Tesla released the original Tesla Roadster in 2008
Alexandre Prévot from Nancy
In 2008, Tesla Motors, now known as Tesla, Inc., introduced the world to the first high-performance electric vehicle, the Tesla Roadster. Launched when gas-guzzling cars ruled the roads, the Roadster represented a paradigm shift in the automotive industry. Let's look back at the Roadster's origins, development, and impact on the automotive world.
Birth of a Legend — The Roadster's Timeline
In 2004, Tesla Motors was created by engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning with the goal of revolutionizing the automotive industry. Elon Musk joined the company as its chairman and lead investor and is considered one of the founders of the company. The company's first project aimed to develop an electric sports car, and in 2006, the prototype of the Tesla Roadster was revealed. Production began in 2008, with the first Roadster delivered to Musk in February of that year.
The Roadster was an important milestone for Tesla because it was the company's first production vehicle. Before the Roadster, Tesla had only produced a prototype electric vehicle, which was used to generate interest and secure funding for the company.
Musk's Vision in Quotes
Musk, the 2021 Time Person of the Year, had high hopes for the Roadster. In a 2008 press release, Elon Musk stated. "The delivery of the first production Tesla Roadster marks a great historical milestone along the way to Tesla becoming one of the great car companies of the 21st century. The Roadster now in production is just the first of a series of models from Tesla, soon to be followed by our 4 door sports sedan. Eventually, Tesla Motors will offer a full line of electric vehicles, leading the way in the changeover from gasoline cars to an electric future."
In an interview with The Telegraph in 2012, Elon Musk explained, "With the Roadster, we wanted to create a product that would break the mould and convince people that an electric car could be cool, sexy, and fast."
In a 2008 interview with the New York Times, Musk said, "The goal of Tesla is to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport. If we could have done that with the first version of the Roadster, we would have. But we can't." (Source: The New York Times, Nov. 2, 2008)
The interior of the original Roadster features two screens
Tesla
During a presentation at the Cleantech Forum in San Francisco in 2008, Elon Musk stated, "I think the Roadster has had a significant catalytic impact on the industry. And the intent with the Roadster was to change the image of electric vehicles."
In a 2011 interview with Autocar, Musk talked about the Roadster's production: "The Roadster has been a great success, proving that we could make an electric car with the range and performance of a petrol sports car, but we always knew it was a stepping stone to producing more affordable, mainstream cars."
Musk also saw the Roadster as a way to pave the way for Tesla's future vehicles. But, he said, "The Roadster is not our end game; it's just the beginning. We want to use the technology we've developed for the Roadster to create more affordable electric vehicles that can be used by the masses."
The Lotus Connection — The Roadster's Foundation
The Tesla Roadster was based on the Lotus Elise, a lightweight, two-seat sports car from the British automaker Lotus. Tesla Motors collaborated with Lotus to develop the Roadster, leveraging the expertise of the established automaker. The Roadster borrowed the Elise's chassis, but its drivetrain, battery system, and body were unique to the electric vehicle. The final product was a marriage of cutting-edge electric vehicle technology and the timeless appeal of the sports car.
The Tesla Roadster has also left a mark on popular culture with its appearances in various films and television shows. For instance, the Roadster made a cameo appearance in the 2010 film "Iron Man 2," which was driven by Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr. This appearance further solidified the car's status as a symbol of cutting-edge technology and sustainable luxury. Musk also appeared briefly in the Marvel movie.
Unrivaled Performance — 0 to 60, Top Speed and Range
The 2008 Tesla Roadster boasted impressive specs for an electric vehicle at that time. Equipped with a 53 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, the Roadster's max speed was 125 mph, with a range of 245 miles on a single charge.
The electric motor produced 248 horsepower and 200 lb-ft of torque, enabling the car to reach 0-60 mph in just 3.7 or 3.9 seconds, depending on the model. These performance figures were a testament to the capabilities of electric powertrains, showcasing that electric vehicles could be both efficient and exciting.
Original Roadster Price
When released, the Tesla Roadster carried a base price of $98,950, positioning it firmly within the luxury sports car market. Later versions sold for $120,000. Despite the high price tag, the Roadster was embraced by enthusiasts who recognized its significance in ushering in the electric vehicle era.
A Journey Beyond Earth — The Roadster in Space
In February 2018, Elon Musk's SpaceX launched the Falcon Heavy rocket on its maiden voyage with a unique payload onboard: Musk's personal Tesla Roadster. The car was sent into space as a symbol of human innovation and a nod to the powerful synergy between Tesla and SpaceX.
The Roadster, with a mannequin named "Starman" in the driver's seat, and the stereo system played David Bowie's "Space Oddity" on repeat, was placed into a heliocentric orbit around the sun. The vehicle now serves as a symbol of the limitless potential of human ingenuity and the boundless ambition that has driven the advancement of electric cars and space exploration.
The Roadster's Lasting Impact
Roadster was not without its challenges, however. The first models had issues with overheating and battery life, which required Tesla to make some adjustments and updates. In addition, Tesla faced problems with the car's transmission resulting in several recalls and updates.
In 2010, Tesla announced a battery upgrade program allowing Roadster owners to upgrade their battery packs to a newer and more efficient design.
Despite these challenges, the Roadster remained a popular vehicle among Tesla enthusiasts. As a result, the company produced approximately 2,450 Roadsters between 2008 and 2012, most of which were sold in the United States.
The 2008 Tesla Roadster began a new era in the automotive industry. It shattered the prevailing perception that electric vehicles were slow and unexciting, proving that they could compete with their gasoline-powered counterparts in terms of performance and driving experience. Moreover, the Roadster laid the groundwork for Tesla's subsequent models, which have continuously pushed the boundaries of electric vehicle technology.
A New Generation of the Roadster
In 2017, Tesla unveiled a new version of the Roadster, which promises to be faster and more powerful than its predecessor. The upcoming Roadster, boasting a top speed of over 250 mph and a range of 620 miles, aims to solidify Tesla's position as a leader in electric vehicle technology.
As a result of the Roadster's success, other automakers began to take notice and invest in electric vehicle research and development. Today, almost every major automaker has an electric vehicle in their lineup, and the market continues to grow at an unprecedented pace. In addition, governments worldwide are setting ambitious targets for adopting electric vehicles, and charging infrastructure has expanded rapidly to accommodate the increasing demand.
Tesla Roadster demonstrated the potential of electric powertrains to deliver impressive performance, efficiency, and environmental benefits. The Roadster's legacy inspires new generations of electric vehicles, pushing the industry toward a cleaner, more sustainable future. Although the Roadster is no longer in production, its legacy lives on in the current generation of Tesla vehicles and the company's commitment to pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the world of electric cars.
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Tesla’s autonomy stack has been one of the primary focuses of Tesla’s earnings calls for quite some time. It is also crucial to achieving Tesla’s larger ambitions, such as its robotaxi network and humanoid robots like Optimus.
Now, with FSD Unsupervised being prepared for the robotaxi launch in June, there’s a lot of new information being shared by Tesla on what to expect.
FSD Supervised
The version currently available to customers, FSD Supervised, has been available since its rebranding with the launch of FSD V12 last year. However, it has been a while since we saw an update - in fact, over 100 days since the last public FSD update.
Tesla has been gathering and processing data at an unprecedented rate. In the shareholder’s deck, Tesla revealed that there had been over 7.7 million miles driven per day this past quarter in North America and China. Tesla’s recently deployed Dojo units are likely running at full tilt doing automated data labelling.
The launch in China earlier this year was the first launch of FSD outside of North America. Most interestingly, Tesla conducted that launch without any region-specific training data besides videos found online. Tesla needed to find a workaround, as Chinese data cannot be uploaded outside the country's physical boundaries due to local regulations.
FSD for Europe remains in the wings - Tesla is awaiting regulatory approval and appears hopeful that it will be able to begin deploying FSD Supervised in Europe before the end of 2025. That may be an optimistic goal, especially considering Tesla is facing additional regulatory delays. With UNECE regulators not addressing autonomy in the next several meetings, Tesla will rely on per-country exemptions, starting in the Netherlands.
FSD to Feature Region-Specific Parameters
While FSD continues to expand, Tesla has acknowledged that certain conditions, like snow, are posing difficulties. They intend to increase the comfort and safety level of driving in inclement or locale-specific conditions in the future by adding parameters that are explicitly trained on those types of conditions and regions.
Tesla’s team specifically mentioned that these new parameters aren’t a legal necessity to get FSD Unsupervised or Supervised approved but will instead increase reliability and comfort for users. They also addressed concerns about sun glare, sand, dust, and fog impacting road conditions.
With sun glare in particular, as Tesla uses a photon-count analysis before processing the digital signal, its cameras are not as blinded as they may appear on-screen. FSD performs its analysis before the data is turned into an image, meaning that it can still perceive things even when a human may not be able to from the camera feed.
FSD Price Changes
Tesla’s executive team also raised an interesting point, but one we’ve heard before in 2023. As FSD’s capabilities evolve and increase, they believe that pricing will also be subject to change. The value of FSD, once it is fully Unsupervised, will rise greatly, and the current subscription option is far too inexpensive, according to Tesla.
It appears that Tesla is considering different pricing options for FSD Unsupervised in the future, but for now, the $99 monthly subscription remains in place. It’s possible we may see different prices for FSD Supervised versus FSD Unsupervised.
Ongoing Challenges
Tesla’s current challenges with working on FSD can be described as the march of nines. This is the exponentially increasing work needed as you need to take the system closer and closer to 100%.
Validation primarily remains a challenge due to the difficulty of encountering and then solving edge cases. The internal QA fleet in Austin can operate for multiple days without a single intervention, making it challenging to measure the progression and regression.
Tesla noted that, on average, an intervention is currently required every 10,000 miles. That is equivalent to the average North American driving for an entire year. Therefore, a substantial amount of data is necessary to continue improving the current issues. With 7.7 million miles driven by FSD every day, Tesla has, on average, 770 events to review each day.
Tesla is also continuing to deploy and expand its AI training centers. Cortex, Tesla’s latest, is already online at Giga Texas and crunching through immense amounts of data to train FSD.
FSD Unsupervised
The ultimate goal, of course, is FSD Unsupervised. A fully autonomous experience that can take you from Point A to Point B without needing any human supervision or intervention at all.
Tesla has already deployed FSD Unsupervised to take its Model 3, Model Y, and Cybertrucks from the production line to the outbound lot at both Giga Texas and Fremont, saving considerable man-hours. These vehicles are also autonomously interacting with traffic on their way over to the outbound lot - and it’s an expression of Tesla’s confidence in the system.
Fleet Capabilities
Tesla also mentioned that the vast majority of its fleet on the roads today will be capable of FSD Unsupervised. In particular, Elon mentioned the Model S, 3, X, and Y. Interestingly, this is the fourth event (We, Robot, Q4 Earnings 2024, All-Hands, and Q1 Earnings 2025) without mention of the Cybertruck being capable, likely meaning that FSD development for the Cybertruck is further behind as we’ve seen.
Hardware 3 Retrofit
There was no mention of the limitations of Hardware 3 or Tesla’s exact plans for a future retrofit at this time. While Tesla has already promised to replace HW3 with a future iteration of an AI computer, as we haven’t seen any FSD updates recently, so it’s hard to say whether any future FSD updates will arrive for HW3 besides bug fixes.
We believe Tesla is planning to solve FSD first and then work backward from there. At this point, they’ll know the compute power required for FSD Unsupervised and could make a retrofit that fits into a hardware 3 vehicle with the power and space constraints it imposes.
Unsupervised for Customers
Tesla’s goal is to launch FSD Unsupervised for customers ideally by the end of 2025. The executive team specifically mentioned that their key restrictions are twofold here.
One is that they need to be sure that FSD Unsupervised is meaningfully safer (10x, as per Q4 2024) than a human driver. Tesla has a focus on safety and intends to be extremely careful with the rollout of Unsupervised to ensure there are no incidents or accidents.
The second is that regulatory approvals will continue to be a limitation. However, as more cities and states begin to approve FSD Unsupervised in their locales, Tesla will be able to roll it out faster and faster. The intent is to have FSD Unsupervised available throughout the United States by the second half of 2026, according to Tesla.
Tesla also confirmed their intent to have a Model Y deliver itself from Giga Texas or Fremont to a customer by the end of 2025. This will likely be a local customer, and we did a deep-dive into the potential advantages and disadvantages of this delivery method.
While it may be a slow period for FSD updates right now, there are a lot of changes happening this year with the launch of FSD Unsupervised, the robotaxi network and the expansion to Europe.
Tesla’s 2025 Spring Update has arrived and is now going out in larger waves. Although this update isn’t as large as last year’s Spring Update, there are several exciting features in this year’s Spring Update.
In this article, we’ll take our first look into some of the newest features.
Custom Trunk Height per Location
The trunk height for Model Ys, Model 3s with automatic trunks, and the 2021+ Model S and Model X will now be customizable by location. While you could previously apply a maximum general height, you can now also apply a height at a given location.
This is especially helpful if you don’t want the vehicle to open the trunk all the way in your garage, but would like it to open all the way elsewhere.
To set it, you can manually adjust the liftgate to your preferred height when at the location and then press and hold the trunk close button until you hear a chime. Alternatively, you can open the liftgate with the on-screen controls and then press the pause button and have it remember this height.
If you have a Cybertruck, the process is similar to save the frunk height.
B-Pillar Sentry & Dashcam
The new B-Pillar options are displayed at the bottom of the dashcam viewer.
Not a Tesla App
For newer hardware 4 vehicles, Sentry Mode and Dashcam will now also record video from the B-pillar cameras on your vehicle. This brings the total number of cameras recorded to six, up from just four. This also means that the vehicle is now covered practically in 360 degrees. The only cameras not recorded are the alternative front camera, the front bumper camera (on the new Model Y and Cybertruck for now), and the interior camera.
While most of the other cameras wouldn’t provide much improvements in terms of security, adding the interior camera would be a really nice addition. However, we imagine there are privacy reasons why Tesla isn’t adding this one.
You can check out the new angles in the improved Dashcam viewer under “Left Pillar” and “Right Pillar”, which are located at the far right.
For AI3 vehicles and the Cybertruck, this feature isn’t available, however, we expect it to be added to the Cybertruck soon.
The Dashcam and Sentry Mode Viewer have received an improved interface to go along with the new B-pillar camera recording. However, like the new cameras, this feature is only currently available on HW4 vehicles. While the B-pillar camera records are unlikely to arrive on HW3 vehicles due to technical constraints, we may see this improved Dashcam Viewer arrive on other vehicles in the future.
The new viewer now displays all the cameras along the bottom, rather than having one at each corner.
Tesla has also added a jump back or forward 15-second button; however, the recent improvement to adjust the playback speed from 0.5x, 1x, and 2x appears to have been removed.
There’s also a new button at the top right corner of the video, which lets you easily jump to the next video clip.
Reverse Camera
The new angle is a little bit wider than the original.
Not a Tesla App
For HW4 vehicles, Tesla has also improved the visible angle of the rearview camera. Tesla’s cameras actually capture angles slightly wider than the ones displayed in the vehicle UI and the Tesla app - so it’s nice to see them increasing the viewing area.
These same vehicles have now also been updated to have the fender cameras displayed at the top of the Camera app instead of the bottom.
Adaptive Headlights for North America
Overnight, your Tesla gets better with a OTA update.
Tesla Adaptive Headlights in action on a Legacy Tesla Model Y.
Adaptive headlights have finally been enabled for vehicles with matrix headlights in North America with this Spring Update. You can check them out in action below. If you’re unsure whether your vehicle includes matrix headlights, our guide can help.
Model S / X Turn Signal Cameras
These optionally placed repeater turn signal camera images are a huge improvement!
@niccruzpatane on X
The Model S and Model X have received some much-requested love from Tesla. The blind spot camera feature, which displays the fender cameras on screen when the turn signal is active, is being moved to the instrument cluster.
Until now, the feature has shown the cameras on the infotainment display, much like the Model 3 and Model Y. If you prefer to keep them on the main display, you can adjust it under Controls > Display > Automatic Blind Spot Camera.
New Navigation Options
With the 2025 Spring Update, you can now customize your route to have fewer stops, the best amenities, or just a fastest overall route.
Tesla added three new routing options to the Spring Update, which now lets you choose between faster and more frequent charging stops or longer and less frequent stops. The long-awaited avoid highways option is finally included in this update as well.
Fastest: This offers the quickest path to the destination, disregarding any attempts at efficiency or stopping more frequently to perform short charges.
Best Amenities & Fewer Stops:This routing mode minimizes your charge stops in exchange for making them longer, but also allows you to stop near highly rated restaurants, shops, and restrooms for a more relaxing trip.
Avoid Highways: Thishighly requested feature allows you to keep your navigation routing away from highways unless absolutely necessary to reach your destination. Hurray for the country roads and relaxed driving.
Phone Icon Update
The new contact image is displayed above the phone number and name (censored by user)
@max_bracco on X
Tesla has updated the in-vehicle Phone app to display contact pictures from your phone, along with the name and phone number.
The new contact photos will also appear in the dialog window that opens when you receive an incoming call.
Search Filters for Music
The list of sources is selectable to help fine-tune your search.
Not a Tesla App
When searching for music, the results are now filtered by the music service, rather than displaying all results in a single view.
When you prefer a search, the results will be limited to the currently selected music source. Results for other services will be displayed in separate tabs organized by service. This is a really nice addition, but we’d also love to see an “All” results tab, similar to the previous experience, that lets you view results across various services.
Keep Accessory Power On
Not a Tesla App
Tesla is finally giving users the ability to charge devices with 12V sockets and USB ports when there’s no one in the vehicle. While 12V sockets and USB ports are turned off when the vehicle goes to sleep, many users work around this by enabling Sentry Mode to keep the ports powered.
The good news is that this new feature is even more efficient than before because owners no longer need to keep Sentry Mode on just to keep these ports powered.
To enable power for the USB ports and 12V sockets, navigate to Controls > Charging and scroll down to Keep Accessory Power On. Keep in mind, similar to Sentry Mode, this feature uses additional energy, even if devices aren’t being charged — so use it selectively.
Music Improvements
Tesla has made several other music-related improvements in this update besides the updated search results screen.
Amazon Music: You no longer need a premium subscription to Amazon Music to use the streaming service in the car. Your free account will work just fine.
Apple Music: Apple Music’s shuffle function has been improved so that it now shuffles the entire playlist of music, instead of just the first 100 results in the playlist.
YouTube Music: The next song in a playlist will now be displayed in the Up Next section. You view this section by tapping on the album artwork in the music player.
Other Improvements
Not a Tesla App
Tesla has made several other improvements. One nice addition, currently limited to the Cybertruck, is that the vehicle's visualization will now display the actual distance a door is open.
Tesla also improved the hotspot feature. If you typically use the hotspot on your phone to connect to the vehicle, this feature will now be automatically enabled each time the vehicle is put into drive.
While Tesla has already shown third-party chargers in Europe, Tesla is now giving users the ability to view them in other regions for the first time. The feature is off by default, but you can go to Controls > Navigation and enable third-party chargers. Tesla explains that your vehicle will not automatically navigate to these chargers, but they will show up in the list of available chargers.
When viewing a Supercharger, Tesla now provides a list of all nearby amenities as well, making it easier to see places nearby.
Not a Tesla App
While this update’s big features are the Sentry Mode and Dashcam Viewer improvements, which don’t apply to everyone, there are a lot of smaller charging and music improvements that make using and charging the vehicle better. Hopefully, we’ll see Grok come in Tesla’s next major update.
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