The Roadster concept – which, you can’t really deny, is absolutely gorgeous – is being pitched as the fastest production car ever made.
t’s a four-seater, has a detachable roof, and all-wheel drive.
Founder Elon Musk enjoy creating distractive (or disruptive?) shock and awe, and especially so when the company is striving to get Model 3 production running at an ideal rate, and make money.
Musk calls the car a “smackdown” on an auto industry that relies on internal combustion. He claims the base model will pull 0-96km/h in 1.9 seconds, which, given the insane pace of the massive Model S P100d (2.5s), is believable.
He also said the new Roadster would climb from 0 to 160km/h in 4.2 seconds, and will clear the quarter mile in 8.9 seconds. Musk said he wouldn’t confirm the top speed, but hinted that it was “above 250 mp/h.” That’s 402km/h.
We understand that the concept has a 200kWh battery pack and a 1000km-ish range per charge. There’s claimed ‘wheel torque’ of 10,000Nm. There’s the skateboard platform with batteries, plus three motors – one at the front and two at the rear, giving precise torque vectoring and all-wheel drive.
Tesla was also giving rides to anyone at the reveal event who put down a $50,000 deposit on a purchase for when it’s available – without knowing the full price. People were apparently ponying up.
Scuttlebutt suggests a 2020 launch is planned. At that time, Tesla’s range will also comprise the Model 3 mid-sized car, Model S large car and Model X crossover.
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