Tesla held an event in Waco, Texas, where it officially unveiled its next-generation Roadster electric supercar, capable of short-haul flights using rocket engines and accelerating to 60 mph in less than a second.
Tesla held an event in Waco, Texas, where it officially unveiled its next-generation Roadster electric supercar, capable of short-haul flights using rocket engines and accelerating to 60 mph in less than a second.
The presentation lasted less than 30 minutes and was more like a stunt show, The Verge reports. During the event, CEO Elon Musk and Tesla Vice President of Engineering Lars Morawi showed off the capabilities of the car, which is equipped with a SpaceX underbody suction system and cold gas engines for attitude control.
"So it can essentially fly like a rocket. And it can do flips. It can do, like, crazy gymnastic tricks," Musk noted.
The car is equipped with two compressed air tanks with a total capacity of 600 liters and uses 10 nozzles for maneuvering. Tesla has updated the lineup with three performance levels: the base Performance (Road Ready) with a range of more than 480 km, the intermediate Thrust with acceleration to 96 km/h in less than 0.9 seconds and the flagship Rocket, which accelerates in 0.59 seconds, develops a speed of more than 370 km/h and will be available by invitation only without a road permit.
The Roadster prototype was first announced in 2017 with initial delivery plans in 2020. At the time, it was announced to have a claimed speed of over 400 km/h and a range of up to 1,000 km.
Buyers made down payments of $50,000 or $250,000 for the limited Founders Series, and the expected price was $200,000. Due to long delays and a focus on mass models, the supercar’s release was repeatedly postponed, and the current presentation has once again drawn attention to one of the company’s oldest unrealized projects.
