Tesla's Original Roadster: Price, Specs and Range of the Vehicle That Sparked the Electric Revolution

By Kevin Armstrong
Tesla released the original Tesla Roadster in 2008
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
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 Earnings Call Recap - HW3 Upgrade, Unsupervised FSD, FSD V14 and More

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

If you missed Tesla’s 2024 Q4 earnings call or just want to review everything that was shared, don’t worry - we’ve got you covered. Below is a list of all the key points made during the call, which includes the popular Q&A session with Elon Musk and other executives. We broke down the information into several categories for easier reading.

If you prefer, you can also listen to Tesla’s earnings call on demand.

Overall Finances

  • Tesla’s total revenue increased 2% year-over-year in Q4, to $25.7B.

    • Tesla saw growth in Energy Generation, Storage, Services, and Other product/service groups

    • Tesla saw growth in vehicle deliveries

    • Tesla had higher regulatory credit revenue (likely due to pressures from credits ending soon)

    • Reduced Model S, 3, X, and Y average sales price (ASP), leading to increased sales

      • Attractive financing options, including 0% financing, spurred additional sales

  • Tesla’s operating income decreased 23% YoY in Q4, down to $1.6B

    • That is an overall margin of 6.2%

    • Reduced vehicle ASP impacted margins

    • Increase in operating expenses driven by AI and other R&D projects

    • Income increased in:

      • Energy Generation, Storage, Services, and Other categories

      • Lower cost per vehicle, including lower raw material costs

      • Higher regulatory credit revenue

  • Tesla has $36.6B in free cash, cash equivalents, and investments. This is an increase of $2.9B over last year, primarily the result of $2B in positive cash flows.

Production, Revenue, COGS

  • Energy storage production has grown YoY since 2023

    • Growth came from both Megapack and Powerwall

    • Growth is supply-constrained - Tesla can’t produce them fast enough - both residential and commercial customers are ordering quickly

  • Tesla delivered over 2 million vehicles in 2024, a new record for production and deliveries (likely includes used or other types of vehicles since total new vehicle deliveries were at almost 1.8m in 2024)

    • The lowest amount of un-delivered vehicles this year ever, very few vehicles sitting on service center/delivery lots

    • The Model Y was once again the best-selling vehicle of 2024 - of any kind

    • Tesla’s current constraint for production is battery packs

      • Making progress in addressing that constraint

      • Progress should improve drastically next year and the years after for battery pack production

  • Tesla grew in volume in China greatly, even though it faces extreme competition in the country

  • Overall cost per car is down to below $35,000 per vehicle.

  • All factories will start producing the new Model Y next month

    • This rapid and unprecedented change could result in an impact on production

    • Margins will be impacted due to launch-related costs for Q1 and Q2

  • The referral program had an impact on cost and will continue to do so as the program continues

  • Tesla doesn’t expect margins for service, but service remains GAAP-positive

New Products

  • Several new products in 2025

    • 1st half of 2025 - More affordable model is still coming

    • Per dollar basis, Tesla has the most compelling lineup

      • Best software in the business, capable of autonomy

      • Prices comparable to the mass market, products compared to premium competitors

  • Optimus could potentially launch for commercial use in 2026.

Looking Forward

  • Tariffs

    • Uncertainty, focusing on localizing supply chains

    • Tariffs are very likely, will have an impact on business and profitability

  • AI is the biggest driver in cost

  • Tesla increased CapEx by $2.4B

    • Focused on improving CapEx efficiency, using a targeting manner to get immediate benefits

    • Build out of Cortex accelerated the rollout of FSD V13

    • $5B in AI-related CapEx

    • 2025 CapEx expected to be flat

    • Focus of critical investments will be on manufacturing, AI, and robotics.

      • These are expected to bear fruit in 2026, 2027, and 2028.

  • 2025 will be a pivotal year for Tesla

    • Lots of investments continue to be made

    • Setting the pace for the next phase of growth

    • Tesla is focusing on maximizing volumes and doubling down (or 10x) on Autonomy and real-world AI.

  • Elon sees a path for Tesla to be the most valuable company in the world by far - it is a difficult but achievable path

    • The path means Tesla will be worth more than the next top 5 companies combined

    • This will be due to autonomous vehicles and autonomous robots

      • Tesla began laying the groundwork in 2024

      • Tesla will begin building the manufacturing lines in 2025

      • Epic 2026 and ridiculously good 2027 and 2028

    • The future will be coming very fast, the inflection point for human history (autonomy/AI)

FSD and Autonomy

  • Tesla has achieved exponential progress in FSD

    • People don’t realize how good FSD is, and many people have no experience with it

    • Those with previous experience need to try it again - it has improved drastically over the last year

      • Last year’s experience was with a toddler - this year’s experience is with a grown-up

  • Passenger cars have 10 hours of utility per week - out of 168 hours a week.

    • An autonomous car would be of utility for 55 hours a week - about 1/3rd of the week

    • Autonomous vehicles are useful for both cargo and people delivery

    • No incremental cost change, just a software update to enable 5x utility

    • Largest asset-value increase in human history

    • Bigger than anything else in its history - bigger than the first car, the roadster, the Model 3, the Model Y

    • Launch of Unsupervised FSD will be a turning point - true, real-world AI that actually works

    • No company in the world is as good as Tesla at real-world AI

FSD Going Global

  • FSD works very well in the US, but over time it will work just as well everywhere else

    • Europe is a challenge due to regulation

      • Netherlands presents FSD to EU in May, expected to be approved EU-wide then. Won’t happen sooner than May

      • Unsupervised FSD in Europe could be even further away

    • China is another challenge - won’t allow training videos to leave China, and US won’t let training be done in China

      • Tesla is using public videos of Chinese streets on the internet to train Chinese FSD

      • Bus lanes in China are one of the biggest challenges there due to restrictions based on time, etc - automatic tickets for being in the wrong lane in China

  • Q4 Safety Report

    • Continual year-over-year safety improvements for those using FSD

    • People go to manual driving to check their phone so that they don’t strike out/get beeped at - and then go back to FSD

      • Significantly less safe than just being on FSD

    • Tesla is getting to the point where FSD is an order of magnitude safer - already 8.5x safer than a human driver

FSD V14

  • FSD V14 will be another significant step

    • Cortex launched at Giga Texas, which is a significant help in training FSD, and Tesla will continue expanding it

    • Tesla will need 10x the current compute to make Optimus fully useable (a thousand times more complex and a thousand times more use cases than FSD)

    • Tesla will spend the money on training compute over time, it won’t suddenly spend $500B on compute tomorrow

    • The cost of training is dropping dramatically with time

  • FSD V14 will focus on improving neural nets, working with auto-regressive transformers

    • Model size and context size will continue to grow and scale up

    • Context size is restricted by on-board memory, and will require optimization

    • Audio support to be further expanded and become relevant in V14

    • Data from tricky edge cases gathered by the fleet will help V14 make better decisions

Unsupervised FSD

  • Unsupervised FSD in Austin, Texas, in June 2025, as a paid robotaxi service.

    • Already happening at Fremont, will be happening at Austin soon, and other factories later

      • Cars know what lane they need to go to for pickup/delivery

      • They drive from the line to their spot and do it reliably every day, thousands of times a day

      • Teslas will be in the wild, with no driver, as of June

    • Tesla’s solution is generalized - doesn’t require high-precision maps.

      • Tesla is starting with Austin to make sure everything is ok and to test the waters, to ensure the safety of the general public and those in the cars

    • More cities will come in the future

      • Everywhere in North America by next year

    • Unsupervised FSD is limited by regulatory issues, not technical capability.

    • Tesla’s fleet will be using Unsupervised - you won’t be able to bring your own vehicle to Austin and enable it just yet.

      • Robotaxi fleet will be available to be ride hailed and Tesla will charge for it.

      • Tesla is still working on the experience - the app, arrival, payment, billing, exiting the vehicle, etc.

      • In 2026, owners will be able to add their vehicles to the Unsupervised FSD fleet.

      • Tesla needs to be confident that the probability of injury or accident is extremely low before they allow eyes-off / Unsupervised FSD on customer vehicles

  • Unsupervised FSD will also happen in California this year - in fact, in many regions of the US this year.

    • Austin is Tesla dipping their toes into the water to confirm it works and is safe.

    • Tesla is aiming for a safety level significantly above the average human driver

      • Standard is very high, if there is even one accident, it will get worldwide headlines, even though 40,000 people die in car accidents every year

    • Hold-back is an excess of caution

  • How many times did you have to intervene for definite safety reasons?

    • Don’t compare to feeling like you had to intervene - Tesla is close to eliminating critical safety interventions being normal. They’re already very rare.

Hardware 3 - Replacement Confirmed

  • Elon confirmed HW3 will need to be replaced - it will be replaced for free for those who previously purchased FSD outright.

    • This will be expensive - but it won’t have a massive impact because less people purchased it outright versus subscribing

  • Tesla still working on HW3 in the meantime - V12.6 is a baby V13 and a significant improvement over V12.5.4.2

  • HW3 releases will trail AI4 releases for the foreseeable future

Licensing FSD

  • Tesla is in discussions with multiple major car manufacturers for licensing FSD

  • Tesla is advising companies to take apart their vehicles, and look at requirements

    • Cameras, compute, thermal limitations, capabilities and design

  • Tesla will only sign if the volume is very high - otherwise, it isn’t worth it for Tesla due to engineering constraints

    • Cybertruck’s FSD limitations are a direct result of this

  • Interest in licensing FSD will become even higher once Unsupervised FSD becomes proven

Optimus

  • It is difficult to predict when Optimus will arrive. It is not design-locked for 2025

    • Tesla is building the tracks, re-designing the train, and designing the station in real-time while putting it all together

    • Tesla used all custom parts for Optimus because they couldn’t find anything that met their requirements

    • Constantly improving Optimus - evolving in a good direction

  • The internal plan is to build 10,000 by the end of 2025 - but that’s optimistic

    • Tesla will build several thousand at least

    • They will do useful things by the end of the year - at least within Tesla’s factories.

  • This is “production design 1”, and use in Tesla’s factories will inform “production design 2” for next year.

  • Optimus will ramp faster than anything else they’ve ramped - they’ve previously done half an order of magnitude a year - they want to aim for one full order of magnitude per year

    • 100m per year in the far future

  • Most sophisticated humanoid hand

    • Optimus will be able to play piano, thread a needle

    • Extreme level of precision with the hand that no other competitor has gotten close to

    • Other companies can’t produce thousands or millions of units - they can build one-off hand-build units or a few prototypes

    • Other companies have extremely limited real-world experience and data

  • Long term, Optimus can be $10-20B in revenue

  • More compute means more Optimus, more Optimus means more compute

  • Tesla doesn’t intend to begin Optimus sales just yet - Elon was careful not to answer questions related to sales and pricing

    • Tesla wants to use Optimus immediately for the boring/tedious/dangerous tasks around its own factory first

    • This will help training as well, close the loop for improvement

    • Production Version 2 - launches middle of next year

      • Production line to build up to 10K units a month, rather than the current limited production

      • This could be the version that is potentially sold to companies in the second half of next year

      • Likely won’t be sold directly to retail customers

    • The expected ramp is really fast

    • Demand will not be a problem, even at a high price

    • At 1m units of production per year, the production cost will be under $20,000 per unit

      • This is likely several years away

    • Price will be set by market demand

Semi

  • Semi Factory just had its roof finished last week

  • Mechanical equipment will be installed in the next couple of months

  • Late this year comes the high-volume variant of Semi

  • Scale production begins end-2025/early-2026

  • Will meaningfully contribute to Tesla’s revenue next year

  • There is a shortage of truck drivers in America, and people are humans - they get tired and need breaks

    • It is a tough job, and lots of people are leaving the profession rather than joining it.

    • Future logistics problem - autonomy will help to bridge the gap and meet the need for trucking

  • Semi will likely be a $12B/year endeavor in the future once the ramp is complete

Energy

  • Tesla sees this as a “down-to-Earth” topic - it's real, and it’s happening now

  • Storage is a big deal and will become even more important in the future

    • Total demand for electricity storage will grow massively over time

    • Enables far greater energy output to the grid than is currently possible

    • Vast majority of the global grid doesn’t have storage - power plants are designed for high peaks rather than steady energy

    • Lots of storage will help to increase the energy available - by up to 2x what is available now

  • Lots of demand for stationary storage, both residential and commercial

  • Mega Shanghai is going fast

    • Elon confirms a 3rd Megafactory for stationary storage, but not the location

    • Tesla will NOT rob from vehicle storage to feed into stationary storage, nor vice versa

  • Tesla still working on Solar Roof, haven’t given up

    • Core part of the residential product portfolio

    • Is a premium product - like the Model S or Model X - and priced like it

    • New versions of the Solar Roof are being designed and worked on still

    • Best time to put in a solar roof is either on a new home or a house needs a new roof - solar roof makes sense then

    • Combined with Powerwall, it makes owners self-sufficient, even if the grid is off for several days

Other Topics

  • LiDAR is still a crutch

    • Tesla has radars in the Model S and Model X - they ship turned off

    • Humans drive without shooting lasers from their eyes - they drive with eyes and a brain.

      • Digital equivalent is cameras and a neural net

      • Road system is designed for this, using LiDAR doesn’t help the generalized solution

      • LiDAR is good for a specific solution - which has to be trained neighborhood by neighborhood

      • LiDAR doesn’t work in fog, doesn’t work in inclement weather, and doesn’t make sense on roads

      • SpaceX uses LiDAR, but it's the wrong solution for cars on roads that were made for people

  • Real-world AI and the US, next 4 years

    • Talented Americans need to look at making manufacturing cool again in America

    • Move from law, finance, etc, to manufacturing. Too much talent focused on there

  • Tesla’s mission of electrifying the world through sustainable transport and energy

    • It’s inevitable that all transport will eventually be autonomous and electric, including aircraft

      • Loss of rebates or changes in policy won’t change that

    • Can’t be stopped, it will eventually happen, just like the internal combustion engine taking over

That’s the complete step-by-step replay of the entire earnings call. It’s a lengthy one, but there was a lot of information shared across all of Tesla’s pillars. There’s a lot to be excited about, from FSD to the next-gen vehicle, Optimus, the Robotaxi network, and more. These next few years will be huge for Tesla and we hope you’ll join us for the ride.

Tesla's 2024 Q4 Earnings Call: How to Listen

By Not a Tesla App Staff
Not a Tesla App

Tesla is holding its 2024 Q4 earnings call today at 2:30 pm PT / 5:30 pm ET / 10:30 pm UTC. The earnings call will be followed by a Q&A session with Tesla executives, including Elon Musk.

We expect the focus to be on Tesla sales, FSD, and new products such as the new Model Y, Optimus, and the upcoming next-generation vehicle.

Listen Live

The event will be live-streamed on Tesla’s site. It will also be available live on YouTube, which is included below.

Start Time

Tesla's live stream starts at 2:30 pm PT, which is the following times around the world:

2:30 pm Pacific Time

5:30 pm Eastern Time

10:30 pm UTC

10:30 pm - London, England

11:30 pm - Berlin, Germany

9:30 am (Jan 30th) - Sydney, Australia

Q&A Questions

The questions that are asked during Q&A come directly from investors. These top questions may be asked and answered during Tesla's Q&A session.

  1. Is unsupervised FSD still planned to be released in Texas and California this year? What hurdles still exist to make this happen?

  2. Are there any discussions with other auto companies about licensing FSD?

  3. Is Optimus now mostly designed locked for 2025 production?

  4. Elon has said publicly that long term shareholders of Tesla will have the ability to invest in his other companies. Could you provide some clarity/color as to what that looks like? Brokerage firms use FIFO so anyone who trades won’t have the true length of time as investor.

  5. When will Tesla start selling Optimus and price?

Look Back at Tesla's 2024 Q4

In Q4, Tesla produced 459,445 vehicles and delivered 495,570 vehicles to its customers globally. As usual, the Model 3 and Model Y accounted for the majority of sales with 436,718 vehicles produced.

The Cybertruck, Model S, and Model X are lumped in as “Other Models” - totaling 22,727 produced. This is about 700 more than the previous quarter. However, with Cybertruck production ramping up and sales expanding to Canada, this likely means dwindlingly for the Model S and Model X.

Q4 2024 Breakdown

Model

Production

Deliveries

Model 3/Y

436,718

471,930

Other Models (Including CT)

22,727

23,640

Total

459,445

495,570

2024 Annual Breakdown

Model

Production

Deliveries

Model 3/Y

1,679,338

1,704,093

Other Models (Including CT)

94,105

85,133

Total

1,773,443

1,789,226

Tesla sales were down about 1% globally when compared to 2023 and drastically lower overall if you exclude China. The North American and European markets saw significant downswing with the Model 3 having a year-over-year change of -17.4%. While it may be too early to tell, the big question is whether this trend will continue into 2025.

We’ll have a full recap for you tomorrow, including everything Tesla talked about and all the questions and answers during the Q&A session.

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