Whenever Tesla announces a new car update, the world seems to shift to the edge of its seat.
A major reason is that everyone is almost always certain that there is nothing else to improve on
but Elon Musk and his ideas have continued to shatter those perceptions. After letting loose
mouth-watering upgrades to their other models, the all-new Roadster is also getting a makeover. With
rollercoaster-like speed and the ability to hover, this new sports car will make jaws hit the ground.
Today what we know about it and a few updates coming to the Tesla Roadster.
Welcome to Elon Musk Zone.
The second-generation Roadster is Elon Musk's attempt at creating the fastest electric car on
the street and this was just with the initial plans. This car would be a really big deal
for the company as this would be Tesla's first attempt to revive its original Roadster design,
the first car to hit the road in 2008 after the company's launch.
Since 2012, we haven't laid eyes on any sports cars from the EV giants.
When Musk announced the car in 2017 at a launch event for the Tesla Semi,
he said the car would sport a 0-60 mph time of 1.9 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 8.8 seconds.
Right now, it looks like these stunning numbers will end up being lower than what
we'll actually get with this model when it finally hits production.
What would boost the numbers?
Well first off, the new Roadster is going to show up with its version of Tesla's new plaid
powertrain. The plaid powertrain first showed up in the production blueprint of the Tesla Model
S plaid and that gave it a whopping 120hp peak power with an almost two seconds 0-60 mph time.
Put that in the roadster and watch it speed right past its competitors with an almost
one-second acceleration difference, especially its closest speed rival, the Mcclaren 570s.
With the powertrain, the Model S plaid boasts of a 200mph top speed but the Roadster comes through on
an over 50 mph increase in top speed. It was also revealed that it would be able to run a 0-100 mph
acceleration in just 4.2 seconds, a feat that has never been seen before outside an F-1 racecar.
As we would expect, the Roadster will come with a new four-wheel-drive because of the new
fitted plaid powertrain in these Tesla models. The drive will have three electric motors in the car,
one at the front wheels and two at the rear end to take care of all four wheels.
This would mean higher efficiency and better control of power to the wheels
because each rear wheel would have its motor; this would be key in getting that super fast
0-60 time Musk wants for it. Also, this system will help the power distribution
systems of the wheels when cornering so the car will be handled better in extreme situations.
Tesla's new high-efficiency battery will be fitted into the car and it has a strength of
200kwh. Musk says that the car's battery range is a mind-blowing 670 miles, by far the highest range
seen in any battery-powered vehicle. Closest one? The Chevrolet Volt and that only offers a 259-mile
range. We suspect though, that this range would only hold with light use of the car; any push
too far would probably reduce it dramatically. We have to wait till the live tests to see for sure.
There are also rumors that the Roadster would have its batteries housed in the new structural
battery cell. This combines the battery pack housing with the central frame of the car
so the car doesn't have to carry the batteries anymore but has it become a part
of the vehicle structure. Why is this necessary? Well, a car with the capacity to be a speed demon
needs to have a very rigid and stable frame and that's what the structural battery cell gives it.
The Roadster will also flaunt some updated designs on both the exterior and interior
with some aerodynamic engineering influence. The two-door vehicle with a glass panel roof already
has a sweet edge but then again, its roof is removable and can be stored in the trunk.
That is so very unlike your regular convertible. While the car features four seats,
there might actually just be two for adults because of how slanted the roof's design is.
Another beautiful design point is in its minimalistic dashboard that is created
from a single sheet of what is possibly carbon fiber in matte. The majority of the dashboard's
functions have been shifted into the car's large high resolution "infotainment " screen and system.
The screen curves up from the center console to the dashboard and is the only thing you
can find on the dashboard, no extra controls, dials, or gauges, unlike other supercars with
their very busy fighter jet dashboards. The steering wheel looks like something
out of a NASCAR race car, oblong and with atypical ergonomics.
The wheels on this beast are large, 20-inch rims in the front and 21 inches at the rear
and it features a central lug nut.
While all this is beautiful, the real talking point of this update of the introduction of
rocket thrusters. Everything else in the Roadster can be closely compared to the Model S plaid
but these rocket thrusters will make it different from the more spacious sedan.
When the "Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley" group on Twitter asked Elon Musk if the new Roadster could
fly, he said "A little". Some have even compared this next-gen car to a partial rocket on wheels
majorly because of its ability to hover. On Joe Rogen's podcast, Elon Musk gave
more details about where the thrusters would be placed, and let's be honest it sounds very much
like our childhood movie dreams. He also said, "We're going to do somethings that are kind of
unfair. We're going to take some things from the rocket world on the car."
One thruster will be hidden under the license plate which will be meant to improve the
acceleration the car already has in spades. The thrusters are more SpaceX than Tesla technology
and they work with cold gas so the tiny COPV (composite overdraft pressure vessel) is based
on the tech used in the super-powered Falcon 9 rocket. When the thrusters are installed
underneath the car, that's when we get the full effect of "the flying car". Engineering Explained,
a YouTube channel, did an in-depth calculation on these thrusters and he has concluded that it would
be very possible to attach rocket grade thrusters to a street-legal car. His calculations also
showed that the acceleration for this model would be 0-60mph in just 1.1 seconds. He also explained
that this would not be something the car would be able to reproduce all the time, you can't just hit
the "gas" every time and get a near flying car. The cold gas in the thrusters would only be
able to power it for one to two seconds and this would mean that the rockets would not
do a lot of helping of the car when cornering because its fuel could be exhausted mid-corner.
This edition of the Roadster would be called the "SpaceX package" which is honestly very fitting.
Not surprisingly, this edition might take a while to become a reality
mostly due to safety concerns and issues with parts of the design.
The Roadster already has more competition waiting for it to be produced but there is
one more way that this vehicle would clear them out: price. With some of the other cars
quoting million-pound prices, the Tesla car is already available to be preordered
with as low as $50,000 to get on the waiting list. The price of the car stands at $250,000
and there is always, as usual, room for change after production.
There's also going to be another limited edition of the car to be released
and that would be called the Founders series. With a production target of only 1000 cars,
its base price is still at $250,000.
A lot of people are excited to see this car of the future but they will have to wait a while longer.
Production dates of the car have been moved to 2022 again
and that could be because of the amount of work Tesla has on deck.
The Roadster with its supercar status still comes behind the other mainstream models on
the priority list. Then again, Tesla's Model 3, the Internationally produced Model Y,
and the newly updated Models S and X will sell far greater numbers than the Roadster.
When asked what was happening with the Roadster, Musk tweeted in response "finishing engineering
this year, production starts next year. Aiming to have release candidate design drivable late
summer. Tri-motor drive system & advanced battery work are important precursors."
The Roadster seems very impressive on paper but do you think it would live
up to all the expectations? Do you think it will ever see production or is this just a PR
stunt for Tesla? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
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