Elon Musk is a man full of surprises and just last night in LA he shocked the crowd by revealing the 2nd generation Roadster without prior announcement. The surprise reveal happened just after Musk showed the Tesla Semi.
The new Roadster is a long awaited successor to the original that got the brand all the love. In 2011, Tesla discontinued the Roadster and focused on the Model S,X and 3. It seems like they haven't forgotten their roots. The newest edition of the Roadster is clearly aimed at the high-end sports car market with a price tag of $250,000. It is styled to match the price too with a clutter of design cues reminiscent of the world's greatest sports cars; McLaren P1, Bugatti Chiron, Acura NSX and a typical Targa-top.
Musk claimed that the car has a 620 mile range or 1000 kms. In his own words "Imagine driving from Los Angeles to San Francisco without recharging.". The bold claims are yet to be confirmed, but the insane stats don't end there. The 2nd gen Roadster can do 0-60 mph in only 1.9 seconds and has a top speed of over 250 mph. It will be powered by a 200k kWh battery that powers three engines; two rear ones and one in the front. So what is the point of this insane car? "To give a hardcore smackdown to gasoline cars." - Elon Musk
Just take a look at the video for a demonstration of the launch:
Close up video of Tesla Roadster launching from zero pic.twitter.com/6FziM9M755
— David Hodge (@DavidHodge) November 17, 2017