The Tesla Roadster

The Ultimate Hypercar

Author: 15-year-old Yusuf Kemal, back in 2019.

The Roadster

Every Year, car manufacturers make more and more cars that amaze us, but among these means of transport, there is a certain type that not anyone can afford... Have you guessed what am I talking about?... "Hypercars", of course. These exotic, high-end, high-performance and ridiculously expensive versions of the already mind-blowing supercars are a sign of speed, wealth and luxury, and the all-new all-electric Tesla Roadster is no exception. With it's record-breaking performance, futuristic design and state-of-the-art technology, it's genuinely the "Queen of all supercars".

Here's why.

Facts and Figures

For starters, being an electric car, the new Roadster comes with a battery pack, which has a gigantic capacity of 200 KWh. To put that into perspective, the range-topping Porsche Taycan comes with a 93.4 KWh battery pack, that's slightly less than half the capacity of the one in the Tesla-badged car. There's still no word on how long it takes to replenish the humongous battery, but it's ought to be as swift as the car is. In addition to this, the "record-breaking" roadster lived up to its definition.

The big T's crown jewel could allegedly hit the benchmark of 100 km/h from a standstill in a heart-stopping 1.9 ticks. Furthermore, it's one of the fastest cars on the planet, with a quarter mile sprint time of merely 8.8 seconds and a naught to 100 mi/h or roughly 160 km/h sprint in a ground-breaking 4.2 seconds before topping out at an astonishing speed north of 250 mi/h or nearly 400 km/h. All thanks to its tri-motor engine configuration, cranking out an unprecedented breath-taking 10,000 Nm of wheel torque.

It will likely also have (this has not been confirmed yet but rather pure speculation on my part at this point) well over a thousand brake horsepower. In context, the $3 million Bugatti Chiron with it's massive 8.0 L W16 engine, raises only 1600 newton meters. That's more than 6 times more twist for the American-made electric Hypercar. As Elon Musk, the CEO and co-founder of Tesla, had eloquently described the car as " A hardcore smackdown on gas-powered cars".

The unbelievable thing about this car is, that this is merely the base version and Tesla should have even beefier and hotter variants under it's belt, as Tesla is not going to rest on it's laurels, so if you're hungry for more power and performance, then you're in luck, as Tesla has decided that they're going to kick this game up a notch by offering a “SpaceX rocket thruster option package” as an extra option, of course. And Musk has even confirmed this himself, as shortly after the reveal of the Roadster, Musk upped the ante by hyping the idea that Tesla could add rockets to the Roadster to further quicken acceleration, or possibly make the car fly. But how might it work?

Those rockets could allow the Roadster to accelerate from 0-60 mph in just 1.1 seconds, according to Jason Fenske of Engineering Explained. That's based on the patchwork of public statements Tesla has made about the car over the past three years.

Musk has provided clues in various tweets made in the four years since the new Roadster's reveal. Rather than use chemical rockets like those developed by Musk's SpaceX venture, Musk has hinted that the Roadster's rocket would rely on compressed air generated by an onboard pump that would send compressed air to 10 thrusters positioned around the car, and stored at 10,000 psi in tanks replacing the rear seats.

The thruster would point out from the rear of the vehicle, possibly behind a flip-down license plate. The advantage of rockets is that they aren't limited by tire grip, Fenske said. The power produced by an internal combustion engine or electric motor has to be channelled through the tires, and if it's too much power for the tires to handle, the car won't be able to accelerate any quicker. That's not an issue for rockets, which simply push the car along with thrust.

Fenske calculated that the Roadster's tires will handle acceleration of 1.44 g, while the rockets can produce 1.05 g of accelerative force. Plugging those values into the acceleration equation yields a 0-60 mph time of 1.1 seconds with rocket assist. However, that assumes the rockets will be able to run for a full 0-60 mph pull. It's also worth noting that, just like the home-built rocket cars of today, the feature likely won't be street legal.

I think it's worth mentioning that he has indeed managed to make this amazing vehicle the "Queen of all EVs" when it comes to its range. Range is a monumental player in the success of any electric car, there's even a term called "Range anxiety", further emphasising the exigency of long-range EVs.

Fortunately, Tesla's eccentric CEO has got that covered for you, providing the car with an unbelievable range that misses the 1000 km mark with a hair difference. Granted, 620 miles on a single charge is more than enough to make the new roadster the world's first thousand kilometer electric vehicle.

 The $300,000+ Austin Martin DBS Superleggera can't make the journey on a full tank. Some people even had second thoughts about those unthinkable numbers, doubting that this car's figures are too good to be true and that they were suspiciously high, setting the bar insanely untangible to most hypercar manufacturers, thinking that this was only a hype and that Elon Musk was only touting this car to make some noise in the hypercar world and to establish the start-up company's superiority in the hypercar niche.

But, the prototype acceleration videos showed that this unexplainably astounding vehicle is no stunt or fiction, but rather 100% genuine, real and authentic. Elon Musk even claims that the production roadster could even excel these numbers and that the roadster is inching towards perfection. Hinting that these incredible numbers may be a bit on the conservative side.

Speaking of prices, you don't expect this hypercar to come cheap as it fetches a mouth-watering but still hefty sticker of around a couple hundred grand. If you're not familiar with prices of hypercars, you may think that this is too much for a car, but considering that the Bugatti Chiron -which is also a hypercar- costs a wallet-busting $3 million before tax and is a half a second slower from naught to 60 miles an hour, I can safely say that this is a pretty fair deal. So, it's actually not overpriced or too exorbitant. In fact, it is, in my opinion, underpriced, splurge-worthy and relatively cheap. I would even venture to say that it's a bargain. So, with all that crazy numbers, whether it's the performance or range figures, this car sure didn't just make it to the hypercar territory, but topped it.

Design & Quality

This car isn't all about performance, if we're being too conservative, it's just as luxurious as a normal Tesla. But, it's design is another story. Having a sleek, modern exterior with smooth lines and relatively sharp edges, this car will raise people's eyebrows wherever it goes. It's exterior is far from boring, in fact, it's super striking. This charming exterior is complemented by side cameras instead of conventional wing mirrors and an eye-catching removable glass roof, turning the car into a cabriolet. As well as the fact that it offers a minimalistic and practical aerodynamic design, exceptionally balancing performance, efficiency and looks. Additionally, the vehicle might feature no door handles, replacing them with fingerprint scanners to unlock the car and open the doors, further enhancing the car's security, safety and privacy.

The norm with Tesla is that they drop the ball when it comes to interior build quality, and there is no sign, let alone concrete proof, that this car is going to be any different. Truth to tell, with a plethora of luxury electric vehicles coming in the next few years, Tesla should work on the interior quality of it's vehicles, as this has been the company's achilles' heel even in range-topping models since it's inception.

In terms of practicality, Tesla's hypercar does little compromising. As a matter of fact, the car comes with a 2+2 seating configuration, with occasional rear seats, just like the Porsche 911.

Technology

Long story short, it's dead obvious that this is a driver's car, the kind of one that you want to thrash or put the pedal to the metal in, but if one day by some chance, you happen to not be in the mood to drive it yourself and there's no one else that can drive it for you, then don't fret, as undoubtedly this car comes for every taste and occasion, appeasing all preferences and people. It comes with Tesla's latest autonomous technology software, aka "Autopilot", as well as other quintessential Tesla technologies.

Competition

Well... what can I say? This is kind of embarrassing for other car makers... as no other car manufacturer has even attempted to make this kind of car with this kind of utterly unique combination of performance, range, convenience, features and, most crucially, price. Just NONE. So, it is truly unrivalled... at least for now, until some other manufacturer comes out with something at this price point with this much packed in it, whether it's performance or range or features, such as self-driving capabilities. To be fair though, nobody stands alone, especially in this burgeoning segment that's only gaining momentum as time inexorably marches onward, so there are cars that are either faster than this car or more practical. So, let's check them out, shall we?

Rivian R1T

An American start-up company called "Rivian" has made a pickup truck, called the R1T with more than 11,000 lbs of towing capacity and can reach 60 mi/h in 3.2 seconds. That is far from making this a worthy challenger for the Tesla, but remember, this is a pickup truck we're talking about.

Next, there is the Aspark Owl, which is made by the Japanese carmaker, Aspark. It can allegedly go from 0-60 mi/h in 1.69 sec., 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in 1.9 seconds, 0-299 km/h (186 mph) in 10.6 seconds and can attain a top speed of 400 km/h (249 mph). However, at least some of these claims are most likely false, due to the physical limits of automobile acceleration imposed by the friction of tires with the road, and due to a lack of convincing video evidence.

Then, there is the Bugatti Chiron super Sport

This monster, or as Bugatti calls it "BEAUTY AND BEAST IN A NEW DIMENSION", has the iconic humongous 8.0 L W16 engine with 1600 horses, a redesigned body means this car can go up to an unbelievable 305 miles an hour or roughly 490 km/h... so, when it comes to land speed records this car thrashes the tesla... but, really, who cares about that if the only place you can go at that speed is just a couple of race tracks?

Last, but definitely not least, we have the Rimac Nevera

First of all, "Nevera" is a Croatian storm, it's relentless, it's sudden, it's powerful, and this car is named after it, because it's all of those things. So, it is an all-electric hypercar, just like the Roadster. But unlike the Roadster which has three electric motors, two at the back and one at the front, the Nevera has four electric motors, one on each wheel, enabling amazing driving dynamics and traction control improvements and so, together they produce 1,914 horsepower and 2,360 Newton meters of torque, enough to propel this beast to 60 mi/h or 96 km/h in around 2 seconds and has a top speed of 256 mi/h or 412 km/h, according to Rimac itself. So, you might be thinking that it gives a pretty good fight against the Tesla, even going as far as to say that it gives the Roadster a run for it's money. However, you'd be wrong in thinking like that, as the Nevera costs an absolute fortune, it starts from around €2 million, plus taxes! Whooh! That's 8 times as much as the Tesla!

Final Thoughts

With its stunning looks, wildly impressive performance and relatively low price, you can safely expect this absolute of a masterpiece to be a sell-out. But, don't you worry at all as Tesla had announced that it will produce 10,000 units of this car annually, so don't hold your breath, but relative to other hypercars, like the Bugatti Chiron super sport 300+ which is limited to a measly 30 units, this is more reassuring and convenient. I can absolutely and confidently confirm that this one-of-a-kind vehicle will be the greatest achievement and masterpiece of Mr. Musk to date.

What's more, is that the production of the car is due to start in a year or maybe two, it depends on when Tesla's new proprietary 4680 battery cells that will have higher energy density than the conventional 2170 cells, thus enabling a much greater range on a full charge, will be ready. So, still, don't expect to see any of them on the roads in less than a couple of years, even when Tesla had said that the production of the Roadster was scheduled to start in 2020!

As a matter of fact, something similar had happened with the company's Model 3 compact sedan, when it's production started in 2016 but it only went on sale after two years in late 2018. So, basically, the car may hit the market a bit later than was anticipated. All in all, it turns out that there's only one thing for sure, that with all the bells and whistles, this extraordinary vehicle with it's top-notch performance, stellar design and sophisticated features, has, without the slightest of doubts, proved it's superiority in the hypercar arena.

As well as the EV (Electric Vehicle) market. As this is an EV, it makes you feel like you've done your bit on the environment. Add all that to the melting pot, and it immediately looks like Elon has found himself one hell of a bombshell to throw at the nascent EV market and simultaneously, at the niche hypercar pantheon as well. Undoubtedly, this spectacular vehicle will up the ante regarding EVs and cars in general, set the bar sore high for future hypercars and indeed, lift the boundaries of hypercars to a whole new dimension for generations to come.