Along with revealing its groundbreaking electric Semi truck, Tesla dropped a bombshell on the auto industry with the surprise unveiling of the new Tesla Roadster—a follow up to the company's first production automobile. In typical Tesla fashion, the Roadster looks poised to rewrite the book on the capabilities of an all-electric car.
Tesla has never been short on ambition, and according to Elon Musk, the Roadster will be the world's quickest car when it goes on sale. The trip to 60 mph will take just 1.9 seconds. 100 mph? 4.2 seconds. It'll do 8.8 seconds in the quarter mile and perhaps even more amazing, Tesla claims the car has a top speed of over 250 miles per hour.
This mind-bending performance is achieved via a 200kwh battery pack, three motors and all-wheel drive. As with any EV, range is also a big consideration and the Roadster is equally impressive in that department with a claimed range of 620 miles. And despite being called a "Roadster" the removable top supercar also has seating for four people, although we imagine rear passenger space will be quite tight.
Reservations have begun now, and the Tesla Roadster will start out with a base price of $200,000 with a limited "Founder's Series" priced at $250,000, limited to 1,000 examples.
Those prices are certainly high for a Tesla, but compared to traditional supercars the Roadster feels like an outright bargain for the performance. If the Tesla Roadster follows through on all of its claims, it's hard to understate what a gamechanger this could be. Bring it on.