The long-awaited second-generation Tesla Roadster has finally been scheduled to go into production, in 2028 – over a decade after it was revealed in concept form – and the US electric vehicle (EV) maker has demonstrated the latest iteration of its electric sports car in a series of flying stunts at the SpaceX test centre in McGregor, Texas today.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is also the founder and CEO of SpaceX, said the vehicle will be capable of accelerating from 0-60mph (97km/h) in less than one second. A demonstration run shown during the livestreamed event recorded a claimed time of 0.81 seconds.
That’s quicker than Tesla's original acceleration claim for the second-generation Roadster, first revealed in 2017, when Mr Musk promised a 0-60mph time of 1.9 seconds, a top speed exceeding 400km/h, and a driving range of approximately 1000km.
Tesla is now targeting a top speed of 230mph (370km/h), but Mr Musk today said the new Roadster has “got to crack halfway to the speed of sound” of Mach 0.5, which equates to about 383.5mph (617km/h).
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“This is not an autonomous car, it is the last – well, it is technically autonomous for this demo to make sure we don’t kill anyone – but this will actually be long-term the only manually driven car that Tesla makes,” Mr Musk said.
The demonstration included a series of jumps in which the Roadster used thrusters fed by ultra-high-pressure compressed-air tanks to ‘fly’ in front of the live audience.
It jumped a collection of parked Teslas and made a controlled landing after driving up a Hot Wheels-like ramp.
In top-spec form there’s also a fan system designed to suck the vehicle to the ground, similar in principle to the technology used by Jack Brabham’s BT46B Formula 1 car in 1978. Mr Brabham withdrew that car after its sole grand prix outing, which it won.
The Roadster’s fan system operates in Track mode, which also lowers the suspension.
“We have a suction, a fan suction system on the bottom of the car that can pull up to two Gs in order to make the car go upside down," explained Tesla’s vice president of vehicle engineering, Lars Moravy.
“And then we borrowed some technology from SpaceX to do the rest.”
The Roadster’s active aerodynamics include a large rear wing that extends according to the downforce required, said Mr Musk.
Tesla claims the thruster system can generate more than 80kN of thrust, while the Roadster is said to be capable of cornering at 2g.
“Now you might say, like, how often do you want to stick upside down in a car?” said Mr Musk.
“Maybe not that often, but it actually has this an actual benefit on the track or just driving, where the downforce of the car means you can corner incredibly well, like you can corner like it looks like you're breaking physics because the car sticks to the ground so hard.
"So acceleration, cornering, it's going to crush every track record that has ever existed.”
Three Roadster variants have been listed: Performance, Thrust and the invitation-only Rocket.
The Performance grade features the fan system, while the Thrust variant adds compressed-air thrusters. The Rocket model demonstrated at the event showcases the car’s 'flying' capability.
An Australian launch for the new Roadster has not been confirmed, with Tesla’s local website now stating it will be "Available as a Left-Hand Drive vehicle only".
Pricing hasn’t been announced, but Tesla is accepting US reservations. The Performance version requires an initial US$5000 deposit, followed by US$45,000 within 10 days, for a total of US$50,000.
The Thrust requires US$5000 initially and a further US$245,000 within 10 days, bringing its total reservation payment to US$250,000.
In 2017, Tesla announced a starting price of US$200,000 for the Roadster, with a Founders Series priced at US$250,000.
Inside, the latest Roadster’s seats are moulded into the chassis, which Tesla says helps reduce weight. It also features steer-by-wire and brake-by-wire systems, with driver inputs transmitted electronically.
“This will be an actual car that's on the roads. You know, I'm not sure it's necessarily legal in all jurisdictions, but like, there will be such a car that someone can own, so it's going to be pretty wild that [they] can have a rocket car,” Mr Musk said.
Tesla designer Franz von Holzhausen said during the demonstrations: “Today marks the day that we build the first world's best flying car and the last best driver's car.”
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