To say that the Tesla Roadster is long-delayed would be a huge understatement.
First revealed in 2017 it was scheduled to hit the market in 2020. Then 2022. Then 2023. For all his wacky and often genius ideas, we’ve learned to take the South African born billionaire’s timelines with a pinch of salt.
But good things come to those who wait, they say, and now Tesla is promising that something “mind-blowing” will hit the scene before the end of this year.
On Wednesday Musk announced on X that the company had “radically increased the design goals” for the new Tesla Roadster.
Tonight, we radically increased the design goals for the new Tesla Roadster.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 28, 2024
There will never be another car like this, if you could even call it a car.
“There will never be another car like this, if you could even call it a car,” he added, divulging that the production design was now complete. The car is set to be unveiled by the end of 2024, Musk said, and the company is planning to start sales in 2025.
“I think it has a shot at being the most mind-blowing product demo of all time,” he enthused in another reply to his original post.
But that’s not all.
When asked by a fellow X user if Tesla was targeting a 0-60mph (96km/h) time of around one second, Musk said it would take less than that, before ending the thread with: “And that is the least interesting part”.
0-60mph < 1 sec
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 28, 2024
And that is the least interesting part
Back in 2018 Musk said an option pack for the Tesla Roadster would treat clients to 10 small rocket thrusters arranged “seamlessly” around the car to dramatically improve acceleration, braking and cornering.
Which is far really fetched, even by Musk’s standards..
Either way, a 0-96km/h time of under one second is a big improvement over the 2017 prototype’s claim of 1.9 seconds.
Only one vehicle has ever been able to sprint from 0-100km/h in less than a second, and it’s not even road legal. This single-seat race car, created by Swiss students, recently set a Guinness World Record for its 0.956 second run and you can read more about it here.
Game on, Elon!
IOL Motoring