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Tesla's New Roadster Is Unveiled After 9 Years

The demo video of the new Roadster is undeniably impressive, but the 0-60 mph times and the production date are claims by Tesla and Elon Musk, and there is no price yet.

Tesla unveiled the new Roadster on Oct. 15 (local time) at SpaceX’s test site in McGregor, Texas, about nine years after the first prototype appeared in November 2017. In the livestream, the car drove up an inverted ramp, ran upside down, jumped over a row of Tesla vehicles, and flipped once in mid-air. As a spectacle, the video holds up.

According to reports, Tesla presented three trims (versions of the same car):

Trim Seats 0-60 mph (Tesla’s claim) Notes
Performance 2 Under 1.6 s Road-ready, sold by reservation
Thrust 2 Under 0.9 s Race-ready, rear gas thrusters (devices that push the car by blowing out compressed air), limited release
Rocket 1 Under 0.59 s Invitation only, thrusters around the edge, listed as not approved for public roads

Tesla says all three trims have a range of more than 300 miles. No price was announced for any trim.

Who drove the demo car, and how were the mid-air moves controlled?

This is the part people most want answered, and there is no confirmed answer. Not a Tesla App reports that Musk said the demo car drove itself, to make sure no one got hurt. A pre-event Electrek report described a remote-controlled car instead, and Electrek’s report on the day does not say. Both accounts agree that no one was inside.

The mid-air moves used cold-gas thrusters. Only Not a Tesla App gives details: two tanks holding about 250 kg (600 liters) of air feed ten nozzles, and the car can refill its own tanks. I could not find any public detail on which sensors and software decide when and how hard the thrusters fire.

Can the 0.81-second 0-60 mph run be trusted?

Not a Tesla App says a 0.81-second run happened at the event but does not describe how it was measured. Electrek treats every 0-60 mph figure as a Tesla claim and notes that no separate acceleration video was shown. The same car can post different times depending on the starting conditions, the surface, and the measuring method, and none of that has been published. Until independent tests appear, it is safer to read these numbers as “what Tesla says.”

Going by the numbers alone, Trending Topics says they would beat every current production car. Apart from whether the record is believable, it is also unclear whether the thrusters help on the road. According to Electrek’s argument as relayed by Trending Topics, thrust that lifts the car reduces tire grip. How often and how quickly the thrusters can be used has not been published either.

What does it mean that the car is “by-wire”?

Not a Tesla App reports that the car uses a steering yoke (a control that replaces the steering wheel) and electronic brake and throttle systems. By-wire means the driver’s input reaches the car as an electrical signal instead of a mechanical link. This is again a single outlet’s report, and the same outlet adds that the interior and screen layout may change before production.

My own guess: because every control goes through software, a bug can become a safety problem. I found no detailed description from Tesla of its software architecture or safety design.

Should you reserve one, and when will it arrive?

For the Performance trim, Electrek reports $5,000 up front and $45,000 more within 10 days, for a refundable total of $50,000. Not a Tesla App also lists $50,000 for Performance and $250,000 for Thrust. Only that outlet reports the Thrust amount, and some reports give $50,000 as the reservation for the whole car. The exact terms are worth checking on Tesla’s own page.

Musk’s statement of 2028 is all there is on production timing, and it is not an official schedule. The Roadster’s launch date has already slipped many times, and that record is a useful yardstick for any technical announcement. Here is the 2017 promise next to this week’s announcement:

  • Seats: 4 → up to 2
  • Range: 620 miles → more than 300 miles
  • Top speed: more than 250 mph → more than 230 mph (Rocket)
  • Launch: 2020 → targeted for 2028

In 2017 Tesla also promised a $200,000 base price and 0-60 mph in 1.9 seconds. This time there is no price.

What has not been confirmed

  • Nothing is known about how people who paid a deposit in 2017 will be treated with the new car. Electrek raised the same question.
  • The number of reservations has not been disclosed.
  • No price has been announced for the new Roadster.
  • The $250,000 Thrust deposit comes from a single report.

What to watch next

  • Whether Tesla’s third-quarter earnings report on Oct. 21 says anything about Roadster timing or pricing.
  • Independent acceleration and cornering tests, and details on how the demo car was controlled.
  • Tesla’s official position on 2017 reservation holders.

Sources

Source: electrek.co

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