ELECTRIC SHOCK: NEW TESLA ROADSTER
That’s the claim for the £190k all-electric 2+2, due in 2020
Tesla’s long-awaited replacement for its original Roadster model will be the quick est accelerating car to make production, its maker claims.
Company CEO Elon Musk said the 2+2 sports car, a surprise debutant during the launch event for the new Tesla Semi lorry in California, has 10,000nm of torque (7376lb ft) from its three motors and can accelerate from zero to 60mph in 1.9sec. That is 0.5sec quicker than the current fastest-accelerating Tesla, the Model S P100D.
Musk said the successor to Tesla’s first production car, which went off sale five years ago, can also cover 0-100mph in 4.2sec and complete a quarter-mile sprint in 8.9sec.
“This will be the first time any production car has broken nine seconds in the quarter mile,” Musk said at the launch event, where the new Roadster was driven out of the Semi’s trailer without prior warning.
It is also claimed that the Roadster will have a top speed of more than 250mph.
Musk revealed that the car’s 200kwh battery pack enables it to have a 620-mile range, which is another record for a production electric vehicle. The previous highest-capacity battery produced by Tesla is the 100kwh pack and the longest range it enables is 341 miles in the Model S P100D, according to the US EPA test.
“The point of doing this is to give a hardcore smackdown to gasoline cars,” said Musk. “Driving a gasoline sports car is going to feel like a steam engine with a side of quiche.”
The new Roadster is pegged to arrive on roads in 2020, initially priced from $250,000 (about £190,000) for the first 1000 cars, with $50,000 (£37,875) deposits being taken now. Subsequent models will be priced from $200,000 (about £151,500).
Like the rest of Tesla’s range, the Roadster will also be equipped with the brand’s latest autonomous driving technology.
Since the last quarter of 2016, all Tesla cars have been fitted with eight cameras that provide 360deg visibility of up to 250 metres away. There are also 12 ultrasonic sensors, which enable detection of hard and soft objects, as well as a forward-facing radar that can see through heavy rain, fog, dust and even underneath the car in front.
The Roadster will be updatable via over-the-air software, so the performance, autonomous features and safety systems may be improved even after sale. Recent examples of Tesla updates have enabled quicker 0-60mph times and enhanced Autopilot functionality.
The Roadster’s launch comes at a time when Tesla has been working to clear a production bottleneck for its Model 3. The car has attracted more than 400,000 orders but production slowed when a parts supply issues arose. Musk recently described the scenario as “production hell” and Model 3 deliveries have so far fallen well short of predictions. Just 222 Model 3s were delivered in the third quarter of 2017 compared with a target of 1500.
The issue, along with heavy investment in its new Gigafactory, contributed to Tesla recording a $619 million (£469m) loss in the previous financial quarter.
In a statement, the brand said: “While we continue to make significant progress each week in fixing Model 3 bottlenecks, the nature of manufacturing challenges during a ramp-up such as this makes it difficult to predict exactly how long it will take for all bottlenecks to be cleared or when new ones will appear.”
In the face of the setbacks, Tesla celebrated the production of 250,000 cars since it began in 2003. It says it is on track to achieve 100,000 deliveries for the Model S and Model X this year. Overall, Tesla’s automotive revenue has grown by 10% compared with the same period in 2016.