How many Roadsters does Tesla have left to sell? Not many, that's for sure

We all knew the day will come when you can no longer buy a new, first-gen Tesla Roadster, but inquiring minds wanted to to know: how far away is that day, exactly?

Let's review what we know: Last year, Tesla told the SEC: "We do not plan to sell our current generation Tesla Roadster after 2011 due to planned tooling changes at a supplier for the Tesla Roadster." Then Tesla made sure to get the parts to build 700 more 2012 Model Year Roadsters than originally expected. The revised plans called for Lotus to build gliders for Tesla until this coming December and those gliders should last until some time next year ... in some ares. We heard that a Tesla sales rep told Martin Provost, he of the Tesla Trade-up Plan, that only 60 Roadsters are left in the U.S., so we asked Tesla spokeswoman Khobi Brooklyn about this. She told AutoblogGreen:

We've sold about 1,850 Roadsters worldwide and we're going to make 2,500 in total. We've sold out of custom Roadsters in the U.S., but still have a number of spec cars left. We plan to sell the last of the North American Roadsters by early next year and to continue to sell in Europe and Asia until inventory is fully depleted in 2012. Last Quarter we delivered 190 Roadsters.

So, how many Roadsters are left? Nobody's saying for sure, but the numbers are dwindling. The last official word from CEO Elon Musk was that there are, "a handful of cars left to sell in the U.S." Let us know if you're in a Tesla dealership and hear the words, "Sorry, those are now sold out."





The current iteration of the Tesla Roadster is built in Hethel, England by Lotus using Elise/Exige underpinnings. Since the Elise/Exige is up for replacement, the current generation Roadster is on its way out. So, bottom line: If you want a Roadster, order now, or wait until the Model S launches in 2012.