The new Tesla Roadster just blew our minds
The Dodge Demon raised our expectations for performance, but the new Roadster should move things to another planet.
The company we know as Tesla launched with the Roadster, a repurposed, eviscerated Lotus with its guts largely replaced with a freezer-sized battery pack and a repurposed electric motor. It was a ton of fun to drive, it sounded like the future and it kicked us off on this crazy journey that's given the world everything from the Model 3 to the Semi. Now, the Roadster is returning, and Musk says it'll be the quickest car on the planet.
Coming in 2020, the new Tesla Roadster is said to do the 0 - 60 sprint in 1.9 seconds and continue on through the quarter mile in less than eight seconds. That will absolutely decimate the Dodge Demon, current king of the acceleration stakes. Nerds (like us) will appreciate that the Roadster finally packs the "Maximum Plaid" mode that Elon Musk joked about in the past, which, if you didn't know, is a "Spaceballs" reference.
It won't, however, pop a wheelie. That's thanks in part to the battery pack situated down low in the body, plus the all-wheel drive setup that sees three motors. It'll be a targa roof, much like the previous Roadster, but Musk says this one will sit four -- two comfortably, and another two in the back. You'll want to make sure they're comfortable, though, because with a 200 kWh battery pack, the car will be able to go a whopping 620 miles on a charge!
All that performance won't come cheap, though. The new Tesla Roadster will cost a whopping $250,000, making it Tesla's most expensive car ever. Those who pre-order now (with an at least $50,000 deposit) will get their cars in 2020 -- or thereabouts.