The 2020 Tesla Roadster Will Do 0-60mph In 1.9sec, 1/4-Mile In 8.8
0-60mph in 1.9 seconds is one hell of a figure to open with. It’s the benchmark sprint that Tesla says its new Roadster - which had a surprise appearance at the company’s semi truck unveiling - will be capable of when it arrives in 2020, and it’d make it not just the fastest accelerating electric vehicle, but the fastest accelerating production car. Period.
But that’s just a start. Tesla is also claiming a ‘250mph+’ top speed for the all-wheel drive sports car - unusually high for an EV. 0-100mph will happen in 4.2 seconds, and it’ll be able to run an 8.8 second quarter-mile. Oh, and it’ll have a 620 mile range.
It’s made possible by a 200kWh battery pack, but how Tesla will offset the inevitable high weight of such a thing, we’re not yet sure.
It’ll seat four people, and have a removal glass roof panel that can be stored in the boot. It looks like the rear seats are particularly small, but away from Porsche 911s, few super-fast sports cars have rear chairs of any kind.
The Tesla Roadster is a car that makes some very hefty claims, so should we be skeptical? At least a little, we’d say - while this is a tantalising look at an electric sports car of the near future, the reality of the present is Tesla isn’t in the best health. It recently reported its biggest ever loss, and Model 3 production is way, way off the firm’s original targets.
Can it manage to sort out Model 3 ‘bottleneck’ issues, build its new semi-truck and put the fastest accelerating road car the world has ever seen into production? We sure hope so.
If all goes to plan, the Roadster will set you back $200,000, or $250,000 for one of the 1000 ‘Founders Series’ cars.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
I’m calling serious levels of horse manure on this one. That specification sounds like was written by a pre pubescent school boy.
Built GT-Rs are quicker while using street legal tires. Not being a GT-R fanboy, just saying there is a possibility that Tesla is telling the truth.
http://gtspirit.com/2015/02/10/top-10-fastest-nissan-gt-rs-in-the-world/
0-60 in 1.9 seconds? Yeah, yeah, and I can run a 2 minute mile
With enough power and tire, it’s definitely possible. And this thing 10,000 newton meters of torque, so really all it needs are some meaty tires.
I just got 1.9 more reasons to love Tesla!
Pretty sure they’re about to break the laws of physics at this point…
I still remember about those Model 3 production numbers Musk was talking about, and what happened in reality. Tesla often makes big promises, bet when it comes to fulfilling them, their record isn’t great. So I’ll believe 1.9 second 0-60 time when I’ll see actual production car doing it, until then it’s just claims and nothing more.
I am also skeptical on the 1.9 sec figure, mostly because I can’t picture a street legal tire that can handle that. I will say that Musk often over promises on manufacturing schedule, but when it came to the actual specs of the model 3 he was pretty close to his goals, so we will see. I will be one of the guys holding onto big internal combustion engine + manual trans vehicles as long as I can, but it would still be really cool to see a production car to hit those numbers. If anything it will push the IC engined sports cars to better themselves to stay competitive
Tesla only have trouble sticking to their deadlines. The specs are actually what you can get from the production vehicle. They already had a prototype Roadster giving rides to people and testing the acceleration.
There is a big difference between failing to meet the target for a product and failing to meet the target for a production window. Most of the best games, movies or technology ever made were late, delayed or chronically under produced at launch. That’s doesn’t make the company that still delivered an amazing product a liar.
If you said they will never be ready by 2020, or that people preordering now are going to be waiting a lot longer than they promised, I think you’d have a fair bit of evidence to back that up. But saying the performance claims are suspect isn’t doing Tesla’s record for hitting their targets justice.
Wow elon musk it totally doesn’t sound like bullshit at all, because you are the most credible and reliable person out there and you don’t make outlandish claims at all… Am i right… Yeah i will wait and see if your plans work out
Ugh, I’m getting really tired of people discrediting technological Jesus because of some faulty doors and a slipping schedule. Dude has consistently delivered on his products. For every time he’s missed the mark or been late I could name 3 times he literally changed the game for an entire industry.
Tesla often makes huge promnises (just remember Tesla Model 3 production numbers they were promising and what happened in reality). So until they’ll show actual production Roadster doing 0-60 in 1.9 seconds with actual proof, it’ll be nothing but claims.
There is a difference between production numbers and specs. As far as I know, apart from the Model 3 setback, I don’t see any unfulfilled promises
Since they haven’t proved anything yet then that means this wouldn’t be the fastest accelerating production car, the recently released devel 16 claimed the zero to sixty was 1.8 seconds therefore making it the fastest accelerating car
Tesla you haven’t won yet lol
I sure hope it still looks like that by production.
Erm, what’s the point in a car this fast? No normal person could possibly pretend to even get close to it’s potential on the road. And with no gears or engine noise, the involvement will be low. It will be like sitting in the bullet train. Impressive but…..
That’s like asking what’s the point of the Acura NSX, the Chevrolet Corvette, or the Ford GT. The point of these cars is to be a halo car; a technological showcase. These performance numbers are meant to show the capabilities of electric cars.
The most ridiculous part about all of it is that this is not even Musk’s attempt at a full blown super/hyper car. Yes the figures are hypercar beating but it looks like something that would compete with a porsche cayman.
Cant even imagine what he would make if he wanted to build an actual hypercar.
A cayman dosen’t start at 250,000 a ferrari 488 or lamborghini huracan does . The 911 turbo s , r8 v10+ and honda nsx all are cheaper . This is definitely teslas supercar/hypercar
Looks like a mix of a lykan hyper sport, Porsche Cayman, and Honda nsx concept. I kinda like it