November 16, 2017: Tesla unveiled the second-generation Roadster. As of February 28, 2024, the electric sports car is still yet to appear. But if Tesla overlord Elon Musk is to be believed, the wait is almost over. The controversial CEO took to his social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to talk about the long-awaited high-performance electric vehicle.
If there’s one executive in the automotive industry who knows how to promote a product, it’s Musk. He made some pretty bold statements to promote the new Roadster, saying that “there will never be another car like this, if you can even call it a car.” The Tesla CEO also noted, “I think it has the potential to be the most mind-blowing product demo of all time.”
Oh, and it will apparently hit 60 mph in less than a second.
Tesla’s top brass mentioned that the design is already finalized and that we should be able to see the production model near the end of the year. The goal is to begin deliveries to customers sometime in 2025, but knowing the company’s modus operandi, you can never be too sure.
Considering it’s been roughly six and a half years since the Roadster concept debuted, it’s time to revisit Tesla’s promised tech specs. It was originally claimed to hit 60 mph in 1.9 seconds and do 0-100 mph in 4.2 seconds, with a quarter-mile time of 8.8 seconds. The four-seat, all-wheel-drive machine promises to top out at 250 mph and cover 620 miles on a single charge.
The upcoming Tesla Roadster is supposed to have a removable glass roof that stows away in the trunk when not in use. An old tweet, or rather, a post from Musk in June 2018 talked about a SpaceX option with “10 small rocket boosters arranged evenly around the car. These rocket motors dramatically improve acceleration, top speed, braking, and cornering grip. Maybe even allow a Tesla to fly.” In May 2021, Musk claimed the car would go from 0 to 60 mph in an incredible 1.1 seconds.
As if that wasn’t crazy enough, Musk now says it will do it in under a second. We’re pretty skeptical of this claim. The crazy McMurtry Spéirling can do it in 1.4 seconds on Avon slicks and isn’t even road legal, while the Roadster will have license plates. The Spéirling also weighs nothing at 2,200 pounds, surely much less than the much larger Roadster weighs.
As usual with Musk’s promises, these posts should be taken with a grain of salt. We’ll believe it when we see it. Even the original technical specifications announced in November 2017 would be more than enough.
Ahead of the supposed unveiling in late 2024, Tesla will happily accept reservations for $50,000 each. If nothing else, the Roadster’s price ranges from $200,000 to $250,000. That’s not cheap by any means, but it’s a bargain compared to a Rimac Nevera that costs more than $2 million and doesn’t have rear seats or transform into a convertible. The McMurtry Spéirling we mentioned earlier costs around $1 million.
