Roadster ClubProject background
Franz and Lars open the event at SpaceX’s rocket test and development center in McGregor, Texas. They describe a 4,000-acre site and mention the Raptor engine static fire that guests have just watched. The location and the pre-show establish the evening’s theme: bringing automotive engineering and rocket technology together.
They look back at the original Roadster as a proof of concept roughly twenty years earlier. In their account, it demonstrated that an electric vehicle could be fun to drive, travel a useful distance and work as a real car. Lars says the Roadster was what brought him to Tesla, before recalling the progression through Model S, Model 3 and Model Y.
The discussion then returns to the previous meeting of Roadster and SpaceX: the car sent into space with Starman. That story sets up a different collaboration this time, with engineers from the two companies working on technology inside the same vehicle. Franz and Lars then invite Elon Musk onto the stage.
What to take from this chapter
Roadster is presented as a way to demonstrate what the technology can do, continuing the role of the original car.
