When it was unleashed on the world in 2008, the Tesla Roadster was a pretty neat car. There was no way to know, though, how much of a cultural force the company that created it would become. Not even, it seems, for Tesla.
The overwhelming realization that comes from watching Doug DeMuro run through all of the Roadster‘s (ahem) quirks and features is that it was still really pandering to a customer base that was primarily familiar with internal combustion engines.
That, of course, makes sense given the state of the automotive landscape at the time. With the benefit of hindsight, though, it comes off as a lack of confidence.
The Roadster, for instance, had a key. Like, an actual piece of metal that you had to stick into an ignition and turn. I suppose that was more intuitive for the audience of the day, but it seems odd today when even gas-powered cars use a button.
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More to the point, though, it had a tachometer. DeMuro supposes it’s because the company had, at one point, thought of adding another gear to the car like Porsche did with the Taycan. More of a hangover from that decision than a nod to the Lotus on which the Roadster was based, then. It’s still a thoroughly unusual thing to see in an EV, even (I have to assume) from the perspective of people in 2008.
There are some hints of what was to come, though. The key has a programmable button, there’s a touchscreen to the right of the steering wheel, and there’s a fuel saved section in the infotainment. There are also doors with no door handles and a little section in the infotainment that tells you exactly how much fossil fuel you’ve prevented from being used.
And with a 0-60 mph time of 3.9 seconds (not as impressive but still quite spritely by today’s standards) and a chassis from Lotus, you can see the Tesla performance that would come to define the brand.
Taking a look back at the Roadster, then, is like looking back at a video of a pop star before they became famous. Some of the showmanship and stagecraft is missing, but the talent that made them famous is clear to see.