edition cars will be sold in each of the three sales regions, North America, Europe and Asia, and five units will be allocated to each. The Final Edition Roadster does not have any performance modifications, but features sporting atomic red paint, a duo of dark silver stripes on its hood and rear clamshell, and exclusive anthracite aluminum wheels.

 

Sales

Since 2008 Tesla has sold more than 2,350 units worldwide through June 2012.[3] Featuring new options and enhanced features, the 2012 Tesla Roadster is being sold in limited numbers only in Europe, Asia and Australia, and as of July 2012, less than 140 units are available for sale in Europe and Asia before the remaining production is sold out.[3] Tesla's U.S. exemption for not having special two-stage passenger airbags expired for cars made after the end of 2011 so the last Roadsters are no longer being sold in the American market.

 

U.S.A.

The base price for the 2010 models, which began shipping to customers in July 2009, was US$109,000. The Roadster has a bumper-to-bumper 3-year, 36,000-mile (58,000 km) warranty. Tesla also offers an extended powertrain warranty and a battery replacement warranty. Options ranging from colors to audio to high-power connectors for faster charging will increase the price.

 

In July 2009, Tesla announced that US consumers could finance the Roadster through Bank of America. Financing is available for up to 75 percent of the total vehicle purchase price. A customer approved for a 5-year financing term on a base Roadster could put down as little as US$20,000 before taxes and net of the US federal tax credit. The monthly payment would be approximately US$1,700 at a 5 percent annual percentage rate (APR). That monthly payment is typical for high performance, although the Roadster costs roughly US$4 to refuel and does not require traditional automotive maintenance like, fluid, belt, and spark plug changes. Unlike internal combustion engines, Teslas get a 100 percent waiver on sales, luxury and use taxes in at least four states, and they qualify for commuter lane privileges, free parking and free charging in many regions.

 

Tesla sells Roadsters directly to customers. It sells online, in 13 showrooms and over toll-free phone lines in North America and Europe. Tesla does not operate through franchise dealerships but operates company-owned stores. The company has said that it takes its retail cues from Apple, Starbucks and other non-automotive retailers.

 

Outside the United States

The company has been shipping cars to European customers since mid-2009. Tesla sold out of its EU special-edition vehicle, which had a 2010 model-year production run of 250 cars, with a base price of €99,000.

 

Tesla opened a showroom in London, its first outside the US, on June 25, 2009, and announced at the same time that it would start building right-hand-drive models from early 2010. Tesla opened a store in Munich in September 2009 and a store in Monaco in November 2009. It opened stores in Zurich and Copenhagen in the summer of 2010 and in Milan in February 2011. Reservations for the 2010 Roadster are available for a €3,000 refundable reservation fee.

 

As of 8 May 2012, Hansjoerg von Gemmingen of Karlsruhe / Germany drove his Tesla Roadster 205,711 kilometers (127,823 miles) in four years, this being the mileage world record for all-electric vehicles.

 

Service

Electric vehicles require much less service and maintenance than internal combustion engine vehicles. They do not require routine oil changes. They do not have any tailpipe emissions and therefore do not require any muffler or exhaust system work. They do not require replacement spark plugs, pistons, hoses or belts. Work on the conventional parts of the car—including the brakes, tires, and body work—can be performed by any qualified automotive technician.

 

A Tesla Roadster in Copenhagen

Tesla's website recommends the owner bring the vehicle in for service "once a year or every 12,000 miles". For other concerns with Tesla's all-electric powertrain, Tesla has created a "mobile service unit" that dispatches company-trained technicians to customers' homes or offices in case the owner is experiencing problems. Tesla charges the customer according to the distance the service unit needs to travel: one US dollar per mile roundtrip with a 100 dollar minimum. Technicians drive company vans equipped with numerous tools and testing equipment to do "in the field" repairs, enhancements and software upgrades. Tesla debuted its "house call" approach in the spring of 2009, when the company announced a recall due to a manufacturing problem in the Lotus assembly plant, which also affected the Lotus Elise and other models from the British sports car maker.

 

The first Tesla Motors service center, in Los Angeles, California, was opened on Santa Monica Boulevard on May 1, 2008. Tesla Motors publicly opened their second showroom and service area in Menlo Park, California on July 22, 2008. The Menlo Park location is also the final assembly area for Tesla Roadsters. Tesla also operates service centers in New York City, Miami, Chicago, and Seattle.

 

Tesla plans to build additional service centers over the next few years to support sales of its next vehicle, the Model S sports sedan. Planning is underway for an additional 15 service centers in United States major metropolitan locations. Possible locations for sales and service locations in Europe were announced in a letter to customers in May 2008.

 

Specifications

Motor

The roadster is powered by an electric motor, a 3-phase, 4-poleinduction motor, producing a maximum net power of 248 hp (185 kW).[88] Maximum torque is 200•lb•ft (270 N•m), obtained at 0 rpm and almost constant up to 6,000 rpm, a common feature of electric motors and one of the biggest differences (from the performance point of view) with internal combustion engines. The motor is air-cooled and does not need a liquid cooling system.

 

The Sport Model introduced during the 2009 Detroit Auto Show includes a motor with a higher density, hand-wound stator that produces a maximum of 288 hp (215 kW).[89] Both motors are designed for rotational speeds of up to 14,000 rpm, and the regular motor delivers a typical efficiency of 88% or 90%; 80% at peak power. It weighs less than 70 pounds (32 kg).

 

Transmission

Starting in September 2008 Tesla Motors selected BorgWarner to manufacture gearboxes and began equipping all Roadsters with a single speed, fixed gear gearbox (8.2752:1) with an electrically actuated parking pawl mechanism and a mechanical lubrication pump.
 

The company previously worked with several companies, including XTrac and Magna International, to find the right automatic transmission, but a two-gear solution proved to be too challenging. This led to substantial delays in production. At the "Town Hall Meeting" with owners in December 2007, Tesla announced plans to ship the initial 2008 Roadsters with their interim Magna two-speed direct shift manual transmissions locked into second gear, limiting the performance of the car to less than what was originally stated (0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 km/h) in 5.7 seconds instead of the announced 4.0 seconds). Tesla also announced it would upgrade those transmissions under warranty when the final transmission became available. At the "Town Hall Meeting" with owners on January 30, 2008, Tesla Motors described the planned transmission upgrade as a single-speed gearbox with a drive ratio of 8.27:1 combined with improved electronics and motor cooling that retain the acceleration from 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 km/h) in under 4 seconds and an improved motor limit of 14,000 rpm to retain the 125 mph (201 km/h) top speed The upgraded system also improved the maximum torque from 200 to 280 lb•ft (270 to 380 N•m) and improves the Roadster's quarter mile times.

 

Gear selector

In the interior the gear selector is similar to a push-button automatic with buttons labeled P, R, N and D while some earlier models have a gear lever similar to that in cars with manual transmission.

 

Connected power supply

Tesla Motors refers to the Roadster's battery pack as the Energy Storage System or ESS. The ESS contains 6,831 lithium ion cells arranged into 11 "sheets" connected in series; each sheet contains 9 "bricks" connected in series; each "brick" contains 69 cells connected in parallel (11S 9S 69P). The cells are of the 18650 form-factor commonly found in laptop batteries. The pack is designed to prevent catastrophic cell failures from propagating to adjacent cells, even when the cooling system is off. Coolant is pumped continuously through the ESS both when the car is running and when the car is turned off if the pack retains more than a 90% charge. The coolant pump draws 146 watts.

 

A full recharge of the battery system requires 3½ hours using the High Power Connector which supplies 70 amp, 240 volt electricity; in practice, recharge cycles usually start from a partially charged state and require less time. A fully charged ESS stores approximately 53 kWh of electrical energy at a nominal 375 volts and weighs 992 lb (450 kg).

 

Tesla Motors stated in February 2009 that the current replacement cost of the ESS is slightly under US$36,000, with an expected life span of 7 years/100,000 mi (160,000 km), and began offering owners an option to pre-purchase a battery replacement for US$12,000 today with the replacement to be delivered after seven years. The ESS is expected to retain 70% capacity after 5 years and 50,000 miles (80,000 km) of driving (10,000 miles (16,000 km) driven each year). Tesla Motors provides a 3 year/36,000 mile warranty on the Roadster with an optional 4 year/50,000 mile extended warranty available at an "additional cost" (2008 Roadster buyers received the 4/50 extension at no cost while later purchasers need to pay). A non-ESS warranty extension is available for US$5,000 and adds another 3/36 to the coverage of components, excluding the ESS, for a total of 6 years for 72,000 mi (116,000 km).

 

Tesla Motors announced plans to sell the battery system to TH!NK and possibly others through its Tesla Energy Group division. The TH!NK plans were put on hold by interim CEO Michael Marks in September 2007. TH!NK now obtains their Lithium-Ion batteries from Enerdel.

 

Awards

• INDEX: Award 2007

• BusinessWeek: Best Product Design of 2007, Ecodesign

• Forbes: Best Cars 2006: New car that best lived up to the Hype

• Time: Best Inventions 2008—Transportation Invention

• Time: Best Inventions 2006—Transportation Invention

• Popular Mechanics: Breakthrough Awards 2006

• Global Green USA: Product/Industrial Design

• CarDomain: People's Choice: Most Exciting 2007 Car Launch

• 2009 Best Green Exotic, duPont REGISTRY