The Tesla Roadster Story

[@catjudo1]

If I ran an American car company, I wouldn't let Jeremy Clarkson within five miles of my car. Maybe Richard Hammond, but only if I could drive Oliver.

[@lynwestwood1762]

Sterling Crockett you are not wrong,i like the way you think 🤔

[@panzerkami2381]

He was sometimes nice to American cars but if you sell electric cars you certainly shouldn't let Jeremy Clarkson within 10 km. Under his stint at Top Gear they were caught red-handed, pants down, faking "tests" where electric cars "ran out of juice" twice (Tesla and Nissan) to satisfy his urge to throw shit at EV's. Which of course satisfied his beer-belly neanderthal fans.

[@ABrit-bt6ce]

If you let The Hamster near it then your car would have a firey death.

[@priesermax]

@@panzerkami2381 Also the Robin with extra weight at certain points to let it roll over.....

[@Grulaz]

What about James May?

[@S-Ltd1000]

I previously commented on the preview for this. A wealthy friend of mine was an early adopter of Tesla technology and had a roadster S. I got to go in it a couple of times and it was a surreal experience at the time. Very quick and of course virtually silent. Build quality was not the best for the £95k he paid for it but it was his only car for a couple of years which he used to travel between Nottingham and Essex a couple of times a week. Completely impractical but it was more of a test bed as this was the car that laid the foundations for the electric revolution we are seeing today.

[@beff5058]

I loved this electric car series. I've watched each video 3 times lol. subbed.

[@BigCar2]

Thank you!

[@petrosE75]

You might find the Ford Sierra XR8 interesting.

[@Lovejazz01]

All the lucky people who actually own a first gen Roadster, wow, a piece of automotive history in their garages!

[@tripleo4255]

Did you know that YOU could be one of those lucky people for only ≈$70,000? Since the release of the First Gen Roadster Elon Musk has become one of the most well known and well liked people in the world (as well as the richest at one point) and Tesla has become the most successful and valuable EV car company in history and yet even after that seemingly unattainable amount of success in such a short amount of time the car that started it all is only selling for $70k..

[@rowaystarco]

From the window at my old office, I could see a Tesla Roadster parked outside every day. Someone was using as their everyday commuter car. But this was 9 or so years ago, so who knows if it's still "alive" today.

[@lamia197]

I love the leanring the histroy about these cars. The history is often more interesting than the car itself. Also I did not know it was a lotus elise, I thought it was an evora.

[@EVMYT]

It's neither it was mostly modified and then the car was completely type approved in its own right. As he said it only shared 6% of its parts with lotus in the end. Lotus just built the modified car as a glider platform. On the log book it's a Tesla not a modified lotus (like a Hennessey).

[@bangerbangerbro]

I was directed to this video to prove it wasn't an Elise.

[@Zobeid]

This was a great and much-needed retrospective on the Roadster. However, a couple of little niggles… The 2009 interior update did not introduce the tiny touch screen, which had been in the car from the beginning. They did relocate it from an awkward position next to driver's door to the center console at that time. On the instrument panel they also replaced the useless tachometer with a power gauge, and they replaced the stick shifter with a push-button shifter - both changes that made sense after switching to a single-speed gearbox. "Tesla offered an open top for the first time…" I have no idea what you were even referring to there, since every Roadster was produced with the same targa-style open top design.

[@briancronan3489]

Ñ

[@hughmnyks]

I’d no idea the Tesla Roadster actually was part-Lotus. You really can learn something new everyday day. Keep up the excellent work!

[@ConquerDriving]

Great video, makes me feel proud to own a VX220 as it kind of shares some of its history.

[@theuncalledfor]

"Hey Elon, would you like to invest in us?" _"WhY yEs, I wOuLd LoVe To OwN a CaR cOmPaNy"_

[@Marcus_from_OZ]

Also a reference to Hitchhiker's Guide with "Don't Panic" on the centre screen at the end of the Vid.

[@ChimeraActual]

I assume it's well known that the car-in-space reference is from the movie Heavy Metal. That was a dramatic opening to the movie and the Tesla-in-space has almost identical references.

[@mwahahaha]

Brilliant video as always, thank you for the time, effort and love you put into making them - it really shows.

[@BigCar2]

Thank you Dan!

[@RayEttler]

very substantial .... one of my top5 favourite channels. keep up the good work mate!

[@thedumbconspirator4956]

I watched this video and felt the need to rewatch it in my model 3. Its incredible how far Tesla has come as a car company! The first tesla i ever saw was a model S in 2013, the car looked like something from the future, now im pleased to be sitting in a tesla of my own! But the sendoff of the first roadster is such a fitting end for the first production car from the company!

[@Englishman_in_Taipei]

Quality content as usual. Love watching your insightful videos.

[@BB-ux9px]

I almost forget about this car. this is my favourite car in NEED FOR SPEED cause of no noise on roads. thinks for this video.

[@JeffKing310]

Great channel - thrilled to see its continued growth!

[@acward2007]

Awesome mini-documentary (no pun intended). Well narrated and put together, so will be hitting the subscribe button.

[@robertwestinghouse4098]

Brilliant as always. Thank you

[@g00dfeeling]

Would like to see Citroën CX story on this channel.

[@BigCar2]

Me too! I was doing some research into the XM, and also looked at the CX. That car was seriously cool. I will do it at some point.

[@aidanov5321]

Brilliant video keep up the Amazing work :)

[@elgonza69]

Love the shirt!! Awesome episode!

[@brenttaylor7971]

Great video. My 2010 Roadster will still put a smile on your face :-)

[@BigCar2]

Did you get the battery pack upgrade?

[@oliverl2172]

Bloody brilliant video, mate.

[@FEVERNOVAA]

Really love the coil voltic

[@moonshade99]

More fun to drive in gta5 than any other car

[@FEVERNOVAA]

@@moonshade99 yeah,sadly only the OGs will remember how great it was for 150k, in current gta 150k can get you a jacket and a sprite

[@bangerbangerbro]

The stats are still fairly good today just not for the price. 2:08 I thought AC propulsion used li ion batteries? In the video about the T-Zero they say there is a lead acid version and a a version using laptop batteries, presumably li ion. The switch to carbon fibre would be something I would have thought would have come later when they tried to further reduce mass. I can't see getting rid of GRP being urgent.

[@tonylee-UK]

Bloody outstanding video. Thank you.

[@markdavis2475]

All while starting Space X at the same time! Tesla Roadsters can still be had for reasonable money.

[@MarquosXoloVanda]

Haha, reasonable for those rich enough to throw $200K on them.

[@markdavis2475]

@@MarquosXoloVanda £80k in the UK😀 Sorry I meant the original model not the new one

[@darkling6655]

yeah and around the same time he lost his 3rd rocket and was about to give up on spacex too but one thing is for sure elon never fucking gives up even if he has to lose everything just make one thing that he Believes in work.

[@darkling6655]

@James Smith yeah but in the dark times of jesus when he was being killed but elon survived just by a sliver. that day was almost the death of both tesla and spacex and would have been 100% dead if they where made by a different founder.

[@lusilk7954]

Top Marks bro , Top marks 👍🏿

[@IJustHitTheFan]

Didn't recognize you without the helmet

[@DreamCarsPro]

A very instructive story! Elon Musk managed to resist and save the dying company, and now it is No. 2 in terms of capitalization among automakers in the world. We wish him good luck and the achievement of all his goals!

[@peter-radiantpipes2800]

Great video.. I remember seeing the roadster being tested by a magazine or the company before production here in Santa Barbara. I was trying to figure out what the car was back then..

[@MicrobyteAlan]

Very interesting and well presented. I still watch Starman on raw space.

[@hultgrenjakob7065]

You are worth more subsribers and views than what you have. Hope The best for you. Greatings from SWEDEN.

[@BigCar2]

Thanks Hultgren!

[@Theocurrie]

Love your videos, thank you

[@jamesengland7461]

Excellent story as always!

[@jamesengland7461]

Oh look; it's me again.

[@Arpin_Lusene]

The way I see it is EV1 is the catalyst for early ev like roadster, and roadster is the one who change the perception from weird looking and slow ev to that ev can be can be a sexy looking sports car too.

[@danielc3453]

You should add history to the title Very Good!

[@BigCar2]

Thanks for the feedback.

[@pebre79]

It's hard to deny EVs are the future now that Porsche, Audi, GM, Ford, Hyundai and others are about to release their own EV models in a year or two

[@MICHGO1]

THEY ARE ALL STILL BEHIND TESLA.

[@admrsh]

@@MICHGO1😂 Tesla is overpriced shit what are you taking

[@GewelReal]

They sent the car into space in Feb of 2018?!? Jesus Christ the time flies by...

[@djneo92nl]

I never saw the 2009 version of the roadster with a different dash

[@robertthedutchguy4365]

Increddibly interesting video. Well done. Thank you.

[@Arnas3321]

4:41 Ah Lotus that one homey who always helps in the need of time ;)

[@SmartMart1658]

Best video yet. I'm a huge Tesla fan and I'm sure every other Tesla fan will want to watch this too. Bet it gets your highest number of views. Keep up the good work on Big Car and Little Car.

[@BigCar2]

😃 Thanks Martin! I also love what Tesla have done. Next after Big Car / Little Car - Medium-sized Car?!?

[@hydorah]

Astrostig at the end there. Well made and interesting video!

[@RoaldHemel35]

Great video!

[@admiralalcatraz6080]

Can we see the Skoda story? Pretty please :)

[@BigCar2]

I’m sure you will at some point.

[@mthraves]

@@BigCar2 I helped develop their production line software back in the 80s. At that time, part of the factory in Czechoslovakia used local prisoners to spray the cars. In fact I believe that the factory employed most of the local village!

[@BigCar2]

@@mthraves Wow! Interesting. BTW, I've made the video since I originally wrote this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJ63hpqMftacsLc

[@LAG09]

No mention of *why* Tesla actually sued Top Gear? Because the main gripe was that the review said that it broke down when it never did. That was something Clarkson & Co completely made up and only won because they successfully argued that Top Gear is an entertainment show, not a factual one, so they can just make things up like that.

[@bob15479]

Did you see this guy's shirt? He probably believes Clarkson's side of the story.

[@mostlybrokenbritishcars3220]

Ugh this again. - The Roadster DID have a range of 55 miles on the track (as confirmed by Tesla) - The Roadster DID suffer brake failure - The Roadster DID overheat and go into low power mode - The script was NOT already written before they received the vehicle to test - it was partially written with things they already knew about the vehicle and with room to add their impressions on the day about how it performed. The one thing I concede to be slightly iffy was that they showed it being pushed and implied that it had ran flat. It actually hadn't, but personally I give that a pass as a creative decision to hyperbolise its lack of range. In the same vain I wouldn't get upset if they pretended to need to push a Ford GT since its fuel tank is tiny. Whether you think that's fair is up to you though. In the end, Tesla sued, and lost. Sued again, and lost again. The Top Gear Tesla Roadster test was not rigged or unfair.

[@LAG09]

​@@mostlybrokenbritishcars3220 The review very clearly stated that it broke down completely and couldn't be driven. As I said this is not what happened and Tesla sued for it, but lost because Clarkson & Co successfully argued that what they portray in the show doesn't have to be factually correct. Regardless of how you feel about it, they really did win in court based on the argument that they're an entertainment program, not a factual one, so they can just make stuff up. That's a really dick argument to make for a show that does product reviews.

[@mostlybrokenbritishcars3220]

L_A_G Did you watch the same review as I did? They never said it broke down completely. They said the brakes broke - which was true, the fuse for the brake booster blew and if you’ve ever driven a modern car when the booster isn’t working you know how ineffective they become. They never said the motor overheated and went into reduced power mode, which was true also. Pushing the car implied not that it had broken, but that it had run out of electricity. That may not have been true, but it’s no different than if they had pushed an ICE car to illustrate a point about how small the tank is or how much of a gas guzzler it was. It’s creative license. They won the case based on them not having to be factually correct not because they weren’t factually correct (they completely were), but because under British law that was the best defence available to them to win the case. There wouldn’t have been any point fighter a harder battle by demonstrating that they were in fact factually correct when a valid argument under British law is that they did not have to be.

[@LAG09]

@@mostlybrokenbritishcars3220 You do know that Teslas and modern cars in electric general will warn you well ahead of time that the battery is about to run out? They even go into a kind of limp home mode that maximizes range so you can definitely make it to charger unless you're doing it on purpose or are completely stupid. A factual show doesn't know the term "creative license" and they don't make stuff up like it totally breaking down and needing to be pushed. The whole review literally ended on a talk about how electric cars will just break down all the time. So the argument about the "Well we can just make stuff up"-argument wasn't just chosen because it was the strongest defense, it was chosen because they really did make stuff up. Try to remember that Top Gear with Clarkson & Co was a *very* heavily scripted show.

[@kevinmusyoka5940]

Thank you for making this video. Cheer’s

[@kaitlyn__L]

I've got to wonder what would've happened if they'd stuck to the original concept of retrofitting an ICE car with a motor and batteries instead. Maybe a regular carmaker would've bought them and failed to do anything with the work? Or maybe they could've sold a lot more and cheaper? Would've been cool for AV's own car to have gotten off the ground. If there were 2 or 3 new companies making the same type of EVs all appearing around 2000, that might've had interesting effects on innovation via competition. By the way, thank you for doing proper subtitles!

[@MrDDawson]

Not all EV1's were crushed. Jay Leno found one at a very famous man's home few years back. Great story.

[@davidvonch8223]

This is a story in his book. Thanks for this..

[@danb.3397]

Did not know that about Elon's Roadster in space. THANKS !

[@campkira]

you mean one he don't bother to service... waiting list to just fix the car can take years....

[@dennispremoli7950]

that's surprising... it was possible 2018s biggest internet/media event

[@eriktempelman2097]

Nice one. Shows very well that Tesla has been through boot camp.

[@petrosE75]

It takes a man from Pretoria to show the world how to change how we should do things. Great video, as always!

[@petrosE75]

@@whiterottenrabbit I don't think a few words out his mouth about an idiot refusing assistance negates everything else he has done. Well, you're commenting on a two year old post. Today he is the richest person on the planet. Guess my remarks were spot-on. Wouldn't you say. Geniet jou dag. With love from South Africa.

[@chrislemaster2695]

+Big Car can you do a video on the failure of GM's Oldsombile 5.7L Diesel from 1977-1985. Recall in the double digits and GM had to replace engines due to weak head bolts and gaskets. The Diesel also lead to a massive lawsuit as well The single engine almost bankrupted GM back in 1981. Please do, a video on the notouries Oldsombile 5.7L 350 Diesel this would be a good video as these were sold in most countries.

[@richardtickler8555]

have they seen topgear? they were the only car magazine big enough to shit on models without losing ads and good will

[@martinnymark8915]

Fascinating to see that Elon Musk didn't really have that much to do with Tesla, except giving them money.

[@Adrian_Nel]

Nice look back at the beginnining of the new beginning. How many ns in beginning,again?

[@juliem1421]

All roadsters had removable soft tops. The sport had a slightly higher power motor

[@paulqueripel3493]

The cheese wheel may have been a Monty Python reference but the Don't Panic on the roadster in space is a Hitchhiker's Guide reference. And Douglas Adams who wrote that also wrote for, and occasionally appeared in, Monty Python.

[@marcioadriano_oficial]

I'm going to buy a Tesla model 3, a car ahead of its time

[@BigCar2]

Mine is very fun. I wouldn’t change it (except maybe for a Hyundai ionic as you can use it as a backup generator in case of power outages).

[@chrisuk1287]

Really good video thanks, loads there I never knew about Tesla. How about a Model S video?? :)

[@JohnnoDordrecht]

I am a great fan of you, but i am sure that you are indeed the STIG!

[@jameslatimer1432]

Hello could you do a story on the decline of Saab motor cars REASON why it failed thanks

[@BigCar2]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYavamZ5Z6-pl9U

[@gaufrid1956]

Gotta love the Tesla Roadster in space!

[@h-j.k.8971]

How do you charge that Roadster in outer Space?

[@BigCar2]

I'm sure there's a punchline to a joke in there if I could find it.

[@h-j.k.8971]

@@BigCar2 ooooooh.

[@darrensmith6999]

Thank you great video (:

[@timypp2894]

Slight off track but bear with me, I have been a big fan of lotus cars since being a kid. Always remembered how lotus struggled over the years with productions and going thru many owners. One of problem was the getting the right engines. They didn't make enough cars to warrant making their own (yes,they did their own V8). So they brought in their engines. Now jump to the present(ok a decade ago or so), It's good that Tesla took the Elise body and stuck their battery and motor on it. I hope lotus can now see what an electric motor could do for them and they could release their constraints and head upwards. Yes I know they are making what looks like a brilliant Evija. Alas that's £2m car. Just saying, lotus can now have a electric motor(s)that they could manufactured in quantity and power that suits their needs for their "normal" cars. And yes there's batteries to contend with buts that isn't surmountable. My hats still goes off to Tesla and what they have pulled off.

[@AVClarke]

The main problem with early EVs were they didn't look like a "regular" car. They made them look like these super-futuristic, "alien" looking things. That turned off the average consumer. Tesla made their first model look like a car that an average person would want to drive.

[@gottliebdee263]

Did Tesla “really” have a 1.9s 0-60 time or was that a 5-60 time?

[@paullacey2999]

Tesla has given the car industry the boot up the arse it needed.They werent too fussed until Tesla proved Electric cars would sell.Their next generation of cars will be better built and go further than the original generation.If it makes an affordable car for all,it will be a gamechanger all over again.

[@ElMistroFeroz]

Yeah about the 2020 roadster you briefly mentioned…

[@BigCar2]

One day!

[@Texmotodad]

THANK YOU!!!

[@1972dsrai]

And the rest as they say is history. It hasn’t been smooth sailing for Tesla though, with issues with build quality and paint for example, but for a new car maker it has done a lot to improve quality and the company is now bigger than its competitors in such a small time as well. Elon has the Midas touch.

[@rwdplz1]

14:20 I just watched the entire cheese shop sketch and I don't see the correlation? Maybe if they told people they were going to launch cheese and then on the day of launch there was no cheese to be found, not even cheddar?

[@BigCar2]

I think the only connection is cheese. As I said in the video - I think they were the only people who would make that connection!

[@rodoherty1]

Brilliant ... Thank you!!!

[@lbc2013]

I’d love to see a video on the Nissan Leaf.

[@BigCar2]

Me too. There's a guy in the north of England who takes the innards and uses them to convert old cars, and he's been keen to help me out with it.

[@chrisdouie9815]

Looks beautiful

[@lucrolland7489]

This automobile is the repetition of the MVS Venturi Fetish which is the first electrical super-car. Tesla ows a lot to the French and Hydro-Quebec as they started in the 90s.

[@PhilOsGarage]

You could put that volvo 3CC on sale right now, and it would sell

[@Frejborg]

Hmm nice but no segue into the new upcoming Roadster. Would have been much better.

[@claudiobizama5603]

The tZero concept headlights make it look like it was in distress.

[@CriticalRoleHighlights]

The reason why the electric car revolution didn't happen sooner is because the traditional car industry killed it. Twice. Electric cars were hugely popular in the early 1900's. New York alone had 15,000 of them. They could go 15-20 mph and had a range of 20-25 miles on a single charge. The car industry, working closely with the oil industry, killed them off and lobbied for increased support for ICE vehicles, which made sure no more R&D on any significant scale could be done in regards to electric vehicles. When the global warming craze started in the 70's, the car industry pretended to have an interest in saving the planet but knew very well they couldn't give up their extremely profitable ICE market, so they designed ugly low performance electric cars and asked the public what they thought. Predictably, 98% of all people said they didn't want one, allowing the car companies to stand up and say "well, there's no public interest so we won't continue. But at least we tried".

[@cbeagle]

Can you do the Ford Capri!

[@BigCar2]

You're in luck! kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZWyl6aPbdSGlbM

[@Adrian_Nel]

@@BigCar2 Oh,its so nice to deal with an Englishman,who knows the difference between you're, and your.

[@cbeagle]

@@BigCar2 actually thought I had watched all of your video's and have thought for ages, where is the Capri! KZbin has a lot to answer for! Thanks for the great video's, they are very informative and entertaining to watch.

[@BigCar2]

@@Adrian_Nel You should see the typos in my scripts! I'm always making the mistake of it's and its. Thankfully Word catches my errors.

[@dutpeter6191]

Finally the Stig himself from top gear

[@BigCar2]

How did you guess I was the Stig?!? 😜

[@DavinaTheWeena]

Sterling clean production

[@catjudo1]

I wonder if an old GM Powerglide two speed autobox could be made to work. They are still commonly used in drag racing because of their robust nature. Probably better that Tesla didn't, but who knows.

[@BigCar2]

Maybe, but with drag racing they only need to work a few times. With the Tesla they had to work for years.

[@catjudo1]

Big Car Good point sir.

[@stuartvasepuru1423]

With new technologies, the line between success and failure is often a fine one. Tesla didn't invent electric cars, but they did make them cool and desirable.

[@ianhill20101]

Cutting costs they used rover 100 exterior mirrors.

[@ambergris5705]

In French, Fétiche (pronouced fetish) means amulet. Venturi is a French manufacturer, so it makes sense to understand it as that. Quoique.

[@95blahblahhaha]

I eally don't care for or about this cat, but because the video was made by Big Cat I watch it and enjoyed just as much as ever other video

[@S-Ltd1000]

Meow.

[@svelobikes9049]

Nice!

[@島袋誠-z6k]

Crazy enogh it was so big, and then nothing, good luck tying to repair one with Tesla mechanics.

[@donaldsalkovick396]

"Having a celebrity go up in flames would be bad "......Having ANYONE go up in flames would be bad. Good video good informations. And ..,.no you're not 😉

[@BigCar2]

Indeed!

[@thomasfrancis5747]

Nothing like developing a car on a fully costed dynamic Bill of Material....

[@theseasonedracer0572]

The Tesla Roadster, The Predecessor to the New Lotus Evija. Or as i hope Reason why we need an Electric Elise.

[@geirjohannessen8132]

very good.

[@ewilloch]

Excellent video as always. I absolutely despise Elon Musk and his scams (including Tesla), so I wouldn’t normally spend time on a video about Tesla, but your excellent videos are worth watching regardless of the subjects. Thanks a lot!

[@sameyers2670]

I'm no fan of Elon Musk either but found this video interesting. Thank you

[@ssm840]

Why do you think of Elon musk as a scammer?

[@xillerrz7328]

@@ssm840 Go in and dive into to do some research on him.

[@admrsh]

You didn’t talk about how Elon stole the first roadster that was promised for Martin

[@lakrids-pibe]

I liked the idea of owning a Tesla a lot more before Elon Musk discovered Twitter.