Just ordered a Tesla!

[lotos]

On the exact 7 year anniversary of my Lotus Elan purchase, I 'done lost my mind' and bought her a friend: a Tesla Roadster! It's scheduled to be transported to me in the very near future. Ugh. Waiting is the hardest part. Worse than paying.

[epipete]

Now, I do like that. Need to see the interior though as I really don't care to much for the big screen in the saloon.

[lotos]

Now, I do like that. Need to see the interior though as I really don't care to much for the big screen in the saloon.

The chassis started life as a Lotus Elise and they used many of the same interior pieces. The funny part is I have two of these same steering wheels in my garage that I plan to fit to my Elan!

[epipete]

Very nice, much much better

[HJ2]

I like both The big ipad in the S and this.

Do I see a JVC HU with navigation?

[lotos]

I like both The big ipad in the S and this.

Do I see a JVC HU with navigation?

Yep, that's the factory head unit - was the easiest way to offer Navigation in a single-din space I guess.

[tigerdog]

There's a few Telsa roadsters on the road around here. Swift and silent! I saw one or two rolling down the line at Hethel when I was over for the 50th anniversary shindig. They were mixed in with the regular Elises, so there must be LOTS of shared parts.

[lotos]

There's a few Telsa roadsters on the road around here.

I'm not surprised, everything cool is plentiful in California! I only got the car because I was lucky enough to have an owner nearby take me for a spin in his Roadster so I could make sure I liked it. (I hadn't seen one in person since they were for sale new, and had never sat in one)

I saw one or two rolling down the line at Hethel when I was over for the 50th anniversary shindig. They were mixed in with the regular Elises, so there must be LOTS of shared parts.

https://www.teslamotors.com/blog/mythbu ... otus-elise

Less than 7% shared parts, believe it or not! They modified everything on the Elise. The entire body and lots of tub pieces are done in Carbon Fiber on the Tesla where they were steel, aluminum or plastic on the Lotus. (Hence the $120k list price) For the most part Tesla ended up paying Lotus a serious amount of money to basically assemble a new model "based" on the Elise for them. Even though it was only made for three model years (2008, 2010, 2011) they made MASSIVE changes each year on the car, too. Crazy considering the super low volume.

It's funny how rudimentary the charging system and interior is compared to the Model S. People sometimes complain on the Model S forums that a $70k car should be better appointed - I now imagine what Roadster owners must have said with their fully loaded $140k Roadsters in 2008. It's got slightly more inside than an Elise (you don't have the exposed aluminum parts, they put a little sound matting and carpets in) but it's still a rough riding simple little car that is tight even on a small guy like me.

[tigerdog]

I always thought the Tesla Roadster was closer to the Europa (which we never got in the US) than the Elise. I'd still love to have one; Tesla seems to be continuing to evolve them and offer retrofits and refurbishments, such that a used one (if you can find it) costs as much as a new one did when they were available. Talk about holding value!