Tesla Roadster may finally arrive in 2023 – but will it be the ‘quickest car in the world’?
Get your skates on, Elon
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In a recenttweet, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has claimed that the new Tesla Roadster should finally start shipping in 2023 – “assuming 2022 is not [a] mega drama,” that is.
The second generation Roadster has been a long time coming. Originally the world’s first electric sports car, we tested the inaugural modelall the way back in 2009, and have followed developments on its much-anticipated successor ever since Muskannounced plans for a new version in 2017.
In the years since thatiPhone-esque reveal, we’ve seen the CEOlaunch a dummy Roadster into spaceand flirt with the idea ofturning it into a hover car, but the new Roadster’s arrival has long-been hampered by supply chain roadblocks and, more recently, theglobal chip shortage.
2021 has been the year of super crazy supply chain shortages, so it wouldn’t matter if we had 17 new products, as none would ship. Assuming 2022 is not mega drama, new Roadster should ship in 2023.September 1, 2021
Even though the electric sports car hasn’t been close to mass-production since its announcement in 2017, Tesla has regularly made bold claims regarding the new Roadster’s eye-watering credentials.
For instance, the company asserts that the Roadster is “the quickest car in the world, with record-setting acceleration, range and performance.”
According toTesla, it boasts a 0-60mph acceleration of just 1.9 seconds, a top speed of over 250mph and a range of 620 miles – and that’s just the Base model.
A ‘SpaceX’ model will apparently see the car’s 0-60mph timedrop to just 1.1 secondsthanks to “cold air rocket thrusters at the rear,” whichMusk claimed earlier this yearwould be positioned “behind the license plate that flips down.” We’ll believe it when we see it.
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In fairness, even though it’s not yet widely available on the road, there are videos aplenty showing the new Base Roadster in action, and it appears absolutely capable of reaching those aforementioned record-breaking speeds.
When it does arrive, then, the Roadster should easily fend off competition from the likes of theMercedes EQS,Porsche Taycanand Audi e-tron GT to become the most powerful electric car on the market, adding to the company’s roster of already-impressive performance EVs (like theModel S Plaid).
Pick up the pace
But if the second-generation Roadster does indeed launch in 2023, will a $200,000 price tag put off potential buyers? And at that point, will it still be the “quickest car in the world,” as Tesla claims?
As for the former, the Roadster’s high price is an unlikely deterrent. The company has already begun taking $50,000 deposits for the Base model, and $200,000 for a car that does 0-60mph in 1.9 seconds is not unreasonable considering the far-higher prices of slower (though by no means slow) supercars like the Lamborghini Aventador or McLaren 720S.
The Roadster’s status as the fastest road car on the market, though, may not be so assured.
Premium manufacturers including Ferrari and Aston Martin have committed to producing electric supercars in the near future, while Lamborghini’s much-laudedTerzo Millennio conceptwill almost certainly stake a claim to the title of quickest production car when it does eventually hit the road (though that’s looking more like 2030 than 2023).
There’s every chance that Musk’s long-awaited Roadster successor will deliver on its promise of speed, range and world-beating luxury, but it needs to arrive soon if it hopes to lay down its record-breaking markers.
Axel is TechRadar’s UK-based Phones Editor, reporting on everything from the latest Apple developments to newest AI breakthroughs as part of the site’s Mobile Computing vertical. Having previously written for publications including Esquire and FourFourTwo, Axel is well-versed in the applications of technology beyond the desktop, and his coverage extends from general reporting and analysis to in-depth interviews and opinion.
Axel studied for a degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick before joining TechRadar in 2020, where he then earned an NCTJ qualification as part of the company’s inaugural digital training scheme.
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