Tesla ‘fully open source’ original Roadster design and engineering, releases R&D docs

Tesla has made its original Roadster design and engineering “fully open source” and released R&D documents accessible to everyone.

The original Tesla Roadster hasn’t been in production for more than a decade now, and we are still waiting for the new generation that was unveiled all the way back in 2017 and has been delayed several times since.

The vehicle has become quite rare.

Tesla has only produced just over 2,000 units, and many of them were lost to accidents and some very unfortunate fires at a garage in Arizona.

While Tesla isn’t building more, it now looks like people could build replicas.

Out of the blue, Elon Musk announced that it is “fully” open-sourcing the original Roadster:

All design and engineering of the original Tesla Roadster is now fully open source.

Tesla has sort of open-sourced all its patents back in 2015. I say “sort of” because it is not exactly the case, as Tesla only promised not to sue anyone for patent infringement as long as it is also not being sued for patent infringement, which is not exactly open source.

But now, this new effort is an actual open-sourcing of the Roadster design and engineering, including R&D documents.

The automaker wrote about the release of the documents:

The information provided here is being provided as a courtesy to Roadster enthusiasts and was created during the design phase of the Roadster for research and development. It isn’t manufacturer reference or repair and maintenance material, and may not accurately reflect the actual production models or parts sold. If you use this information, it’s your responsibility to ensure that you follow all laws and safety protocols as we don’t provide any warranties on any work done by non-Tesla personnel whether or not you use the information provided here. You also understand that if you make or design parts or create new repairs or procedures based on this information, we won’t be responsible for them and they won’t be genuine Tesla parts or accessories or Tesla-approved procedures.

It’s not exactly clear why Tesla is doing this and doing it now, but this could help people create replica parts for the Roadster or even an entire replica Roadster.

It could also help people service their original Roadsters themselves, although the service manuals were already available.

What do you think is the reason behind this move? Let us know in the comment section below.