Tesla unveils Roadster II: A high-flying act, thanks to rocket tech

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“This car really sucks”, Elon Musk says as he unveils the Tesla Roadster. He means that literally: the Tesla Roadster uses a fan to suck itself down onto the road, generating up to 2 g of downforce. Race cars have used ground effect for decades to generate downforce in fast turns; Tesla generates it artificially in this car. The Roadster can even jump short distances using cold-gas thrusters. A prototype demonstrates this at the unveiling: This thing is a mix of SpaceX rockets and the 1980s TV series Knight Rider.

Elon Musk says production will start in 2028. Tesla has more details on its official Roadster page. There will be three versions: the Tesla Roadster Performance, the Thrust and the Rocket. To reserve a Roadster Performance with active ground effect, buyers must first pay $5,000 by credit card, then wire another $45,000 within 10 days. Tesla hasn’t disclosed what the models will ultimately cost.

From 0 to 60 mph in 0.81 seconds

The Roadster Thrust also has a horizontal acceleration booster powered by cold-gas thrusters. The reservation amount for this model rises to a total of $250,000. The promise: The sprint takes less than a second. At the unveiling, the prototype does it in 0.81 seconds, though Tesla probably means 60 mph, not 100 km/h — that’s 96 km/h.

Tesla will build the jump-capable Roadster Rocket only “by invitation”, and this version isn’t approved for public roads. So it’s either a flight of fancy or a rolling experiment for a few superrich buyers. Elon Musk’s team wants to bring a piece of the space company SpaceX down to Earth. Designer Franz von Holzhausen created an angular shape with surfaces intended to evoke space travel.

Suspended upside down by downforce

Let’s get back down to earth and put the Tesla Roadster in context: nearly two decades after the brand’s first electric car, the Roadster I, based on the Lotus Elise, Tesla is promising the Roadster II. A concept for a successor shown about 10 years ago never made it into production. Now, instead, Tesla plans what amounts to an electric Lamborghini with active ground effect.

The claim that it can hang upside down under 2 g of downforce is credible. The system is known and proven: the McMurtry Speirling first drew attention five years ago at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the U.K. The Speirling reaches 60 mph in 1.4 seconds, and Tesla has apparently taken inspiration from it.

Tesla hasn’t yet said exactly how the cold-gas thrusters in the Roadster Thrust and Rocket work — for example, what gas they use. What is clear is that Tesla, through SpaceX, knows how to control rockets with precision. The jumps and spins on its own axis that the Roadster Rocket prototype performed at the unveiling, evoking a skateboard, are real.

Musk: “Where we’re going, we don’t need wheels.”

As has often been the case in the past, it’s worth listening to what Elon Musk says in passing. In the long run, he makes clear, the Roadster will be the only Tesla that humans can drive. Tesla is pursuing exclusively autonomous vehicles. The Roadster’s steering wheel uses steer-by-wire, with no mechanical connection; this technology is considered a prerequisite for allowing drivers to choose between manual and autonomous driving. The Roadster could reach a top speed of Mach 0.5 or even higher, Elon Musk says — half the speed of sound — and adds: “Where we’re going, we don’t need wheels.”

(mho)