New Tesla Roadster: Everything we know in September 2024 [Update]

Update (September 4, 2024): All sections revised.

Tesla fans and reservation holders of the Roadster must be hoping that the long wait will be worth it. While the Model S seems like Tesla’s ultimate performance car, the Roadster will surpass it to become the brand’s flagship. Wondering how fast the Roadster might be? Tesla CEO and co-founder Elon Musk has an answer.

Will outperform the Model S Plaid

In a conversation with Ride the Lightning podcast’s host Ryan McCaffrey on January 15, 2023, Tesla’s Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen said the Roadster will perform better on every metric than when it was first conceived. While there have been delays, the time afforded has been invaluable in improving the Roadster, the chief designer stated.

On February 28, 2024, Elon Musk revealed bold updates on the next-gen Tesla Roadster, tweeting, “Tonight, we radically increased the design goals.” He claimed, “There will never be another car like this, if you could even call it a car,” and highlighted a Tesla/SpaceX collaboration.

With the production design complete and an unveiling set for year-end, Musk teased, “I think it has a shot at being the most mind-blowing product demo of all time,” with its sub-one-second 0-60 mph time being the “least interesting part.” The announcement got the attention of Bugatti Rimac CEO Mate Rimac (via Facebook) as well.

The Model S Plaid uses three electric motors to produce 1,020 hp and 1,050 lb-ft for reference. Musk has promised that the two-door model will outperform the Model S Plaid. “We have a few ideas for increasing torque & max rpm even further for the new Roadster,” Musk said in a post on X on June 13, 2021. “Definitely fun and exciting engineering ahead!” he added.

SpaceX package

Musk has stated that Tesla will offer the new Roadster with the optional ‘SpaceX package,’ which includes cold air thrusters around the car to improve top speed, braking, and cornering. Currently, the sub-one-second acceleration figure seems almost unbelievable. We will have to wait until the production version reaches drag strips to witness its performance firsthand.

While rocket technology raises safety concerns, Musk has assured that the next-gen Roadster would be a safe car. If used as advised, it will provide an experience unlike any other factory-built street-legal car. Science geeks who aren’t necessarily performance enthusiasts may also appreciate the incredible piece of aerospace engineering in their car.

A patent application has revealed Ferrari is exploring a similar technology in its cars. The Prancing Horse is exploring “gas pushers,” which are “pulse jets” powered by compressed air or liquid fuel (like gasoline), delivered through thrusters located at the front, sides, and rear of the car.

The company thinks this technology could be useful in giving a car a temporary boost and also aiding in handling and deceleration. The new system assisting the car’s powertrain may add 40-45 kg (88-99 lbs.) to its weight. The Drive has published the pictures and given a detailed explanation of this patent application, in case you’d like to know more.

Futuristic interior

The next-gen Roadster has a minimalistic interior, which is typical of a Tesla. It features a sleek dashboard with carbon-fiber trim, a spaceship-themed steering yoke, and a curved, super-slim bridge-type center console that houses a large portrait touchscreen. A hollowed section beneath the center console offers extra storage for larger items such as a grocery bag or handbag. The central armrest houses a cupholder.

At least one configuration of the Roadster will feature four seats, and though the rear seats may not be comfortable for adults, they are a rare feature in supercars. The electric sports car has a removable glass roof storable in the trunk.

Tesla, like Apple, has its own approach, which in some cases may not be as customer-friendly. Unlike other car companies that have embraced Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Tesla has avoided offering integration for these platforms. Current Teslas are devoid of Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant as well.

Autonomous driving

Tesla is expected to offer Autopilot as standard, with Enhanced Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) as optional features in the next-gen Roadster. Basic Autopilot enables the car to steer, accelerate, and brake automatically for other vehicles and pedestrians within its lane.

Enhanced Autopilot, which costs USD 6,000 across the current range, brings several additional hands-free driving capabilities. It allows autonomous driving on highways along with automatic lane change and enables automatic parallel and perpendicular parking and Smart Summon functions. FSD gives the car the capability to identify stop signs and traffic lights and automatically slow down where required. It should also come enabled with automatic steering on city streets.

Release date

The next-gen Tesla Roadster has experienced multiple delays, and according to the latest information, it is expected to go on sale sometime in 2025. Tesla has completed most of the next-gen Roadster’s engineering but still wants to do some upgrades, Musk confirmed during the company’s Q2 2024 earnings conference call on July 24, 2024. The company expects to start production in 2025, he added.

During Tesla Owners Silicon Valley’s X Takeover event (via YouTube) later in July 2024, Musk revealed that Tesla will conduct a next-gen Roadster demo to showcase its capabilities in 2025. That event might be “the most mind-blowing demo of anything ever,” the brand boss said, and he also confirmed that the car can fly a little.

Limited-run model

On April 5, 2023, Tesla unveiled its Master Plan Part 3, a document that outlines its current and future models, not including the Roadster. This is likely due to the fact that Tesla doesn’t tag the Roadster as a main player in sales figures. There have been several hints that point towards the new Roadster being produced in limited quantity and being marketed to hardcore performance fans and collectors.

During the 2023 Investor Day on March 1, 2023, Tesla indicated in its presentation that the redesigned Roadster will not be a major sales contributor, as it was not pictured on its Global Electric Fleet slide. The halo car will serve more as a brand-shaping product and innovation platform. It will push the boundaries for performance, efficiency, and design, with things that wouldn’t be normally possible on mainstream models like the Model 3 or Model Y.

On display

While the all-new Roadster continues to be delayed year after year, the design is a crowd-puller. Tesla is taking every opportunity to remind fans and customers what it is working on. On April 7, 2022, the company showcased the model at the Giga Texas factory during the Cyber Rodeo event. X user StargazerPlaid shared live pictures (above) of the future Tesla model enthralling fans five years after its premiere.

Specifications & Features

With its last three launches, Tesla has learned valuable lessons about introducing new technology to the market. If the company delivers on what was promised at the prototype’s unveiling in 2017, there is no doubt that the new Tesla Roadster has the potential to be the new benchmark in electric vehicles, offering hypercar-level performance with everyday usability.

Top speed

The all-new Roadster sits on a dedicated EV platform and will maximize high-performance and efficiency with spectacular figures: wheel torque of 7,475 lb-ft (10,000 Nm) and a top speed of over 250 mph (402 km/h). In addition, it will feature an all-wheel-drive layout with torque vectoring (one electric motor at the front, two at the rear). At least in terms of acceleration (0-60 mph in <1 second), it should outperform combustion-engined supercars.

Battery, Charging & Range

We expect Tesla to deploy its new 4680 battery cell format in the new Roadster. The company has named the new format after its dimensions: 80 mm in length and around 46 mm in diameter. The new tabless cell technology’s advantages include reduced battery pack size and cost/kWh as well.

The Tesla Roadster prototype features a 200 kWh battery that supports charging at 350 kW DC and offers a range of 620 miles (997 km) at highway speeds, the longest driving range on a production EV. We wonder how Tesla can fit such a large battery pack onto a compact sports car. The Hummer EV also has a massive 200+ kWh battery, and we know how gigantic its frame is. It’ll be interesting to find out, at its premiere next year, how engineers managed this feat.

Wireless charging

The next-gen Tesla Roadster could be one of the brand’s first models to feature wireless charging. In an episode of Jay Leno’s Garage (via YouTube), von Holzhausen revealed that Tesla is developing wireless EV charging technology. Customers will need to just park their Tesla over a wireless EV charging pad installed in their garage and the car will automatically start charging, the design boss said. Wireless EV charging technology would be quite expensive initially, so it’s safe to assume that Tesla would want to deploy it in its expensive models like the next-gen Roadster first.

Price

Tesla initially priced the new Roadster at USD 200,000 in the base trim and USD 250,000 in the priority-delivery (first 1,000 units) Founder’s Series trim. Although reservations remain open, Tesla has removed pricing information from its website.

In the U.S., customers need to place a deposit of USD 50,000; an initial USD 5,000 credit card payment, and then a USD 45,000 wire transfer payment due in 10 days. Perhaps, Tesla removed prices because it can no longer promise the initially announced prices for new reservations. The company could announce a price hike closer to the launch, as it did with the Cybertruck.

Competitors

The next-gen Tesla Roadster will compete with high-performance electric vehicles like the Maserati GranTurismo Folgore and the Polestar 6, the possibly delayed Lotus Type 135, and the Chevrolet Corvette Electric.

A variety of conventional sports cars, in the current and future iterations, will also be its competitors, such as the Porsche 911 Cabriolet, Ferrari 296 GTS, McLaren 720S Spider, and the Lamborghini Huracan EVO Spyder.

TopElectricSUV says

The all-new Tesla Roadster may be long overdue now, but when it finally arrives in 2025 (we hope), it should prove the wait was worth it. Packing aerospace-derived technologies and a bevy of innovations, the 2025 model will likely revolutionize the sports car market.

The next-generation Roadster will be as intense as a hardcore roller coaster, meaning it won’t be for the faint-hearted enthusiast. In all likeliness, it would be more extreme than what Tesla promised with Plaid at the convertible concept’s debut in 2017, with the team working on the project hinting at performance levels that lift the car off the ground!

New Tesla Roadster FAQs

Featured image: Tesla