Another Roadster, perhaps?
American EV automaker Tesla has sent invitations to owners ahead of the Grand Basel show in Switzerland, seemingly teasing the debut of something new for the prestigious event. Worded very carefully, the sighted invitations promise a “surprise” that will be in-keeping with the Grand Basel show’s theme this year of “automotive masterpieces.”
The company released with the invitation a highly-focused, zoomed-in image of some red bodywork, and educated guessing tells us that it’s likely something performance-focused, and not some kind of new luxury model like an upgraded Model S or X. Something about the image also tells us we’re not likely to be looking at something high-riding, so that throws out the Tesla ute & Model Y compact SUV too.
It’s likely that Tesla intends to show off the production version of the Roadster, where we’ll be very excited to glean important performance statistics and also the finalised design for the ballistic electric sports car. For the uninitiated, the Roadster and its 200kWh battery pack is capable of hitting 100km/h in 2-seconds (which we saw at its launch back in November), and will be capable of exceeding 1,000km on a single full charge, while the “quarter mile” dragstrip is conquered in less than 9-seconds.
Compared to the outgoing model, the new Tesla Roadster offers greater practicality and flexibility, as it’ll hit the market as a 2+2 sports car, though we reckon those rear seats will be for occasional use only. When it hits the roads in 2020, Musk says that it “will be the fastest production car ever made, period.”
As is typical of Tesla, the Roadster has already opened for reservations with a mammoth US$50,000 (or $66,040) deposit, though a full US$250,000 ($330,025) will be demanded should you want to secure one of 1,000 ‘Founders Series’ models. The Roadster is set to roll off the production line in 2020, though knowing Tesla’s propensity for delays, we should perhaps be hoping for 2030. Still though, we’re hoping to glean salient details on the Roadster when the Grand Basel show opens shortly, and you can bet that we’ll have them here in a blink.
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