This month saw one of the most exciting announcements in the motoring world for years – the launch of Tesla’s brand new electric supercar: the Roadster.
The Roadster was unveiled in typically flamboyant fashion. Elon Musk had been presenting one of Tesla’s new articulated lorries, when the Roadster burst from a trailer that had been towed onto the stage by the semi-truck. Set to a soundtrack of the Beastie Boys’ ‘Sabotage’, the car showed what it could do on a long stretch outside, before returning indoors so Elon Musk could wax lyrical about the car he said would make ‘driving a gasoline sports car feel like a steam engine with a side of quiche’.
Labelled by Musk as ‘a hardcore smackdown to gasoline cars’, the new Tesla Roadster showcases some incredible statistics. It can go from 0-60mph from a total standstill in just 1.9 seconds – and the Tesla team suggest that certain production versions of the car may be able to do it even quicker. It will also be able to hit 100mph in just 4.2 seconds, and drive for a quarter of a mile in less than ten.
The top speed of the new Roadster will be 250mph. The current record is 277.87mph – and that’s in a gasoline-powered hypercar!
But the Tesla Roadster isn’t solely about speed and acceleration. The electric technology within is also some of the most advanced around. Elon Musk claims the Roadster will be able to drive up to 630 miles between charges on its 200kWh battery – that’s almost 200 miles than its nearest competitor (the Tesla Model S 100D, which manages 424 miles before needing to be charged).
This electric supercar also offers some element of comfort. It’s not a stripped-back supercar with a single driver’s seat – it has two full-size seats in the front of the car, and two smaller seats in the back. While it’s a million miles away from a family saloon, the fact that you could technically fit four people in this amazing car certainly sets it apart from the crowd.
You may be expecting the price to knock your socks off – and it probably will, but for all the right reasons. The RRP of the base model Tesla Roadster will be around £150,000. It edges ahead of the Model X to become the most expensive Tesla car to date – but it’s still miles behind the Porsche 918 Spyder, which costs around £780,000, and it’s lightyears away from the Bugatti Chiron, which costs an eye-watering £2.5m.
If you’re willing to stump up a little more to get your hands on the Roadster fast, the first 1,000 models sold will cost slightly more and will be part of the limited-edition Founder’s Series. However, you’ll be waiting a while, as the Roadster won’t go on sale until 2020 at the earliest.
