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Business Insider
29 minutes ago
- Business Insider
I drove Tesla's first car, the 2008 Roadster. It was one of the most fun EVs I've driven in years — and I got a bicep workout.
In 2006, Tesla CEO Elon Musk published a blog post titled " The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan (just between you and me)." Tesla hadn't built any cars yet, but the post outlined its planned strategy for success. "So, in short, the master plan is: 1. Build {a} sports car; 2. Use that money to build an affordable car; 3. Use that money to build an even more affordable car; 4. While doing above, also provide zero-emission electric power generation options," Musk wrote. Tesla followed this strategy. Its first product was the 2008 Roadster, a $100,000 two-seater sports car. Tesla then built the more mainstream Model S and Model X, eventually paving the way to the Model 3 and Y. Tesla is almost unrecognizable from its original form when the Roadster launched in 2008. In 12 years, it went from a cash-strapped startup to the world's most valuable automaker. The Silicon Valley tech firm is now worth over a trillion dollars. But we cannot forget where Tesla started, and the vehicle that thrust the company into relevance was the Roadster. The little Roadster that could When Tesla started, the goal was straightforward: to make a product cool enough to generate interest among the populace. There were many previous attempts at electric cars, primarily in the 1990s, but none of them became mainstream. Tesla wanted to prove that efficiency, power, and looks were not mutually exclusive pillars to achieve. The result was designing a fast and zingy electric sports car. The Roadster could thrust itself to 60 miles per hour in just 3.7 seconds and had a range of 244 miles. It could go further than other EVs at the time, squashing the Nissan Leaf's 73-mile range and the Mitsubishi i-Miev's 62-mile estimate. Most importantly, it didn't look or feel like anything electric on the market. But the numbers only tell part of the story. On the road, it was completely different from anything I've ever driven. Back to Tesla's roots When I was in California last summer, my friend Wade Higgins asked me if I would like to drive his Tesla Roadster. Naturally, I cleared out my calendar. Wade worked at Tesla from 2013 to 2015. In 2014, he sold some of his Tesla stock and picked up a used Roadster he found online. Wade estimates his Roadster could be worth three times what he originally paid, which was $55K. Still, with Elon Musk's polarizing right-wing presence and the small number of used Roadsters on the market, current values remain uncertain. The design As I reached Wade's house, the doors from his garage lifted, and the silver 2008 Roadster was unsheathed. I had only seen one on the road prior, so merely being in its presence was a surreal experience. The first thing I noticed was that the Roadster was tiny — its hood barely made it up to my knees. The Roadster was so small because it was based on the Lotus Elise platform. While many newer EVs are built from the ground up on electric platforms, Tesla didn't have the resources back in the old days to do so. Therefore, Tesla partnered with the then-struggling Lotus Cars to procure the vehicle's chassis and help with engineering support. The result is a 155.1-inch-long car measuring only 44.4 inches in height. For comparison, it's about 30.7 inches shorter than a Model 3. This small form factor is excellent for its electric powertrain Aerodynamics are key to securing the range. Simply put, a smaller car means a smaller frontal area. Less area means the vehicle won't have to push as much air out of the way when driving. The car also uses a relatively small battery. Its 53-kilowatt-hour battery pack allows it to achieve its 244-mile range. A smaller battery means less weight and fewer battery cells to keep cool. Wade's Roadster is also still on its original battery pack, which, seventeen years later, is still operating normally. The 2008 Roadster weighs about 2,900 pounds. The low weight means the car doesn't need mountains of horsepower to go fast. The original Roadster "only" made 248 horsepower, which is far lower than most modern sporty EVs. The feel The tight dimensions become immediately apparent when you get behind the driver's seat. Everything feels miniature. You'll literally sit shoulder-to-shoulder with the passenger. Starting the Roadster is also different from any other modern Tesla. There's no app or sleek keycard — instead, owners have a physical key. Slide it into the receptacle to the right of the wheel, twist it, and you'll hear a muted electronic hum, an analog ritual for an electric car. The only attribute the Roadster shares with modern Teslas is the minimalist "TESLA" typeface across the rear. Beneath its sleek exterior, a brutal and raw sports car resides. Another interesting quirk? There's no power steering. At low speeds, the driver receives a complimentary bicep workout. Especially when navigating through parking lots, you must supply a decent amount of force to make the car turn. The lack of power steering also means there's no intermediary between the road and the steering column. Every bump, crack, and imperfection in the asphalt's surface permeates up the steering rack and into your fingertips. The ride is just as unforgiving. The taught suspension transfers shocks directly into the cabin, creating a bumpy but visceral driving experience. Every jolt and vibration reminds you that comfort was never a priority in the Roadster. All of these attributes deliver a raw and engaging ride. It was truly one of the most fun EVs I've driven in recent years, but I could assume the harshness would get old if I drove this car frequently. Charging The Roadster can't use Superchargers because it launched four years before the first one was built. Therefore, it cannot DC fast charge, meaning you're limited to slower AC charging. At home, the Roadster will charge at 70 amps, which is high even for today's standards. Most EVs top out at 40 or 48 amps. This means the Tesla Roadster can charge at 15.4 kilowatts, adding about 60 miles of range per hour. A zero-to-full charge takes three and a half hours. Public charging the Roadster adds some complexity. It uses an obsolete charging connector, so a regular Tesla NACS connector won't work. You'll need an adapter if you want to charge on a public level 2 station. The Tesla Roadster wasn't made to be a mass-market vehicle The Roadster was made to show the world what electric cars could be. Despite being 17 years old, the Tesla Roadster still breaks many preconceptions. It's lightweight, blisteringly quick, and still running strong, thanks to the long-lasting battery pack. If it hadn't been for the Roadster, Tesla would likely not be where it is today. I think it's the most important car of the 2000s.
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
China Ramps Up Rare Earth Exports After Fright For Global Buyers
(Bloomberg) -- China's exports of rare earth products — including magnets — extended their recovery in July, months after Beijing threatened a disruptive global shortage by crimping supplies to fight a trade clash with US President Donald Trump. Shipments jumped last month to reach their highest since January, well before China leveraged its dominance of rare earths to hit back at Trump's punitive tariffs. Beijing agreed to resume flows to the US as part of a trade truce with Washington. The US-Canadian Road Safety Gap Is Getting Wider A Photographer's Pipe Dream: Capturing New York's Vast Water System Festivals and Parades Are Canceled Amid US Immigration Anxiety A London Apartment Tower With Echoes of Victorian Rail and Ancient Rome Princeton Plans New Budget Cuts as Pressure From Trump Builds Data released Monday covers rare earth products, a category typically dominated by so-called permanent magnets. Volumes sold overseas rose 69% to 6,422 tons in July, according to Bloomberg News calculations. China produces about 90% of the world's rare-earth magnets and its export controls launched in early April threatened to deprive major manufacturers from India to Europe and the US of a small but critical component. The US has since unveiled plans to boost domestic output of rare earths and magnets. Exports from China reached a low in May after China launched the curbs, which covered shipments of seven rare earths as well as products made from them. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said earlier this month that China was 'about halfway there' in terms of returning magnet supplies to where they were prior to the controls. China's weaponization of rare earths didn't just affect the US, and the slump in supplies also contributed to growing tensions between the European Union and China. More granular data on exports of magnets, and the countries to which they were shipped, should be released on Wednesday. (Adds details throughout. An earlier version of the story corrected the month in the second paragraph.) What Declining Cardboard Box Sales Tell Us About the US Economy Americans Are Getting Priced Out of Homeownership at Record Rates Living With 12 Strangers to Ease a Housing Crunch Bessent on Tariffs, Deficits and Embracing Trump's Economic Plan How Syrian Immigrants Are Boosting Germany's Economy ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Foxconn's Apple era fades as AI servers drive growth in Taiwan tech sector
By Wen-Yee Lee TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan's Foxconn, which rose to become a global tech manufacturing juggernaut by assembling millions of iPhones, can now say its main business is no longer Apple as it takes advantage of the AI-boom to diversify its income. Its revenue from making AI servers and other cloud and networking products, including for major customer Nvidia, surpassed smart consumer products such as iPhones for the first time in the second quarter, marking the culmination of a shift that began years ago and has swept through Taiwan's tech industry. Foxconn's heavy reliance on the smartphone business has long been viewed by investors as a significant risk, as demand growth for new iPhones has gradually weakened since they were first introduced nearly two decades ago, leaving the top iPhone assembler grappling with slowing sales momentum, analysts said. Wary of the risk, Foxconn Chairman Young Liu has been championing new businesses such as AI servers, electric vehicles and semiconductors since taking the top job in 2019. While its expansion into EVs and chips has yet to show a meaningful contribution to its topline, Foxconn's success in AI server manufacturing - the company is Nvidia's biggest server maker - is the result of its early bets before the technology was thrust into the limelight with the advent of ChatGPT in late 2022. Consumer electronics accounted for 35% of Foxconn's total revenue in the second quarter, while cloud and networking business represented 41%. In 2021, consumer electronics represented 54% of its revenue. The firm's prudent wagers years back helped it cultivate a now-prized relationship with the U.S. AI chip firm and other major AI players, analysts said. "The company has been in the business for years, meeting higher quality requirements, diversifying assembly and operations across sites, and pursuing vertical integration,' said Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities. Foxconn began producing reference designs for Nvidia's graphics cards around 2002 and started making general-purpose servers for cloud service providers' data centres as early as around 2009. Its AI server business with Nvidia is in many ways the culmination of that history, analysts said. Foxconn says it is now one of the world's largest suppliers of both general-purpose and AI servers, with a market share of nearly 40% in each. The company has also shown a willingness to commit investment to a project at an earlier stage than other companies, Kuo said, citing its past investments for Apple and similar moves for Nvidia. 'In long-term partnerships, Foxconn is more willing to take the initiative,' he said. Foxconn's plan to build factories in Houston, Texas — part of Nvidia's $500 billion U.S. investment plan — and in Mexico to produce AI servers for the U.S. client underscores this strategy, analysts said. Foxconn now expects its AI server revenue would grow more than 170% in the third quarter year-on-year. Foxconn and Nvidia declined to comment. Apple did not respond to request for comment. BROADER SHIFT The shift at Foxconn mirrors a broader trend in Taiwan's technology sector, where companies once centred on consumer electronics — such as Foxconn with iPhones, and Quanta Computer and Wistron Corp with notebooks — are now investing heavily in AI servers. Nvidia partner Wistron's revenue for January to July rose 92.7%, while Quanta's grew 65.6% in the same period. "The monthly sales jump for Taiwan ODMs in the first half of 2025 is evidence of this trend,' said Robert Cheng, head of Asia technology hardware research at BofA Global Research, referring to original design manufacturers like Foxconn that contract manufacture products for their clients. Their fast transition into AI servers is also the result of Taiwanese tech supply chain working closely with U.S. tech giants on data centre infrastructure work for a decade now, according to Chris Wei, industry consultant at Taiwan's Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute. He estimates Taiwan accounts for about 80% of global server shipments and more than 90% of AI servers. Cheng agrees. "We think this shift toward AI servers, whatever form it takes, is good for Taiwan's tech industry," he said, noting Taiwanese firms' ability to rapidly shift to cater to changing needs from their customers. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
