Elon Musk Stokes Tesla Fan’s Excitement By Bringing Back The Roadster Alongside Some Shocking Guarantees

Elon Musk was full of surprises during Tesla’s reveal event at its facility in Hawthorne, California. Not only did the billionaire unveil Tesla’s line of semi trucks — primed for 500 miles in range, ready for comfort, and aerodynamic like the fastest sports cards — but he also brought back a Tesla favorite in the Roadster.

With the Beastie Boys blaring from the speakers, the car whipped out across the large parking area, swung around, and then immediately stopped for an impressive entrance into the public eye. Not only that, Musk had some wild promises about the specs of this new sports car according to The Verge:

Musk claimed the base model will do zero to 60 in 1.9 seconds, which if true would make it the first time a production vehicle cracked the 2-second threshold. He also said the new Roadster would climb from 0 to 100 mph in 4.2 seconds, and will clear the quarter mile in 8.9 seconds (in case the Fast & Furious drag race franchise comes calling.)

“It’ll be faster than that jet over there,” Musk quipped, as an airplane soared over the exultant crowd crammed into Tesla’s Hawthorne, California facility.

The car should be available to own by 2020, allowing owners to almost pretend they own a flying car considering the speeds it can reach.

On top of this, Musk claims that the car can go over 250 mph and possible faster than the Koenigsegg Agera RS and its 277 mph top speed. The car will also sport a 200kwh battery pack and a 620-mile range per charge, with Musk remarking that it could be possible to drive from LA to San Francisco and back without recharging according to The Verge.

As for the semi trucks, they don’t seem to be as roomy as the current long-haul trucks we see everyday on the highways. It seems to take a little bit of the mystique out of the trucker life by replacing it with a sleek presentation that includes touch screens, more room for storage, and cameras to support the large truck mirrors on the sides. There isn’t a model being presented with a sleeper cabin yet, but The Verge indicates it could happen in a future model.

The entire package is impressive, but The Verge does note that Tesla faces some competition in the electric trucking market and the company is already facing criticism over its late delivery of its Model 3 to nearly 500,000 customers.

(Via The Verge / Tesla / Wired / Engadget)