Gary Zhou 
The CEO’s update came as a response to tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee’s tweet about the car, which has seen delays in its deliveries. Elon Musk teased that the long wait for Tesla’s next-gen Roadster “will be worth it.”
Musk and Design Chief Franz von Holzhausen remain tight-lipped about the new Roadster’s improvements, but there is no doubt that it will be astonishing. There have been staggering improvements in Tesla’s other vehicles and the company’s technology, especially in the battery development front, since the next-gen Roadster’s unveiling.
The Model S, for example, passed the 400 mile EPA range earlier this year and during Battery Day in September, Tesla finally unveiled its own 4680 cell. At present, some Plaid Model S specs almost overlap with the next-gen Roadster base.
The base Roadster has a 1.9-second 0-60 mph time, while the Plaid Model S will do it in less than 2.0 seconds. The numbers speak for themselves. In top speed and range, the base Roadster still beats the Plaid Model S, but not by a lot. There is a top speed of 250 mph and a range of 620 miles for the all-electric supercar, while the Plaid Model S has a top speed of 200 mph and an approximate range of 520+ miles.
Then there is the Roadster with the SpaceX Kit, which would be a totally different variant. The host of the Engineering Explained YouTube channel ran the numbers using the basic physics concepts of Issac Newton on the Roadster SpaceX Kit. He determined that with SpaceX thrusters, the Roadster could reach 0-60 mph in 1.1 seconds. Without a doubt, enough energy will be required for that much power and will depend heavily on the success of Tesla’s homegrown battery cell.
During the past two years, Elon Musk and Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen have dropped some cryptic hints about the next Roadster. In October 2019, Holzhausen said that after its unveiling, Tesla had already made improvements to the Roadster.
“It’s evolving deservedly so; it needs more time. It will be even better than what we’ve unveiled. In every way,” he said during an appearance in Ryan McCaffrey’s Ride the Lightning podcast. Unfortunately, in the production version of the all-electric supercar, Franz did not delve into particular information about the changes that could be anticipated.
Elon Musk said that during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the Cybertruck development and deliveries could begin before the Roadster. Gigafactory Texas is expected to start production of Cybertrucks next year, although the production of Model Y is likely to begin first in the facility. With the building of Giga Texas so far, Tesla has been making great strides.
It can start working on producing the next-gen Roadster and the Semi after Tesla successfully ramps up Cybertruck production. It remains uncertain if the Roadster’s performance would precede the Semi’s. Either way, before its next-gen Roadster hits the road, Tesla has a great deal of work left.
In the electric car community, the Tesla Roadster has been a long-awaited car since its unveiling in November 2017. For the EV automaker, Tesla’s next-generation Roadster is very symbolic. It was, after all, the original Tesla Roadster that so many years ago really kicked the business into gear.
Some individuals may have been concerned about the EV automaker removing the Roadster from the tesla.com main page, particularly given its historic role at Tesla. The tweet about the change by the noted tech YouTuber probably reflected most of the feelings of the community on the subject. “The Roadster being gone from tesla.com scares me,” Brownlee tweeted, tagging Elon Musk.
The Roadster was removed from the front page of the Tesla website, but the hamburger menu can still be used to find it. The quick reply by Elon Musk to Brownlee’s tweet revealed that Tesla had not forgotten at all about the next-gen Roadster. Before it produces the next iteration of its historic vehicle, Tesla may simply wait for all the pieces to come together.
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