Gary Zhou 
It’s pretty hard to discount Tesla’s performance claims for its vehicles, especially since the company has a reputation for releasing production vehicles that have superior specs compared to their prototypes. So when Tesla’s next-generation Roadster was unveiled with a 1.9-second 0-60 mph time, the electric vehicle community knew that the production version of the all-electric supercar would be special.
Not long after its unveiling, CEO Elon Musk mentioned a version of the Roadster that would perform far above that of the vehicle’s already-stunning prototype. Musk’s idea for the Roadster was something straight out of a sci-fi film, with the CEO describing a supercar equipped with cold gas thrusters, similar to a literal SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. This variant was unofficially dubbed the Tesla Roadster SpaceX Package.
The Roadster is yet to enter production, but the excitement for the vehicle remains palpable. This became evident last month when the Roadster prototype attracted a lot of attention when it was displayed at the Petersen Auto Museum. And during its excursion into the museum, Tesla enthusiasts noticed something remarkable with the next-generation Roadster’s information panel: the SpaceX Package’s 0-60 mph figures were estimated at a crazy 1.1 seconds.
This number was insane in many ways, as it was already something approaching the level of NHRA Top Fuel Dragsters and vehicles used for land speed records like the Bloodhound SSC. But true to form, Elon Musk confirmed that the Tesla Roadster SpaceX Package would indeed have the capability to accelerate from 0-60 mph in 1.1 seconds. Interestingly enough, this figure has been mentioned before by YouTube’s Engineering Explained, who calculated that the rocket-equipped Roadster could, at least in theory, perform a 0-60 mph launch in 1.1 seconds.
Such a launch was recently rendered in stunning 3D by former avionics engineer and VFX artist Slav Popovski, who shared a simulation of how a base next-gen Roadster compares to the Tesla Roadster SpaceX package in a drag race. The artist only simulated the SpaceX Package’s thrusters being on for 1.1 seconds, but the result was already out of this world. As per the simulation, the base next-gen Roadster was able to complete its quarter-mile run in 8.8 seconds, while its rocket-equipped sibling was able to cover the same distance in 7.95 seconds. That’s pretty exciting considering that the simulation only had the rocket thrusters on for a second during the vehicle’s launch.
If the Tesla Roadster SpaceX Package’s launch was even slightly accurate to the simulation, the EV maker might need to implement some safety measures for its halo car. A 1.1-second 0-60 mph launch is no joke, after all, and Elon Musk himself has noted that occupants of the vehicle would likely feel like they are in a “hardcore” roller coaster. With the Roadster SpaceX Package, perhaps Tesla would need to call the vehicle’s launch something even beyond Plaid, if such a thing even exists. “Double Plaid,” perhaps?
Watch the Tesla Roadster SpaceX Package’s simulated drag race in the video here.
