Tesla Roadster 1 Kicked Off EV Revolution, Tesla Roadster 2 Helps To Close It Out

November 25th, 2017 by Jesper Berggreen

Originally published on EV Obsession.

I am not pretending to be any more capable of covering the shocking revelation of the second-generation Tesla Roadster than any other enthusiastic EV blogger out there. However, this event brings back that peculiar sensation I experienced in the passenger seat of this particular Tesla Roadster back in 2011:

I was a petrolhead at the time. I had just spent a fortune restoring a Paris/Dakar-replica Suzuki motorcycle. I really did love that bike. However, when the kind gentleman from windestate.com slammed the accelerator in this thing, my mindset — as well as my bowels — turned upside down. After that, my beautiful desert off-roader felt like a lame duck in rattling knight’s armour.

What had happened? Well, the sensation — that I had a hard time to formulate at the time — was the recognition of the beginning of the clean revolution in transportation.

Elon Musk chose to take advantage of the hype around the Tesla Semi to reveal one more thing, the Tesla Roadster 2:

Tesla Roadster 2.0 (CleanTechnica Original) CleanTechnica's Kyle Field shot this short video of the new Tesla #Roadster at the unveiling event.Woot! Woot!#TeslaNext Tesla Roadster (just the prototype) breaks practically every record for a production vehicle that you can think of. 0-60 in 1.9 seconds. 8.9 seconds in a quarter mile. 200 kWh battery pack. 620 miles of range. Can drive LA to San Francisco and back without recharging. “The point of all this is just to give a hardcore smackdown to gasoline cars.” Driving a gas sports car will be like driving “a steam engine with a side of quiche.” 4-seater. Available in 2020.More info here:https://cleantechnica.com/2017/11/16/everything-you-need-know-tesla-semi-truck/ Posted by CleanTechnica on Thursday, November 16, 2017

This marks the end of the dirty world of transportation. The Roadster is not a sensible car. It is a symbol. The second iteration complements the original, and wraps up the message. The old Roadster marked the beginning of a clean new world. The new Roadster marks the end of the dirty old world. Or as Elon puts it:

“to give a hard core smackdown to gasoline powered cars!”

Once again, Tesla has left the traditional automotive industry in shock. In the next months, the media will get swamped with stories about what just happened. I advise you to pay attention. If you have a gasoline-powered car in your driveway, you should start to plan ahead — because it will be worthless within a decade. I guess…

Tesla Roadster 2008:

248 hp

270 Nm

53 kWh

244 miles (393 km)

0 — 60 mph: 3.9 sec

Top speed: 125 mph

Tesla Roadster 2020:

1,500 hp

10,000 Nm

200 kWh

620 miles (1000 km)

0 — 60 mph: 1.9 sec

Top speed +250 mph











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