The Tesla Roadster is an upcoming all-electric battery-powered four-seater sports car made by Tesla, Inc. Tesla has said it will be capable of 0 to 97 km/h (0 to 60 mph) in 1.9 seconds,quicker than any street legal production car to date at its announcement in November 2017. However on June 27, 2019, Tesla CEO Elon Musk Tweeted "2.1 sec 0-60 mph is base model before adding (the SpaceX) rocket thruster option" The Roadster is the successor to Tesla's first production car, which was the 2008 Roadster.
Tesla indicates that Roadster sales will begin in 2020, although not before the Tesla Model Y goes on sale. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said that higher-performance trim levels will be available beyond the base specifications, including a model with ~10 cold gas thrusters.
In 2011, at the end of the production run of the original Tesla Roadster, Elon Musk suggested that a new version of the Roadster, without the Lotus chassis, would return to production by 2014. The new Roadster was first teased in 2014. At the time, it was also referred to as the Tesla Model R.
In 2015, Elon Musk suggested a new Roadster in 2019, capable of faster acceleration A tweet by Elon Musk in December 2016 reconfirmed a second Roadster was in the works, but still "some years away". The second Roadster was designed by Franz von Holzhausen.
The 2020 version of the Roadster was shown in a surprise moment at the end of the Tesla Semi event on November 16, 2017—during which a Roadster was driven out of the back of one of the semi-truck trailers to the song "Sabotage". Musk explained the concept as: "The point of doing this is to give a hardcore smackdown to gasoline cars. Driving a gasoline sports car is going to feel like a steam engine with a side of quiche." The car will retail for upward of $200,000; test rides were given at the event for those who immediately paid the first $5,000 of a $50,000 deposit to pre-order the vehicle. Additional information followed after the teaser, such as the various world-record speeds Tesla said it will break.
In June 2018, Elon Musk revealed a potential feature called "SpaceX option package" for the Roadster. This would add around ten cold gas thrusters to the car to improve maneuverability; it would comprise an electric pump to recharge an air tank used to provide compressed air flowing through propelling nozzles to generate a cold jet thrust. The air tanks, based on "composite overwrapped pressure vessel" (COPV) also used in the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, would replace the back seats. The thrusters would be used to improve cornering, acceleration, top speed, and braking. Working pressure would be 10,000 psi (700 bar).
Pre-orders of the Roadster began in 2017, with a US$50,000 deposit required. Tesla owners taking part in the referral promotion program began accumulating discounts toward the purchase of a Roadster based on the number of referrals. Those reaching 55 confirmed referrals obtained a 100% rebate toward a future Roadster purchase.
The base model was expected to sell for US $200,000 but the first 1,000 to be produced, the so-called Founder's Series, will be priced at $250,000. Full payment would be required to pre-order the latter vehicle.
The second generation Tesla Roadster is a 2+2 coupé with a removable glass roof. It was designed by Franz von Holzhausen, who formerly worked at Mazda and Volkswagen. The Roadster has a 2+2 seating arrangements, with smaller rear seats for two passengers.
The Roadster has three electric motors, one in front and two at the rear, allowing for all-wheel drive, and torque vectoring during cornering. Tesla said that the vehicle had a 200 kWh (720 MJ) battery, twice the capacity of the Tesla Model S P100D, and giving a 1,000 km (620 miles) range on one charge at highway speeds. Tesla stated that the torque at wheels was 10,000 N⋅m (7,400 lb⋅ft). The rear wheels are larger than the front wheels.
At the November 17, 2017 unveiling, Tesla claimed the Roadster's acceleration will be:
Its claimed 0 to 400 m (0 to 1⁄4 mile) time will be under 9 seconds, with a top speed above 400 km/h (250 mph). If the production Roadster achieves these performance numbers, it will outperform the supercars of 2017 and would set new production car records, none of which had yet done better than 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) in 2.0 seconds or 9.0 seconds in the 1/4 mile. Referring to the performance, Musk stated, "this is what we are achieving in the prototype", he also indicated the performance may improve in the production model and that the stated numbers refer to the anticipated "base model".
Research completed by Bloomberg L.P. indicates that the estimate as to range per charge is optimistic, based on comments from Salim Morsy, electric vehicle analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. In an article titled Tesla's Newest Promises Break the Laws of Batteries, Morsy indicated that the claimed battery capacity would require batteries that would be too large for the Roadster's small frame. "I really don't think the car you saw last week had the full 200 kilowatt hours in it. I don't think it's physically possible to do that right now." Morsy's analysis directly contradicts Musk, who stated "this is what we are achieving in the prototype".
Venkat Viswanathan, a mechanical engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University, told Jalopnik that the 1.9 second figure for 0–97 km/h (0–60 mph) seemed reasonable given the estimated battery weight of 833 kg (1,836 lb). He added that the feasibility of the acceleration claim assumed suitable tires would be available for the required traction.
Series 4, episode 12 of Jay Leno's Garage broadcast on 23 August 2018 featured Jay Leno inside the Tesla Roadster prototype along with its designer Franz von Holzhausen.
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