The new Tesla Roadster could end up being more than just the company’s wildest performance car. Elon Musk says it may eventually become the only Tesla designed to be driven by a human, as the rest of the lineup moves further toward autonomy.
At the Roadster’s debut, Musk said, “This will actually be long term the only manually driven car that Tesla makes… So if it’s going to be the only manually driven car, let’s take it to the limits and beyond the limits.”
Tesla claims the Roadster will hit 60 mph in just 0.8 seconds, although the company hasn’t revealed the electric motor details yet. It will also feature a fan-based suction system underneath the car, designed to generate as much as 2 g of additional cornering force.
Then there’s the truly bizarre part. SpaceX-derived thrusters can actually lift the Roadster off the ground, turning an already outrageous sports car into something that looks like it belongs in a sci-fi movie.
Tesla says production is planned for 2028. If the Roadster delivers even a fraction of what has been promised, it could be one of the strangest and most extreme cars of its era.
