Four years. Four whole years in which it did not move a single inch. Meet the Tesla Roadster that was abandoned in front of a house in San Francisco. That is where it has been sitting for over four years.
The model has been making the rounds on social media for the past few days. Not much info is available about the abandoned Roadster. But what we do know is that it has been sitting in the exact same place for the past four years, in front of a house in San Francisco. Because it is a private street, authorities cannot tow it away.
The Roadster is obviously in a very poor condition. Branches and leaves have grown through the front wheel on the passenger's side from underneath the car. "That's what Elon Musk would call a green car," someone joked on social media. The Twilight Blue paint looks as if it had to deal with all the elements. But the weather in San Francisco is not that bad.
The last time the city on the coast of the Pacific Ocean saw snow was 1976. So, the paint went matte only because of the direct sunlight, wind, and rain. Furthermore, it displays several scratches every here and there. The lights have gone foggy over the years. But this doesn’t come as a surprise for a first-generation Tesla Roadster. The only registration plate left on this car, the one at the rear, reads "FUN FUEL," an irony probably addressed to those who consider that only ICEs can be fun.
The car is in quite an attractive and unique color combo: twilight Blue over Premium Cream & Beige Rally interior, according to a Reddit post. That makes it the only car to drive through the factory gate looking like that.
Photo: DeedWest | Tesla Motors Club
But there is no information on how everything looks inside. We can only assume that, after all these years, the leather might show some signs of wear and tear.
Someone from Tesla Motors Club did some research on the car and found out it was VIN 180. The vehicle was first registered in Colorado in 2009 and later in California in 2014. According to the CarFax report checked by the club member, the car was last serviced by Faxon Garage in April 2019, when the tires were replaced. Back then, the odometer showed around 22,000 miles. The Roadster hasn't moved since. There haven't been any newer reports on changes and repairs since then.
In an attempt to track down the location, we found the car on Google Maps in a photo taken in April 2022. The Tesla Roadster was sitting in the exact same spot, in the exact same parking position as in the photo that has gone viral on social media these past few days. Some of those who saw the photo found it depressing, and others are desperately trying to rescue the two-seater. User DeedWest went to the place to check if the car was still there. He found it and took some photos of it.
Tesla rolled out the first-generation Roadster starting in 2008. The first car ever built ended up in Elon Musk's hands. It is the same car that was launched into space with a mannequin in a space suit, dubbed The Starman, placed in the driver's seat.
Based on the Lotus Elise, the Tesla Roadster was the first highway-legal all-electric car with a lithium-ion battery pack. According to the EPA, it could travel as far as 244 miles (393 kilometers) on a single charge. It did the 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 kph) run in 3.7 seconds and was capable of hitting a top speed of 125 mph (201 kph). Something that this car, sitting in the exact same place for over four years, can't possibly do anymore.
Meanwhile, the second-generation Roadster is still on the waiting list for production. Tesla unveiled the prototype that previewed the production model back in 2017. And we were complaining that the Cybertruck arrived late...
This Tesla Roadster Vin #180 has been left abandoned in San Francisco, supposedly untouched since 2019. @elonmusk ???? pic.twitter.com/GKzhPiejOE
Google News