AutoblogGreen visits our founder to try out his Tesla Roadster [w/VIDEO]
by Sam Abuelsamid on Nov 24th 2008 at 3:30PM 
Click above for high-res image gallery of Jason's Tesla Roadster
Jason Calacanis was a co-founder of Weblogs Inc., the professional blog network of which ABG and Autoblog are a part. He also played a major part in the advent of AutoblogGreen before he left the company about a year after it was sold to AOL. Since a week and a half ago, Jason has also been the proud owner of a bright orange Tesla Roadster. Jason's car is #16 of the Signature 100 series that followed the original Founder's Series, which were a short run of cars that went to the original investors. After we finished up our official duties at the LA Auto Show last week, Sebastian and I headed over to Jason's offices in Santa Monica where he runs his current endeavor, the human-powered search engine Mahalo.com, to catch up on old times and check out his new toy.
Unlike most people with enough money to afford a $110,000 car, Jason was more than happy to let both Sebastian and I take his brand new Tesla Roadster for a spin. We have both driven Roadsters before, though our collective time spent behind the wheel of a Tesla has been with the interim drivetrain that offered lower performance, but Jason's car is one of the first production units built with drivetrain 1.5. Just before we silently rolled out onto the street, a second blue Tesla Roadster pulled in beside us. That car turned out to be the #27 and the last of the Founder Series cars. It belongs to a gentleman who is an investor in both Tesla and Mahalo and who prefers to remain nameless.
Gallery: Jason Calacanis' Tesla Roadster
Gallery: Trying out Jason's Tesla Roadster
Photos copyright ©2008 Drew Phillips, Sam Abuelsamid, Sebastian Blanco / Weblogs, Inc.
When we pulled out of the Mahalo parking lot, the new, higher torque motor immediately made its presence felt. While the interim drivetrain always had great performance at higher speeds, the off-line-performance was quick but not exceptional. Not any more. The Roadster now leaps off the line faster than almost anything else on the road. When it was time for me to hand over the wheel to Sebastian, Jason suggested pulling into a gas station just for kicks. As Jason and I chatted on camera for a few minutes, a tanker pulled in to fill the storage tanks.
We were so smitten the color of Jason's Tesla Roadster, which is a premium option called Very Orange, that we asked him if we could have more rendezvous with the car the following weekend. This time we gave the keys to Drew Phillips, a phenom photographer whose work can usually be found only on Autoblog. This time he did some moonlighting for ABG, and we're glad he did. Check out his photoshoot with Jason's Tesla in the gallery below to see why the Roadster should become the new pinup supercar for the green age of motoring.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Arthur Brood 5:35PM (11/24/2008)
To answer Jason's question in the video concerning Tesla building a sports car before a practical car.... Looking back in history 100 years, Henry Ford followed a similar strategy when he built the 999 race car. He didn't intend to build race cars, but it grabbed the headlines.
A high interest performance car will create more buzz and thus more capital.
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Yanquetino 6:15PM (11/24/2008)
Tesla should pay Drew Phillips a pretty penny to use the photo with the sunset on all their ads, brochures, and posters. A truly picture perfect Roadster!
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Nick 6:40PM (11/24/2008)
What an amazing car..!!! It looks gorgeous in orange !
I wish Elon Musk and associates all the best with the Tesla venture!
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MarkT 7:18PM (11/24/2008)
As an early adopter, and with little automotive background, Tesla was bound to have some issues. To use a Lotus platform vehicle was a good decision as anybody who knows anything about cars will tell you that Lotus have fantastic handling and driving characteristics.
If nothing else, Tesla have massively increased the credibility and exposure of electric vehicles, and proved that we don't need to be addicted to foreign oil to have fun!
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fnc 8:07PM (11/24/2008)
Right now we just need a hundred and ten grand to have this kind of fun. :( Hopefully this kind of fun gets more affordable before too much longer.
And this car looks fantastic in orange.
gianni 8:33PM (11/24/2008)
jason, don't listen to those who make fun of the orange...it looks great!!
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megan 8:45PM (11/24/2008)
That car is awesome. 2 questions though.
1) Why no license plate? Are there just so few that the cops can just call in 'the orange tesla roadster' ...'oh, yeah, that's jason's.'
2) Was that a complimentary fire extinguisher in the trunk?
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Sam Abuelsamid 8:54PM (11/24/2008)
No fire extinguisher. That's the top rolled up.
gorr 9:25PM (11/24/2008)
Can you f?%*(#g talk about your car competitor eco-fueler too sometime.. Im shopping here since 2 years and eco-fueler and some other cars are on my shopping list. I don't want a tesla because it's way too pricey, that the main reason. I notice that as soon as another green car hit the market for real like eco-fueler and honda fcx then you skip it and talk about tesla or futur cars.
I never head a single story about someone owning or renting an eco-fueler or a clarity and driving it and giving you an interview about it.
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Chris M 3:29AM (11/25/2008)
Why, Gorr, I do believe you're jealous! Just because you can't afford one doesn't mean you should trash talk about it.
Autoblog Green isn't a shopping site, it was set up to inform and discuss various eco-friendly transportation options. So if you came here looking to find green car bargains, look elsewhere.
Speaking of "bargains", did you realize that your beloved FCX Clarity cost about 10x as much as the Tesla Roadster? If you can't afford a Tesla, you really really can't afford a FCX Clarity.
The reason why Autoblog Green hasn't interviewed drivers of the FCX Clarity is that very few are on the road, handed out to celebrities that are difficult to approach. The Tesla Roadsters have been bought by car enthusiasts, some of them readers of Autoblog Green, thus much easier to interview. As for the Eco-Fueler, it is still in the prototype stage, no word on when any will actually be available for sale, and of course no sales mean no drivers to be interviewed.
gt350 1:02AM (11/25/2008)
At the end of the day Tesla is idea for the few, It really breaks no new ground, has a limited use. The MARKETING DEPT, GM should hire. The new FORD Fusion hybrid is higher tech but not cool. I just wish people will see this company has done 0 for the Planet. Energy comes from somewhere-------it is called the conservation of energy!!! you cant get something from nothing.
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BlackbirdHighway 5:05AM (11/27/2008)
Yes, the energy does have to come from somewhere. In my case, it's the solar panels on my roof. Your argument is called the "long tailpipe argument"; that electrics just move the pollution to another place, like a coal power plant. In my case I have a very long tailpipe, 93 million miles!
Do you have panels on your roof that turn sunshine into fuel for your Ford Fusion?
Nicholas 7:11AM (11/25/2008)
Man I can´t stand people like gt350!!!!
That´s all I have to say.
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Rick 11:50AM (11/25/2008)
thats probably because guys like that disturb your pleasant dream of electric cars treading lightly on the planet while everybody holds hands and brings about world wide prosperity out of the goodness of their hearts. well it's a nice dream - maybe it's best if you just enjoy it.
Jeff 1:37PM (11/26/2008)
What a beautiful car!
And look at how thick those "rails" are under each door. That design must really cut down on the chassis flex which usually goes hand-in-hand with a convertible.
But, I know... there's so much more to be appreciated about this car than just that, and yet that's what my eyes gravitated towards. What is wrong with me? haha. ;-)
Seriously though, wow. Stunning. I couldn't want one more.
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rudeman 9:12PM (4/02/2009)
screw green...there are some people who just want there big gas-guzzler's and i am one of them...carbon track's is with-out a doubt the biggest lie since the election of obama...give me my hummer any day of the week...oh but i would be happy to pull your sorry asse's out of the ditch anytime....hey aol how about covering american made car's for once in your worthless existance....
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