What Happened To Tesla’s First Car - The Roadster?
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- Опубліковано 10 чер 2024
- The Roadster was Tesla’s first car. And with only 2,450 made and an estimated 1,500 left, it’s an endangered species. But a die-hard group of early adopters and fans are passionate about keeping the EV-maker’s original electric car alive.
00:00 - Intro
01:53 - History of the Roadster
02:52 - Tesla's start-up days
03:30 - The Roadster community
06:08 - An endangered species
07:36 - Medlock and Sons EV repair
10:20 - Repairing Roadsters
12:30 - Finding Roadster parts
14:52 - Rising Roadster values
16:20 - Keeping the Roadster alive
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What Happened To Tesla’s First Car - The Roadster? - Авто та транспорт
Massive props to the Medlock crew for keeping these Roadsters alive!
Thank you from all of us.
This is a testament to how good Lotus cars were not how good Tesla are because Tesla cars are now much much better than the roadster.
That's why 3rd party repair is so important and why manufacturers shouldn't be able to use legal power against them for repairing a car or sharing manuals or aftermarket parts or anyone cracking their proprietary on-board diagnostics.
This video is sponsored by Microsoft🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣👍
Tesla will take over
Even thought Tesla doesn't service the Roadster with the expertise that Medlock and Sons do, it's not all bad. Medlock does an incredible job. Think it would be smart if Tesla partnered with Medlock to keep service on these beauties going into the future.
They'll do a Rich Rebuild on these poor mutt.
I only selectively remembering muskets saying that their vechicles would be running after 10 years. Funny how off the mark they were...
It is all bad. He maybe able to fix whatever Roadster gets shipped to him (which sucks, imagine having to ship a Toyota because you can't get it fixed locally), but the real issue is the lack of parts. Tesla doesn't make the parts, autozone/shops don't carry these parts either. So sooner or later they won't be serviceable because of Tesla Motors.
@@gag141 They are not Toyotas and we will have parts for these for a very long time. We make all of them.
@@slevingaius they're still running
I still remember wanting one so bad in 2007 and 2008, but it being completely out of reach for me. I talked to a guy who owned one in Venice CA near Lincoln and Rose in late 2009 and he was very friendly and open to my questions. He seemed to be thrilled to own one. I wonder if he still has his. 🤔
Go to Lincoln and Rose everyday but haven't seen one so far.......I saw about 5 Rivian so far though lol
@@TheFalseShepphard He was actually bitten by a rabid possum.
@@TheFalseShepphard 😀
@@ronson-natsarim Did they have to put him down like old yeller?
Thank you to the Medlock family for providing outstanding service and for making the world a better place! Thank you to everyone who shared their Roadster story. I found a lot of beauty in this video.
I agree - for a "news corporation" video, it was really well done and heartfelt. And I don't mean the "news corp" as a slam, it's just that it's unusual to get "the feels" from that sort of venue.
The water pump car has finally been repaired.
Haha nice job Carl! Electrical gremlins keeping you busy
Carl you're really amazing. your workplace is awesome and i hope you keep doing this in future too and become the go to repair shop for EVs all over the world. All the best for future.
What did you find that caused the problem?
@@NoWastedCalories Two problems actually. Roadsters have temp sensors all over inside the battery and outside in various components. One of the wires to a sensor was in the wrong pin location from the factory. It was causing two temp sensors to provide erroneous input signals to the wrong pins in the VMS (vehicle management system). One sensor was bad but when I checked it, it read ok. It read ok because it was actually reading the board next to it. Pretty harmless issue, the car made it 10 years like this. I asked the owner if I could keep it and solve the problem. They were very kind and let me go after this. I took a ton of notes but the reality is, I’ll never see this again.
@@carlmedlock Impressed you kept at it. My trucks electric fuel pump would quit at times so I just ran a wire from a circuit that is hot when the engine is running, to a dash switch, to the pump motor. I know, not professional but it works, and when the switch is off the engine wont run....simple anti-theft device.
Kind of surprised that Tesla forgot about the early roadsters. I thought they were really cool. It's awesome that there is a dedicated group of individuals that keep them on the road.
How to own a roadster.
Step 1: Work at Microsoft
Found Microsoft.
Listen to the costs to replace any of these parts. Ridiculous
Or just be a millionaire.
@@chiquita683 surprisingly if you're clever about things it's not as expensive as it may seem.
Big, big thank you to both Medlock and Gruber for keeping our electric land rockets maintained and on the roads :-)
love these cnbc short videos...keep making these...
The Roadster looks amazing. I would love to drive a car like that.
It's a lotus Elise body, looks exactly the same except it has a gasoline engine
@@samzuckerbraun3496 Not even close. It's a completely different body, made from carbon fiber. The chassis was extended to fit the Tesla battery pack. You couldn't fit Elise body panels if you tried.
@@samzuckerbraun3496 they had to rework everything.. so it's not an Elise sorry.
@@ErikRobertson Soo you can't use the Lotus Elise to repair Tesla Roadsters? That sucks tbh
@@ErikRobertson not even close??? It's like 70% the same. It's like an updated Elise with a body kit. They look pretty damn close. If you told someone it was a new model Elise they would believe it.
I have a Tesla Roadster and crashed it some years ago. The Tesla people were awesome and the repairs done super well. It is good to hear there are after market companies as well now to keep these beauties on the road!
When did you buy it? Cause if you bought it when it was released you could have been a multimillionaire if you invested your money into Tesla instead.
@@williamknows3908 yeah, but then you wouldn't have had a tesla roadster
@@williamknows3908 If your family had purchased farmland on Manhattan Island back in 1850 you would be a trillionaire today.
I remember seeing these being built on the Lotus production line that was used for the VX220 and now the Evija
i remember my first ride in a roadster, the buyer was the father of a friend in munich, an information trader for reuters (=very wealthy man). he openly told me he was sold on this car for the acceleration. i had specifically asked for a ride and some autobahn action and i was not disappointed. i was driving a mini cooper at the time, 125hp, and was absolutely stumped.
Seen a few of these in LA, I always stop and admire because I know I won’t see one for a while. I have seen people stop because I stopped and snaps pictures and start asking me questions. I educate them and they leave thinking it’s a pretty cool car. I Love Cars and knowing about weird cars it’s always better than knowing about the Hellcat everyone knows about.
Ten years later this is going to be one of highest valued collectors item. Period.
I don't think so...
Why do you think not?
@@getintothewildwithjeffruma8777 will be dead weight with dead batteries :D
@@getintothewildwithjeffruma8777 I personally just don't see any value in them as it wasn't really ever a Tesla to begin with. It was a Lotus rigged with an electric power train. It's not exactly a beautifully hand crafted work of art like a Bugatti, Koenigsegg, Lexus LFA. It's actually kinda ugly and looks like a garage built kit car. Along with the parts being so hard to come by and them being specialized parts that can only be made by Tesla which has no interest in keeping these cars running anyways... If you bought one today for $160,000 and didn't touch it yes it would be worth maybe $350,000 in 5 years but the reality is technology ages and let's say a circuit board goes bad on the car. That's $60,000 to reengineer one plus the install. The iPhone 3 sitting in a box somewhere in my garage isn't worth anything along with my Galaxy S8 and my Xbox 360, Ect. The reality is old tech doesn't go up in value and with it being almost impossible to repair as used parts run dry what do you have? A pile of parts on wheels... 60 years from now it won't be possible to take the 2008 Tesla Roadster out for a drive because it won't be able to be kept alive that long. Plus once their new supercar comes out THE REAL TESLA ROADSTER in 2025 this thing will be worth absolutely nothing and I'm willing to bet on it.
I love Tesla and everything they do. I'm a huge Elon Musk follower and love electric cars but I don't think the roadster will ever be anything special. It will definitely end up like the AMC Javelin or DMC DeLorean, Eagle Talon, BMW Isetta.
@@lifeofmike556 you don’t think other collector cars with very few made don’t experience what you said either? You don’t know what you’re talking about
I love Tesla so much, I'm a Tesla nerd. I love this guy, watching this is emotional. I want to hug this guy
Thank U
Damn after watching this video IF I owned one of these original Tesla’s I would be scared to death of driving it anywhere. I would feel like I had an crucially endangered animal that I would be acting unreasonable with having on the road. It’s sad it’s that difficult to get parts for the cars.
I own one and you nailed it on the head. Thankfully, I live in Waco, Texas where I don't worry too much. But I do say a prayer each time and am super careful :)
@@davidtharp2472 I hear you David. Take good care of it. As Tesla grows your car will become an every increasing icon. Symbolizing the start of a whole new period in automotive history.
I remember when I first heard of these, it was in a Rob Reports magazine I got for Christmas 08. Great documentary
this is soo nice. good for the environment and the owners and the passion is real
great niche, and good work. With the legacy and low number produced, those car will become collectible worth 1M$ each soon enough, then when you start to think that way, one shop that have the talent and knowledge to do maintenance and repair as close to original condition is incredibly valuable.
Someone in my old apartment building had one, beautiful car. Didn’t realize they were that rare.
14-15yrs later and still looks Amazing !!
Bring back the roadster😍
the last line was insanely awesome
This is a great channel. Always high production values. Always worth watching.
Enjoyed the perfect review on a hot hatch that would probably last a long time 😃👍
I remember this and I remember how excited me and my friend were that there is an EV sportcar. This was back when Nolan's Batman was released and Iron Man 1.
God bless.
I live in San Francisco,CA and there were Tesla Roadster in 2005. I remember seeing several parked while I lived in the Haight. I know it was 2005 because I moved to Chicago in 2008.
It's like a old relic but precious
Thanks a lot for this video!
I was a Roadster passanger on an exhibition event for a few minutes and bought Tesla shares.
One year later a colleague (15 years working in car industry) told me BMW i3 & i8 are the first competitors and the others are ready with better cars, the next few years THEY will have the maket and Tesla would be history.
I was STUPID enough to think he knows what he tells and I sold my shares... Years have gone by and the "competitors" are still no competitors and the shares I sold these days have had such a high value...
THE CORE OF THIS: NEVER TRUST IN "EXPERTS" !!!
The thing missing from that shop is a portrait of Nikola Tesla, the briliant mind that invented the motor that is powering all of the tesla cars and many more things in the world. Keep up the good work.
Good idea we will add one
5:52 278'000 KM is mid-mileage for a Volvo.
But really cool video from CNBC
I love CNBC documentaries .... Can you make a new one on American EV start ups (Rivian & Lucid) Post-Ukraine war and how their production has been affected by cost of materials?
I've seen a few roadsters in Winnipeg Manitoba
I love the sigh after saying they do electrical work 8:34
I want to have one of these babies as soon as I can afford one. My dream car. A car that has soul, history and culture. A true collector's item.
Have a picture of one with Plate Amp 1 Up from Napa Valley in March 2012
I've wondered about the "Original Tesla" car. Coo-do's to Medlock for keeping them alive.
To me, this seems to have similarities to DeLorean Houston where they want to bring out a new car vs. remanufacture parts to keep the old ones going. So other 'DeLorean' vendors have to step up and fill the gaps.
Love seeing my old forklift at medlock and sons
Wow! You guys did it up righteous. The first time I saw one of these first, "model Tesla Roadster's," was at Manheim Auto auction, and it looked like "Crap.". But, it's nice to know that there is someone out there that Care's about these cars, and can restore them to their original beauty. "Thumbs up on this video."
Guesstimate of 1,500 left, they've depreciated very little in 10yrs. Add another 10yrs and even less on the streets than today by half or more, staggering to think what they'd be worth.
Legend has it, that water pump is still going
I owned a 2010 Tesla Roadster and sold it just before getting my first Model S. To see that they are now selling for well over twice what I sold it for is unsurprising. Luckily, I had put that money and a lot more into TSLA shares pre-split and it has grown by multiples more than that car's market value has grown.
You don't seem to hear much about about owners who don't like that car. But I did not enjoy it, despite its Lotus beauty and Tesla acceleration. It was uncomfortably tight and took a contortionist's efforts to get in and out, particularly with the hardtop installed. In fact, after the first day, I never drove it again with the top on until the day I delivered it to the buyer's representative.
At 6'7", I am sure I would never fit comfortably, but it is the only beautiful Tesla in my opinion. The S isn't bad, but the rest are just hideous.
It is like like the Corvette. I am 6'2" and have a hard time getting in and out. I would assume the Lotus body is even more difficult.
So happy for u man
@Zo 🌻 How much you got?
The one with the water pump problem.. disconnect it from all electrical sources and insulate it from anything metal. Then run custom wires as a bypass.
Didn't Tesla release an extended range/battery refresh kit for the original roadster?
I have the Elise, the Alfa 4C and this Tesla sitting my my garage. Good job Lotus.
lol
These are probably gonna be worth a lot of money in the future
They’re worth Millions already it’s so crazy
they already are
I wonder if a flood damage one would be worth fixing if not possible or even a front end damage one
I don’t understand the body parts issue, surely your shopping is done in the UK for Lotus parts?
The car shares zero body parts with any Lotus car.
Was that Doug DeMuro's Ford GT shown during the party?
Still remember when first tesla tested in top gear and clarkson make fun of it
He then reviewed the Model X and needed the car to be full of lawyers.
Jeremy Clarkson makes fun of everything
@@jordanfehr7749 Yep, nothing new with Clarkson. It is just a form of entertainment. Heck he makes fun even on well established car manufacturers.
@@kornkernel2232 and it is absolutely hilarious how he does it
They made a limited amount to raise initial funding. They started with expensive versions first then went onto mass production. Roadster to Model S to Model 3 to Model Y etc. This was explained from the very beginning and these owners act absolutely shocked?
This tells you the story of how Elon Musk (who wasn't one of the founders) CHEATED Tesla's "founding fathers", forgetting what SERVICE is all about. Just like Apple, Elon and the top brass think their products are DISPOSABLE. That's NOT the ENVIRONMENTALLY SAVVY way to go.
Also shows people who THE REAL ENVIRONMENTALISTS and the FAKE ONES are...
@@syxepop Tesla would be nonexistent today if Elon had not come along. And so what, he joined within the same year.
Yes. So the most expensive, most exclusive cars, belonging to people who believed in Tesla the earliest, should _probably_ be supported the best, right?
@@seanz6586 sye pop is a troll
@@wojciechmuras553 Keeping the original Roadster updated to current specs is like asking Apple to retrofit the original iPhone to run current generation software. You could argue the original iPhone users deserve this service but is it practical at all?
I’m surprised Lotus isn’t able to help these guys out with sourcing parts??
To think this has appreciated twice it’s original value. Unbelievable. If we only knew then…
Kudos to keeping them on the road!! 👏🏻
Agreed. I'm surprised no mention of they reach out to Lotus for spare body parts.
Almost nothing about the car - including external parts - is original Lotus. There's a bunch of cutouts and other modifications to fit the internals. However, I think the hood is still original (they may have just bought Lotus' molds for that?)
@@eloneatmyshorts Lotus assembled the cars but did not produce the body. Soltera made the carbon. Last 5% of a Roadster are Lotus parts.
There’s a place in Arizona Gruber motors Inc. they rebuild Tesla vehicles as well as the roadster they rebuild the batteries and electronics completely. They also can bring an original tesla roadster back to life when the battery is completely dead and won’t take a charge.
Tesla Roadster is a legend and should appreciate to become quite a collectable for sure.
Classic creation connection
I want one of these! The first Tesla Roadster! 😍
Zero behaved the same with all their early products. I inquired about service assistance on my 07 X, and 09 DS. All they said is "just buy one of our newer better ones". I was on my own. The X got a new pack and the DS didn't survive.
Sounds alot like what happened with the demise of the Delorean.
Sadly it's not from a company that's gone bust, just one that abandoned it's ewaste
True
Deloren parts were purchased and a company in TX has 20,000 vehicles worth of parts. They may build an electric version soon.
I love these cars it kind of sucks that they got pushed to the wayside, my neighbor actually had one when they first came out but later got rid of it because of the service issues he was actually upset to get rid of it because he enjoyed it. He has a model S now and the students probably been driving electric cars only for 10 years.
You have to bring up the fact that Elon Musk was not CEO when the first Roadster came out. At the time, he saw no vision for the first Roadster and moved on with the model S.
Not sure what your point is. The company was founded in 2003 without him, but he was chairman of the board in 2004 (because he became majority stock holder). He took the job of CEO in 2008. Musk was also active in the development of the car. Musk was thinking long term wanting to expand into a larger market then what the roadster could support which meant the roadster could not be their only focus. As far as long term planning, it's difficult to say anyone could have been more effective.
There was one on bat for sale a few weeks ago.
Hell yeah! 🤟🤙👌
I dream to get a 1,000-mile EV one day ~ Aptera or otherwise.
#RightToRepair
I saw a roadster at a Harbor Freight around 2011. The photos is hot are on my Flickr page. I think it was orange.
Amazing tesla content we love tesla make more tesla content 🔥
Greetings from Costa Rica 🇨🇷.
Minute 9:00: I thought: “If I owned a Tesla Roadster, would I ship the car to Medlock in Seattle or would it be possible to fly the specialists to Costa Rica for diagnostics and repairs.”
Minute 9:06: Randy Medlock: “I even travelled to a car in Costa Rica…”
Uncanny!
Es bien probable que allá en San José todavía exista un dueño de uno de esos Tesla Roadsters en algún garaje (tendrá que cargarlo en la casa, ya que el puesto de carga más cercano de la marca se encontraría en Mexico).
This dude is awesome
This car reminded me of the opel
Still a beautiful car. There’s one in my area still bumping around.
By beautiful do you mean Tesla?or the car built by Lotus and named the Elise? Or the coach builder Radford that designed the Elise for Lotus? Or Elon Musk?
@@mattanacker The car shares zero body panels with a Lotus car. Nor wheels, nor frame, nor lights, nor drivetrain, etc, etc.
luv u guys!
I saw what I think I saw what I thing was the first public demo of the car that became the roadster in Santa Monica, Ca.
Allan Coconni , who designed the EV-1 drive train for GM, was at this private home to demonstrate his new product a Toyota/ Scion car converted to his EV drive train.
After the introduction of the new car in the back yard we went to the street to see his Lotus conversion.
He stepped on the pedal hard and sound the car was fine! About 0-60 in 4.5 seconds.
Allan invented the roadster and came up with the crazy concept of using thousands of laptop 18650 lithium cells instead of what all the other EV-s used in the past.
The reason was the owner of the NiMh patent did not sell the batteries used in the GM EV-1 or the improved Panasonic version used in the Toyota RAV-4 EV.
Texaco bought the battery patent from GM when they stopped making the EV-1 then merged with Chevron .
I Personally talked to the Fake company the oil company set up and asked to buy batteries for testing in our Phoenix Motor cars prototype.
They would only sell in quantities of many thousands, and No demo cells were available.
They did try to sell a UPS with there cells and we considered buying them just to get the batteries and leaving the inverter part but they wanted too much.
Allan went through the same thing and decided he would skip the proven NiMh batteries and go to lithium even though it meant Thousands if small batteries , and points of solder connection failure points, to get around this.
Look at the movie “who killed the electric car” to see Alan. He is not a musk like extrovert but deserves the credit for the roadster.
The Tesla founders bought the rights from Allan’s company and turned the prototype into a real car. So the founders deserve credit just not invention credit and Elon was not involved in any of this!
Hope this helps any EV historians…
Honestly they lool better than most offerings
Can't you source some of the parts from Lotuses, the car that the Roadster was built from?
Windshields.
great car that most never heard of ))
That’s crazy cool :)
I remember looking at one of these cars when they came out I couldn't even fit in it 🤣.
I wish I would have Tesla stock from $22/share!
Buy Lucid stocks
@@oscart698 nope it's risky investment tbh i would invest when they enter in mass production 200 cars isn't mass production
@@oscart698 Lucid won't be mass production for years, there is only one Elon Musk, all others are wanna be.,"mass production @ scale is hard", > someone who slept on the factory floor and went thru " Production Hell" , as Superman Clark Kent RJ Scaringe of Rivian is finding out , & I like cool and smooth Peter Rawlinson .
Being of age and how to manage the sequence of returns in those early periods is what seems quite scary in the current market. The market is never a loser in the twenty year cycle, but the 2000s decade scenario scares me and could really disrupt my retirement. When you're no longer accumulating but withdrawing, it's hard to be anything but cautious.
For now, investors getting started can feel overwhelming. Risk loom large and complicated, unfamiliar financial jargons can be intimidating.
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Great video! But I wanna make one small clarification. The Tesla roadster 1.0 does not share any of the same components as the rest of the Tesla fleet. The new cars are like are like Lego sets plug and play. The roadster 1.0 is a super complex taped together sports car think old Porsche level of wiring and stuff.
Currently there are more Tesla service centers that are now servicing the roadster. Keep an eye out for the growing number.
Wait for a new breed of Tesla "non-factory" boutique centers appearing because Tesla can't service their newer BEV's, starting with the Model S and X.
Man this reminds me of what GM did to Pontiac and the Trans Am. The feels are strong here…. 😢
Pontiac Trans Am? I used to be a parking lot attendant, there was this red TA that had a 4 Cyl Iron Duke engine ,plus auto trans, ,drove like it had a boat⚓ anchor 🤣
Love the fact that number 687's sister car 686 is still spinning in the orbit.
Damn that last line gave me goosebumps
Wasn’t “based” on a Lotus, it IS a Lotus with an electric drivetrain.
Everyone a massive piece of automotive history
For lots of old cars the brand stops manufacturing parts and then they cant service it. In Europe, most older cars go to repair shops other than the dealer because parts can only be found in scrap yards and dealers don't source parts from there. For Tesla, being a fast moving company, the roadster is VERY old. Its more than normal that service has to be sourced from outside the brand.
Nice Car)
As an Elise owner I wonder how many shared parts there are. I see a lot of them in the video.
As an Elise owner I know there is not much shared. Tesla contracted with Lotus to build the chassis with the techniques Lotus had developed to build the Elise, but the chassis for the two cars are not the same. The Tesla uses the same windshield as an Elise. Lotus also built chassis for GM/Opel in the same production facility at Hethel.
Cool 😎
that awesome great keep in a life “”” best engineer support
Quicker, not faster. They're good fun, yes I've driven one; way back when it was introduced.
Cool
God bless u all ,
Cal Lotus they still have parts!
“What was the First car in space? - the roadster!” moon buggy; “he said what!? hold my beer”…
What I got from this is that when Tesla makes something else and stops making a car, you’re screwed if you own one.
Yup!
But add that to all EVs. This is the car manufacturers wet dream. Force consumer upgrades because their cars can't be repaired
The way manufacturers intended
@Block Lord - guess why Foxconn (who've mostly makes the iPhone for Apple) is going into building BEV's for other OEM's? 🤔
Regardless of how much greenwashing they do, large companies - especially those with public shares - are not the environment's friend. Money above everything.
Literally cheaper to buy a Lotus and electrify it now!
Lot that's probably true
Many parts can probably bought through Lotus or are general parts
He better start training a few apprentices before he retires because these are the niche skills that can’t be learned from a mechanics manual.
West seattle 🙌🏽