Tesla 250mph electric hypercar revealed
- 0-60mph in 1.9secs, 0-100mph in 4.2sec, top speed over 250mph
- Range 620 miles on one charge
- 10,000Nm wheel torque AWD
- 4-seater Roadster with removable glass roof
- First 1,000 cars costing $250,000, then $200,000
- Production to start in 2020
TESLA has launched a 250mph electric sports car with stunning 620-mile range and price of just $200,000. Chief executive Elon Musk says the world’s fastest production car was “a hardcore smackdown to gasoline cars”.
The presentation in Hawthorn, California, began with the launch of an electric heavy duty truck but as that was ending the red roadster emerged from the truck’s trailer reported Reuters.
It said: “The showmanship wowed the crowd although some analysts’ heads started throbbing at the variety of new projects launched as the company is struggling to produce the more affordable sedan upon which its future depends.”
The sports car with a removable glass roof is an updated version of Tesla’s first production vehicle. It can seat four and travel 620 miles on a single charge, a new record for an electric vehicle, Musk said.
It can whistle from 0 to 60mph in 1.9 seconds, pass 100mph in 4.2secs with a maximum speed over 250mph, which would make it the fastest car in general production.
Musk boasted: “You’ll be able to travel from LA to San Francisco, and back, at highway speed without recharging. The point of doing this is to just give a hardcore smackdown to gasoline cars. Driving a gasoline sports car is going to feel like a steam engine with a side of quiche.”
The first 1,000 cars will cost $250,000 each, paid in full up front, with later models starting at $200,000 – just one-fifth of the price of fastest new Ferraris.
Musk did not give a price for the truck, or say how or where either product would be built, but he said the truck would begin production in 2019 and that the Roadster would be available a year later.
Musk has described electric trucks as Tesla’s next effort to move the economy away from fossil fuels through projects including electric cars, solar roofs and power storage.
Some analysts fear the truck will be an expensive distraction for Tesla, which is burning cash, has never posted an annual profit, and is in self-described “manufacturing hell” starting up production of the $35,000 Model 3 saloon.
