tesla roadster trio
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Abandoned Tesla Roadsters removed from crates and headed to U.S.

Credit: Gruber Motors

The three Tesla Roadsters that were found abandoned in shipping containers in China have been removed from their crates and are on their way to the U.S., where they will be transported to Gruber Motors for a technical review.

For the past few months, we have been covering the developments regarding the three original Tesla Roadsters that were found in shipping containers.

After being put up for auction in May, they were bid on by numerous people and have reached a peak bid of $2 million for all three units.

However, the auction is now listed as “indefinite,” so bids are still being accepted.

The vehicles were purchased years ago by a now-defunct car company in China, which intended to use them for R&D purposes. The cars have sat in a container for a decade untouched, and Gruber was picked as the company to be held responsible for the auction.

Recently, Gruber issued several updates regarding the fate of the Roadsters, and it has been revealed they were removed from their respective shipping containers and sealed in new sea containers by customs.

New pictures of the Roadsters were taken as the vehicles made their way to the new boxes they would be placed in for transport to the U.S.:

tesla abandoned roadster removed from crate in china

Credit: Gruber Motors

tesla abandoned roadster removed from crate in china

Credit: Gruber Motors

tesla abandoned roadster removed from crate in china

Credit: Gruber Motors

Today, on July 18, Gruber issued a new update regarding the trio of Tesla Roadsters, stating the three vehicles are en route and are expected to arrive in the United States on August 17:

“Here are the latest developments:

Containers are on the Ocean going ship now headed towards the USA.

The estimated arrival date to the Long Beach port is 8/17.

Arrangements have been made with a customs broker to clear them.  They advised that the process shouldn’t take long, maybe 2 days unless customs decides to put a random hold and request a physical inspection.

They advised that they rarely do that, but in the event that an inspection is requested, the process should add about a week or so. We will post updates.”


I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

Abandoned Tesla Roadsters removed from crates and headed to U.S.
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