In 2008 Tesla Motors released its first car, the completely electric Roadster, and it put the automaker on the map. In company tests, it achieved 245 miles (394 km) on a single charge, an unprecedented range for a production electric car at the time. When Tesla first revealed the second generation of the Roadster, it claimed it would come to market with significantly more driving range and a much higher level of performance. Tesla CEO Elon Musk even boasted that it would be able to achieve a 1.9-second 60-mph time, an 8.8 second quarter-mile time, have a 250-mph top speed, and a range of over 600 miles.
However, with Tesla’s recently announce Model S and Model X Plaid, it seems like attention has been drawn away from resurrecting the nameplate worn by the company’s first model in 2008.
Tesla held its Q4 and full yer earnings report and conference call yesterday and used the time to not only discuss the successes the company saw throughout 2020, but also announced the Model S and Model X refresh. The automaker announced details about the refresh including the tri-motor Plaid and Plaid+ powertrains. Tesla claims the Plaid+ will be able to achieve a 0-60 mph in less than 1.99 seconds and a quarter-mile in under 9 seconds. Numbers that a strikingly similar to the second-generation Roadster’s, leaving some curious Tesla fans with questions:
A valid questions, that led to yet another:
Musk has been noted saying in the past that the Roadster would be able to achieve “short hops.”
The base model Roadster will have a starting price of $200,000, though odds are you will have to shell out a lot more money for the specs mentioned above.