Ever Wonder Why The Original Tesla Roadster Failed? Here's Why

There’s more than one reason the first-generation Roadster failed. That’s for sure.

For the Tesla Roadster of the first-generation, there were several issues that plagued the vehicle from the start. After all, it was the first all-electric vehicle ever produced by the newly established U.S based carmaker. The snappy high-performance machine looked good, borrowing its body from a Lotus Elise. It combined the aggressive body with some off the shelf battery packs and Tesla’s own first try at battery management system. In the end, it provided the driver with some impressive performance, underwhelming range and it was the car that brought the hype, but it clearly didn’t live up to it.

For starters, the vehicle lacked the appropriate range. It was also rather rough around the edges. And clearly, the technology wasn’t ripe when it was released. There were some major PR dramas unfolding around it, as Jeremy Clarkson, the then co-host of Top Gear, bashed the Roadster in more ways than one could count. Even Musk admitted that the early Roadster “was completely unsafe,” it “broke down all the time,” and it “didn’t really work.” However, in the end, the Roadster was the first of its kind. It drove rather well – when it worked – and it was and still is a rather fun car overall.

The video above gives us all the reasons why the original Tesla Roadster was a complete failure. Made by Hoovies Garage – a channel that documents the adventures of Tyler Hoover, an automotive writer who makes suicidal car purchases, and maintains a fleet of cars he calls the “Hooptie Fleet” – this makes for a complete list of items that Tesla needs to rethink for the upcoming second-generation Roadster.

Categories: Tesla, Videos