Photo: Tesla Motors
Ever since it was announced back in 2017, the Roadster has been Tesla's ace up the sleeve. Whatever its competition came up with, the public would always jump with the question: "yeah, but is it better than the Roadster?"
Forget about the fact the Roadster was nothing more than a prototype a few had seen and even fewer had ridden in - it seemed like nobody doubted the fact it would come to market and deliver on all the promises Musk made that night.
Just in case you forgot them, here's a short overview: 1.9 seconds 0-60 mph acceleration (2.1 seconds for 0-100 km/h), over 250 mph (400+ km/h) top speed, 8.8 seconds for the quarter mile, 620 miles (1,000 km) of maximum range, four seats, four-wheel-drive, $200,000 starting price. And just before you say anything, these specs are supposedly those for the "base version."
In true Tesla fashion, production of the Roadster is already late. The sports car was supposed to be launched this year, but when it became obvious that it wouldn't happen, Elon Musk offered a new timeline: the market release of the Roadster should come over the next 12 to 18 months. That announcement came around the midway point of this year, making the end of 2021 the terminus point for that interval.
With four years likely to pass from its introduction to its official launch, even a car with such spectacular technical specifications is going to need a build-up ahead of the release. Particularly since the competition hasn't been laying still all this while: just look at what Lucid Motors is doing with its Air sedan, taking down Tesla's records one by one.
Last year, after Porsche took the Taycan Turbo S to the Nürburgring and set a new electric sedan record, Tesla reacted by bringing a pair of Model S Plaid prototypes - essentially a Model S with three motors and a few other suspension upgrades. Now, even though there haven't been any new developments at the famous German track, Elon Musk said the Roadster would pay a visit to the Green Hell next year.
The CEO revealed this in a tweet from yesterday. Asked whether the Roadster would "arrive" at the 'Ring in 2021, Musk simply replied "yes". With 365 possible dates, that's not narrowing things down too much, but at least we have a new confirmation that Tesla is determined to benchmark its quickest model on the world's toughest racetrack.
Linking all this talk of Nürburgring action with the recent rise to glory of the Lucid Air would be nothing more than speculation, but based on past actions, you can't exclude the possibility of Tesla hurrying its efforts if Lucid took its tri-motor Air prototype to Germany and smashed the electric sedan record.
If that happened, Tesla would be forced to act even though the Roadster wouldn't be gunning for the same title as the Air. And no matter how good Tesla's Roadster is, it won't be enough to challenge for the overall EV record held by Volkswagen's ID.R. However, a decent lap time that's considerably better than Lucid Air's should be enough for Tesla's PR team to make the most of. As we've said before, things are spicing up on the EV front, and we have only to gain from it.
Just in case you forgot them, here's a short overview: 1.9 seconds 0-60 mph acceleration (2.1 seconds for 0-100 km/h), over 250 mph (400+ km/h) top speed, 8.8 seconds for the quarter mile, 620 miles (1,000 km) of maximum range, four seats, four-wheel-drive, $200,000 starting price. And just before you say anything, these specs are supposedly those for the "base version."
In true Tesla fashion, production of the Roadster is already late. The sports car was supposed to be launched this year, but when it became obvious that it wouldn't happen, Elon Musk offered a new timeline: the market release of the Roadster should come over the next 12 to 18 months. That announcement came around the midway point of this year, making the end of 2021 the terminus point for that interval.
With four years likely to pass from its introduction to its official launch, even a car with such spectacular technical specifications is going to need a build-up ahead of the release. Particularly since the competition hasn't been laying still all this while: just look at what Lucid Motors is doing with its Air sedan, taking down Tesla's records one by one.
Last year, after Porsche took the Taycan Turbo S to the Nürburgring and set a new electric sedan record, Tesla reacted by bringing a pair of Model S Plaid prototypes - essentially a Model S with three motors and a few other suspension upgrades. Now, even though there haven't been any new developments at the famous German track, Elon Musk said the Roadster would pay a visit to the Green Hell next year.
The CEO revealed this in a tweet from yesterday. Asked whether the Roadster would "arrive" at the 'Ring in 2021, Musk simply replied "yes". With 365 possible dates, that's not narrowing things down too much, but at least we have a new confirmation that Tesla is determined to benchmark its quickest model on the world's toughest racetrack.
Linking all this talk of Nürburgring action with the recent rise to glory of the Lucid Air would be nothing more than speculation, but based on past actions, you can't exclude the possibility of Tesla hurrying its efforts if Lucid took its tri-motor Air prototype to Germany and smashed the electric sedan record.
If that happened, Tesla would be forced to act even though the Roadster wouldn't be gunning for the same title as the Air. And no matter how good Tesla's Roadster is, it won't be enough to challenge for the overall EV record held by Volkswagen's ID.R. However, a decent lap time that's considerably better than Lucid Air's should be enough for Tesla's PR team to make the most of. As we've said before, things are spicing up on the EV front, and we have only to gain from it.
Yes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 20, 2020
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