Gary Zhou 
The all-electric supercar Tesla’s next-generation Roadster is now on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, and visitors are having their first look at it.
Last week, it was revealed that the Tesla Roadster would make a two-week appearance at the Petersen Auto Museum in its own specialized exhibit. From today, May 19th, until June 2nd, 2021, Tesla’s “halo vehicle,” as it has been dubbed in the past, is on display.
Spectators are getting their first glimpses of the all-electric supercar now that it has finally arrived at the Los Angeles museum, ahead of its production drive next year. Tesla launched the Roadster in 2017, but the company has prioritized rising development of its mass-market vehicles, resolving battery bottlenecks, and completing production of its passenger cars before focusing on the Roadster.
We get our first look at the Roadster in the exhibit thanks to the YouTube account “gaussdog.”
The Roadster appears to have remained largely unchanged since its last public appearance in September 2020 at Tesla’s Battery Day and Shareholder Meeting. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has since shared more information about the Roadster’s future capabilities, including the ability to hover using a SpaceX kit that uses cold gas thrusters to help it gain altitude. Additionally, similar to the Plaid+ Model S that was unveiled in January, these thrusters could be mounted on the back of the vehicle to boost the Roadster’s already jaw-dropping 0-60 MPH time of less than 1.99 seconds.
During an interview with Joe Rogan, Musk commented on the vehicle’s potential hovering ability:
“I want it to hover. I’m trying to figure out how to make this thing hover without, you know, killing people. I thought maybe we could make it hover, but not too high. So maybe it could hover, like, a meter above the ground, or something. So, if you plummet, you blow out the suspension, but you’re not going to die. Maybe, I don’t know, six feet. If we put a height limit on it, it will probably be fine.”
Musk went on to say that the vehicle would be able to float in mid-air and that it would move “pretty quickly.” He does assume, however, that such limits should be imposed in order to reduce the risk of an accident. He listed a timer system that would automatically ground the vehicle after a certain amount of time had passed.
While Musk acknowledges that hovering is unlikely, he believes Tesla could still mount thrusters behind the license plate to increase thrust.
Musk says he hopes to have a “release candidate design drivable by late Summer,” and that finalizing the tri-motor drive system and advanced battery work are “important precursors” to completing before production begins.
For the Roadster, Petersen has set up an “After Hours Experience,” which costs $45 per ticket and has restricted availability. Adult tickets are $16, children’s tickets are $11, and senior tickets are $14.
Check out the first video of the Roadster from the Petersen Automotive Museum below, courtesy of gaussdog.
