"Tesla Roadster Sucks" Says Elon Musk, Find Out Why

Tesla Not every day do you see the launch of a groundbreaking supercar that pushes automotive boundaries to a jaw-dropping level. But a Friday morning in India sees a flying car also capable of reaching up to half the speed of sound. That means a top speed of over 600 kmph. You read that right!

Tesla just launched the second-generation Roadster, and in simple words, it is a love child of the top brains at Tesla and SpaceX. So imagine the wildest.

The Roadster was originally announced almost a decade ago and had become a social media joke and was being called ‘Vapourware’ because there had been no word of it since. But that changes today. Let's explore what the Tesla Roadster is.

Expected Launch Date And Price

Tesla India has opened bookings for the upcoming Roadster with a total booking amount of Rs 50 lakh for the base performance variant and Rs 2.5 Crore for the Thrust variant. Prices are expected to cross over Rs 5 Crore.

The CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, has announced that production of the Roadster will start in 2028, which means the India arrival could be close to 2030.

Generational Flying Car Dream Finally Comes True

Let's get the headline figures out of the way.

And the pictures you see were truly demonstrated at the Tesla event performing the accelerations and the flying side-flips. All the movies you have seen of flying cars, incomprehensible speeds and thrusters, all put together, are simply what the Tesla Roadster is. 

Let's address the figures now. One of the starting demonstrations of the Tesla Roadster event was it driving up a massive inverted C-shaped ramp with integrated fans that are capable of sucking the car to the ground, essentially making it drive upside down. Moreover, once it ran out of the ramp, it kept driving forward and engaged its thrusters, as you find in an actual rocket and casually flew back to the ground. No wings and no strings attached.

Acceleration Can Almost Break Humans

When the second-generation Roadster was originally announced, Elon Musk aimed for a 0-100 mile per hour (mph) acceleration of under 2 seconds. This was unheard of at the time. Well, the Roadster’s sub-1-second figure is unheard of today. 

The car which comes closest to this figure is the McMurtry Spéirling, which accelerates to the same speeds in 1.44 seconds.

Tesla has not revealed the actual power figures of the motors or the battery pack. However, the thrusters in the Roadster are capable of pushing out 80 kN of thrust. That is over 8 tonnes of pushing force! While we are not sure about the weight of the Roadster, we can be sure that it is kept to a minimum, thanks to the carbon-fibre and Magnesium construction. 

Design

Yes. Usually we talk about design first. But on this rare occasion, that makes way for the sheer performance capabilities. The wedge-like design from the classic legendary cars like the Lamborghini Countach and Murciélago is back with the Roadster. However, in typical Tesla fashion, the design is minimalist but edgy and futuristic. The LED headlamps are small and are in a triangle-shaped housing. Down below, we find an LED DRL light bar.

Over to the side, the Roadster simply looks fast. The wedge-like silhouette and the sharp character line running across the length will make you think that it means speed.

Over to the rear, depending on the version you are looking at, the higher Thrust and Rocket variants get the fancy cold-gas thrusters. This explains the quad-pipes, which spit out the massive forward thrust. However, what is a familiar Tesla touch is the connected LED tail lamp. Below which sit the vents, exhausts and the massive diffusers. 

The diffusers include active aero from front to rear underneath the car, which alters your aerodynamic needs for maximum grip or straight-line speed.  

Interior

Inside the Roadster is a futuristic yet minimalist design here as well. The two seats look fixed in position. This means the steering wheel and the pedals move for the driver’s ergonomics.

The steering wheel is the Tesla-popular yoke, which is based on steer-by-wire technology and includes variable-ratio steering.

In the centre sits a big floating touchscreen infotainment system, which also includes most controls and displays for the driver. Something which many Tesla and a few other EV owners will be familiar with. 

Overall, the space-age-like interior looks cosy, purposeful and means business.

ZigSays…

Back in 2012, Tesla launched the Model S and shook the world with what an EV could be. The luxury sedan beat top-level supercars of the time on drag strips. Many couldn’t believe their eyes. And then started the EV revolution in the global car industry. Later in 2017, the second-generation concept was announced. Nine years later, we witnessed one of the biggest automotive innovations in recent history.

However, don’t expect such acceleration and flying capabilities in a road-legal car soon. However, this is proof that a relatively new car company has proved that car innovation need not be saturated. 

What next, Elon? Cars with time machines inspired from the movie ‘Back To The Future’?