A prototype of the upcoming second-generation Tesla Roadster is on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum, with new details revealed as a result.
Tesla’s second-generation Roadster will be able to hit 60 mph from a standstill in just over a second and “be able to fly very briefly.” A prototype of the upcoming Roadster is on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. The exhibition has revealed some new specs about the highly-anticipated vehicle and seen Tesla CEO Elon Musk discussing it in a little more detail online.
The first-gen Roadster was the first vehicle Tesla produced and was sold between 2008 and 2012. It had a range of over 200 miles, did 0-60 mph in 3.9 or 3.7 seconds depending on the model, and topped out at 125 mph. In addition to providing proof-of-concept for Tesla and setting the company on its way, it has come to be recognized as a milestone in the development of electric vehicles (EVs). More unusually, it also became the first production car to be launched into deep space as part of a SpaceX test launch in 2018 and is currently somewhere upwards of 40 million miles from Earth.
The second-generation Roadster was announced in 2017 and was originally due for release in 2020 but has been pushed back to 2022. Despite that, it has Tesla fans excited due to the strides that the company has made since discontinuing the first-gen Roadster — its only other out-and-out sports car to date — as well as the specs and features that have been promised. To wit: the base model will apparently accelerate from 0-60 mph in 1.9 seconds, max out at over 250 mph, and have a range of 620 miles. Tesla describes it as an “all-electric supercar” with all-wheel drive, a removable glass roof, and four seats. However, there’s also the option of upgrading to the so-called ‘SpaceX package’.
SpaceX option package for new Tesla Roadster will include ~10 small rocket thrusters arranged seamlessly around car. These rocket engines dramatically improve acceleration, top speed, braking & cornering. Maybe they will even allow a Tesla to fly …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 9, 2018
Tesla Roadster SpaceX Package Specs
Announced in 2018, the SpaceX package will bestow the Roadster with approximately 10 air thrusters that Musk said would “dramatically improve acceleration, top speed, braking & cornering,” apparently hidden discreetly behind the number plate. Only when the exhibition at the Petersen Museum opened earlier this week were any numbers put to their potential impact. An information panel at the museum indicates that the thrusters will allow the new Roadster to do 0-60 mph in just 1.1 seconds, describing its acceleration as “largely unprecedented among modern road cars.”
Zeroto60Times.com lists the fastest production car as the 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo S, with a 0-60 mph time of 2.2 seconds. That means two Roadsters kitted out with the SpaceX package could theoretically hit 60 mph from a standstill in relay in the same amount of time that one of the 911 Turbos could. Of course, there are no doubt engineering and regulatory hurdles to clear — and thrusters are an entirely new on-road ball-game altogether — but its history of innovation to date suggests Tesla can absolutely produce something groundbreaking.
This will actually be able to fly very briefly. I always laughed at flying cars & now making one. Fate 🖤 irony haha.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 21, 2021
Responding to discussion about the exhibition online, Musk has variously claimed that the car will be able to fly briefly as a result of the thrusters, described it as “safe, but very intense” like a “hardcore roller coaster,” explained that the Roadster’s license plate will flip down to reveal the “high-pressure air rocket thrusters,” and indicated that the final production version will look better than the prototype that is on display.
Sources: Tesla, Petersen Museum, @BLKMDL3/Twitter, Zeroto60Times.com, @elonmusk/Twitter 1, 2, 3, 4
