You Can’t Sell a Car That Looks Like Crap 185
of failures. We had one bracket break on a front suspension
component that we redesigned,” Eberhard said.^200 During
these types of tests, and because of the constant vibrations,
you can only drive for 30 minutes before you need a break.
One poor Tesla driver thought the Roadster would fly apart
and his teeth would shake loose.^453
There’s also a much longer durability test - about 50 000
miles [80 000 km] long. While driving on that track, one
misery the car has to endure is a saltwater bath. “We did
have some water getting into one of our cables,” Eberhard
said. “So it required us to change the design of the cable
and make sure it was simply more waterproof.”^200
The German company Siemens manufactured the Road-
ster’s airbags. But Siemens became nervous because they
didn’t know if Tesla knew how they would use their
airbags. The only way to calm them down was to let
Siemens do the crash tests themselves. Four hand built
Roadster were transported to Germany and systematically
destroyed.^209
In July 2006, the first Roadster prototype was finally
revealed. Celebrities like the movie star and politician
Arnold Schwarzenegger attended the uncovering show
at the Santa Monica Airport. Later the same year, Tesla
showed the Roadster at the Los Angeles Auto Show where
Schwarzenegger held a speech. “Every industry has to
participate in the fight against global warming, and these
clean, efficient alternative fuel vehicles are leading this
environmental revolution,” he said. “I test drove this vehicle
[the Roadster], and it is hot. I’m buying one for Maria [his