Photo: Tesla Motors
By today's standards, it's almost impossible to put the Tesla Roadster and Tesla Cybertruck next to each other and claim they are designed and will (probably) be produced by the same company.
They look like the total antithesis of one another. The sports car is a rounded, sleek looking, impossibly sexy vehicle that would make even the best Italian designer blush, while the truck is... well, let's say "special" and leave it to that.
And yet these are the two upcoming models that Musk's company is planning on releasing, together with the Tesla Semi, which seems to have taken a step back since the Cybertruck announcement. It can be tough to read Musk's poker face and discern between when he's being serious and when he's exaggerating things, but he's proven over the time he'll do anything to pull through even the most ridiculous promises. After all, let's not forget another one of his companies produced and sold a flamethrower for no apparent reason.
It looks as though there's an internal competition between future Tesla models that can shock the public the most with their first appearance. The electric pickup relied on its pointy visuals for that, but before it, the Roadster went on a completely different route. It just punched everyone in the face with its absurd specs. Only for Musk to drop the bomb later by saying those were the performance figures for the vehicle's base model. Again, he was serious.
Shortly after that, talk of a SpaceX Package emerged, and it wasn't long until thrusters were mentioned. Apparently, Tesla's flagship is to benefit from its sister company's pursuit for space exploration and use technology developed for rockets to make it go faster on regular roads down here on Earth.
Talking to former show host Jay Leno in the latest episode of Jay Leno's Garage, the Tesla CEO expanded a little on what we should expect from his company's first sports car (supercar and hypercar also apply) developed from scratch. And, yes, it's nothing short of ludicrous.
“We’re gonna use ultra-high pressure compressed air. It’s a cold gas thruster. The main thruster will be behind the license plate," Musk clarified. "So, for acceleration, it drops the license plate, and behind the license plate is a rocket thruster. It’s like full-on James Bond,” Of course, why wouldn't it be?
Just as a reminder, the base Roadster is supposed to accelerate to 60 mph in just 1.9 seconds to a top speed of over 250 mph (400 kph). The maximum range should expand beyond the 620 miles mark (1,000 km) and, to top it all off, the car should cost around $100,000. And since very few people would buy any other Tesla under these circumstances (our personal assertion), the Roadster will have its production volumes limited to around 10,000 units each year.
And yet these are the two upcoming models that Musk's company is planning on releasing, together with the Tesla Semi, which seems to have taken a step back since the Cybertruck announcement. It can be tough to read Musk's poker face and discern between when he's being serious and when he's exaggerating things, but he's proven over the time he'll do anything to pull through even the most ridiculous promises. After all, let's not forget another one of his companies produced and sold a flamethrower for no apparent reason.
It looks as though there's an internal competition between future Tesla models that can shock the public the most with their first appearance. The electric pickup relied on its pointy visuals for that, but before it, the Roadster went on a completely different route. It just punched everyone in the face with its absurd specs. Only for Musk to drop the bomb later by saying those were the performance figures for the vehicle's base model. Again, he was serious.
Shortly after that, talk of a SpaceX Package emerged, and it wasn't long until thrusters were mentioned. Apparently, Tesla's flagship is to benefit from its sister company's pursuit for space exploration and use technology developed for rockets to make it go faster on regular roads down here on Earth.
Talking to former show host Jay Leno in the latest episode of Jay Leno's Garage, the Tesla CEO expanded a little on what we should expect from his company's first sports car (supercar and hypercar also apply) developed from scratch. And, yes, it's nothing short of ludicrous.
“We’re gonna use ultra-high pressure compressed air. It’s a cold gas thruster. The main thruster will be behind the license plate," Musk clarified. "So, for acceleration, it drops the license plate, and behind the license plate is a rocket thruster. It’s like full-on James Bond,” Of course, why wouldn't it be?
Just as a reminder, the base Roadster is supposed to accelerate to 60 mph in just 1.9 seconds to a top speed of over 250 mph (400 kph). The maximum range should expand beyond the 620 miles mark (1,000 km) and, to top it all off, the car should cost around $100,000. And since very few people would buy any other Tesla under these circumstances (our personal assertion), the Roadster will have its production volumes limited to around 10,000 units each year.
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