After 9 Years Of Waiting, Tesla Roadster 2.0 Is Actually Happening

It's hard to believe it's been nine years since the world was first shown a concept for a second-generation Tesla Roadster, but it now looks like the production version is finally coming. Don't expect the design and specifications to be a carbon copy of the previous sleek sports car. It's been a decade after all, and the competition has caught up when it comes to EV technology and consumer tastes have also moved on. But most importantly, the first official teaser for Roadster 2.0 suggests the wildest features no one believed would actually make it to production could actually be real. Tesla Roadster To Launch October 1, Maybe In a teaser photo posted to Tesla's social media accounts over the weekend, Tesla shows what appears to be the rear of the new Roadster, along with the script “10.01,” indicating the date October 1. Tesla also included the text "Go for launch." On X, formerly Twitter, the brand also posted a link to a countdown page on its website, officially confirming this is the Roadster we're looking at. The simple countdown, as of this writing, reads 17 days, 14 hours, and 50ish minutes, with the new Roadster typeface above it, as originally uncovered by CarBuzz. Musk himself responded on the social media platform he owns with a simple four-word reply: "It's out of this world," and upon playing with the lighting in the shadowy teaser, the words "Where we're going..." are visible above the light bar, a pop culture reference to the Back to the Future Part II line by Doc Brown: “Where we're going, we don't need roads.” What this could indicate, we can only imagine, but it's safe to say the new Roadster won't fly like Doc Brown's time machine. Which Of Musk's Wild Claims Could Become Reality? Sitting above the car also appear to be four thrusters, a feature CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly teased as a way of boosting the car's acceleration to top fuel dragster levels. We're talking zero to 60 mph in under one second — that was Musk's wild claim. Reuters also reported that a limited-edition version equipped with cold-gas thrusters is being developed with SpaceX, and that a demonstration could take place at the space technology company's facility in McGregor, Texas. Musk has previously teased that Tesla is working with engineers from SpaceX on a rocket system for the Roadster and, in a post last year, said the acceleration isn't even the most astounding aspect of the car. Originally, it was thought that the thrusters would provide forward thrust, but given the position of the four thrusters in this teaser — seemingly on the roof and pointing upwards — they might fulfill a different role. Technically, acceleration of a road-legal vehicle is only limited by the level of grip its tires can produce. But if a car could generate enough downforce at a standstill - a la McMurtry Speirling - it could generate more grip and thus accelerate quicker. The Speirling Pure, for reference, nails a zero-to-60 mph sprint in just 1.55 seconds. If these thrusters push the Roadster into the ground, 1,000-horsepower-plus electric motors could easily generate enough forward propulsion to achieve a similar time. What Were The Original Specs? Most Roadsters won't have any thrusters, but the car should still be blisteringly quick. When Tesla originally unveiled the second-generation Roadster, it quoted a sprint to 60 mph in 1.9 seconds, with 100 mph arriving in 4.2 seconds. The new Roadster's top speed was said to be 250 mph. However, other companies have since launched models with that kind of performance, including fellow American EV brand Lucid with the Air Sapphire super sedan. China's Yangwang also reset the top-speed record last year when its U9 Xtreme reached 308 mph. At the 2017 reveal, Tesla also said that a 200-kilowatt-hour battery pack would provide 620 miles of range and that pricing would start at $200,000 for a standard Roadster and $250,000 for a limited-edition Founders Series model. Tesla opened reservations shortly after the reveal, asking buyers for a $50,000 deposit on the standard Roadster, while the $250,000 Founders Series model required the full purchase price upfront. The company has yet to confirm whether those original prices will carry over to the production car. CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters Tesla has a record of making big promises it doesn't always meet, so even this could prove to be another ruse. We could get little more than a demonstration and another timeline, especially with indications as recently as last year that development was far from complete. Tesla also seems less focused on the Roadster as it prioritizes higher-volume models, particularly after the Cybertruck's poor market reception. After nine years of waiting, though, Tesla should still have something exciting to show us.