Tesla says the New Roadster Will Be the 'Last Best Driver's Car'

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Ok cool, I’m sure it will cure cancer too…

When it comes out in 2050...

No new info here, waste of 3 minutes.

LFG!

Cause it will come out when we run out of ice fuel?

I mean at least they're warning buyers about the fact they'll probably wrap it around a telephone pole lol.

I would have bought it when it was initially planned… in 2020-2022… it’s still vaporware il until it’s out

So, what, another 8 years before we see this? Man, Tesla and their constant hyping of delayed projects

At what point does old design work become useless because it’s taken so long to release that the tech and aesthetics no longer are cutting edge?

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I’ve been so unimpressed with Tesla. The price tag is way too high for the minimalist and barren interiors across the board. Especially when you compare cars of equal or similar price, Tesla just falls so short of the bar it isn’t even funny. It’s evident that Tesla is an energy company, not a car company.

I'd rather have a proper van from Tesla than a fancy sports car. Not all my sporting gear fit into Model Y.

I want it so bad but I just know it’ll be $100k-$200k or something ridiculous like that. If they would price it around $80k it’d sell so well and I’d be first in line!

That’s what my wife says.

If it can’t do 100-0% SoC with a competent driver behind the wheel without the brake fade and thermal limping then it can’t be a “drivers car”.

The technology is there and the money is also there. So why haven't we seen this car come out already? What are they waiting for or what's going on that is halting the progress? Just strip the model s plaid and put the roadster 2 body on it and call it a day.

Man I can’t even afford the S/X

To simulate "a manually controlled gearbox". There would be an up/down paddle shifter behind the steering yoke, and each tap will limit the next vehicle speed limit as it if the "ICE equivalent" is bouncing off the rev limiter.

Pondering what last means as I’m sitting in my new Miata that most certainly feels like a drivers car.

Would have been cool 5 years ago.

250

Needs more rockets

When competitors start stepping on their toes in this territory. So, soon™️

Agree100% even the new Long Y won’t be enough space with 2 dogs I’m afraid

When? It was launched 7 years ago and where they be at?

I think this is an unfair characterization of it... After the "one more thing"-type reveal, they basically didn't talk/hype it very much at all. This latest comment came from Lars in response to a direct question during an interview-style chat at an event. This has basically been the same response in the last few months during interviews like the last one on the Ride the Lightning podcast. And just to remind you that the Model Y, Tesla's single highest volume vehicle, was released earlier than promised in 2020 in the midst of a global pandemic.

This is so dumb in an electric car imo. Do people want that?

It’s odd to say this when the car is not even out yet. This usually said for a car at the end of production cycle.

Why??

Because some EV haters think the loss of the manually controlled gearbox is a horrible idea and remove the driver from the acceleration loop. I love the instant torque on demand at any speed.

The 100k van sales in the US total disagrees with you. Tesla wouldn't make new van buyers, they would poach current van buyers.

The Ioniq 5N has it also, it even has 'vroom vroom' sounds. Cool, right!? [edit] /s

At this rate, that's a fair prediction.

Look at you… bragging about your stamina.

Only cutting edge tech it seems like it will have is the space x package.

300k

I adore my 2010 Tesla Roadster, but it's antiquated by EV standards (not even DCFC capable), and the wait for a newer-and-better electric sports car has been long and frustrating. It's reached the point where. . . I'm considering a pivot, I'm thinking about a Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally as my next fun (but also sort-of-practical) car. It's not super expensive, it's available today, and I could have fun bombing around all the many unpaved county roads in rural Texas where I live.

It probably means Tesla’s longterm focus will be on automated vehicles and not driven by a human driver as they’ve been signaling.

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N gives you this as an option. I haven't tried it myself, but all the reviews I've seen on it say it's really stupid, but in the best way because it's fun to play with.

Not.

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Making money. The Roadster would be incredibly niche

Gotta say, i'm pretty curious to see what Tesla can accomplish when they marshal not only their engineering excellence in house, but the benefits of favorable relationships with elons companies. I think it looks beautiful, but I'm just curious what the absolute edge of physics and engineering can achieve.

If you track your car, knowing what gear to take every corner in is valuable. In an EV - just going from 0-100 on the pedal can make it harder to have fine control. Hyundai did this recently and had press drivers try it in Laguna seca, seems like people loved it. On the street it doesn’t make sense, maybe on spirited driving roads.

I think it's awesome. You don't have to use it all the time, it's optional. If Hyundai had FSD I would happily try one out.

Ok.

This really should be a higher number with all of the delivery vans on the roads. I don't understand how UPS, Fed Ex, DHL, and USPS can't see the value in going electric. It has to save them a TON of money on maintenance, fuel, and time. Tesla should have started there instead of a semi just due to the sheer number of delivery vehicles on the road.

it was rumored to be 250k then...what do you think it ends up as now? 350? it's too much $

if it's not a complete redesign from an existing chassis (as stated above), it shouldn't be too costly to have different sheet metal designs. They SHOULD be using parts in multiple vehicles like the 3/Y and X/S lines already.

They have a lot to give away from the promotion they had with referrals a few years ago lol

I don’t think the technology is there. Tesla thought they would have battery cell improvements to let them ship a 500mi Cybertruck, a 500 mile Model S Plaid+ and volume production of the Tesla Semi in the timeframe of 2019-2021. That didn’t happen. So I’m not sure they do have the ability to ship the Roadster as described with 620 miles of range.

This car looks very, very close to a Model 3. For $250,000 (minimum) they really need to work on stretching their design language a bit more.

Personally I hated it when first heard about it and still think it’s one of the stupidest things ever, but I don’t know which reviews you’ve read or watched, because I was shocked that the reviews I’ve seen praised it as „the future of performance cars“ and „finally the way to get car enthusiasts excited for EVs”.

1 minute of action + 2 minutes of “I swear this doesn’t usually happen…”

DHL build their own electric vans here in Germany already 10years ago after Volkswagen wasn’t able to build something for them back then. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StreetScooter

know what excites me about driving an EV after driving an ICE car? how the EV feels nothing like the archaic and dumb ICE car.

nice, I didn't know that (I wasn't even going to include them but felt bad excluding them lol) Thanks for the link!

I can see more and more EV delivery vans in Polish cities - mainly DHL, DPD and inPost.

Well if they can make mini vans cool again then they would sell.

Oxymoron

being at the right point on each gear matters only when you have gears. take away the gears and caring where you are in the power band in relation to what gear your in isn’t a problem anymore.

Exactly, I was never a big fan of automatic gearboxes in ice cars, because you often come in situations where you have to control the gearbox indirectly with the gas pedal if you want to avoid making it stupid things like driving with too less rev on a hill or changing gears up and down like an idiot, so I always preferred manuals to have direct control. But in an EV where there are no gears at all, I love it and practically you’re going from three pedals to one, because you use the break only in an emergency. Even for a sportier ride on a twisty country road, you can get such a cool flow with only regen before curves.

I think is less of where you are in the gear itself but what gear in general on a corner. Seems easier to me than knowing how far I’ve pressed a pedal down on a 1000hp car.

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the Lucid Gravity

So it's basically sensibility adjustment? Makes more sense this way.

What is this comment lol... obviously you aren't the target demographic <sees ad for lamborghini> "Yeah, no thanks. I need to haul around my entire family and a stroller."

> I’ve been so unimpressed with Tesla. The price tag is way too high for the minimalist and barren interiors across the board. Especially when you compare cars of equal or similar price, Tesla just falls so short of the bar it isn’t even funny. It’s evident that Tesla is an energy company, not a car company. And yet the UX/UI is so far beyond anything else that's out there right now it isn't even funny. No other car company can match Tesla's hardware and software. The only thing I dislike about my '24 MYP is the NVH.

Are they pretending to make it again

Chrysler Pacifica

They still released the CT and Plaid, though. No one needs their sports car to go 600+ miles on one charge.

This makes me think they have completed the Model 2 design and plan as well as the path toward autonomous driving and are now moving into the phase of making "fun" stuff again. I remember Elon saying something about them not having time for Roadster as it would take away from the master plan part 2. Also the fact that he mentioned a new master plan - curious what we will see unveiled later this year.

I see Amazon Rivian vans all the time, there definitely would be a huge market for it

Im gonna be too old to drive the thing when it finally comes out

I’ve seen some. But I know Amazon had some investment in them too and I think there was a separation there if I recall correctly

The new 2019 Roadster you mean?

Exactly — the gearbox is there because of the super limited range of the ICE. And the radiator is there because of the super limited efficiency of the ICE. So is the combustion sound. Energy not transferred into motion. Just like rattling sounds in noisy aircos. It a hearable measure of waste. All are seen as “real drivers’ cars’ features” whereas they really highlight ICE cars’ limitations. Why mimic those in EVs.

They promised a bunch of people a roadster as a referral prize. Releasing something with lower specs might make that a complex situation.

Not that I'm aware of Amazon is absolutely still using rivian vans.

They are but it’s not a significant part of their fleet (at least locally, I’m not sure if there’s public data to suggest otherwise). I rarely see them.

That’s how I understand it. I’ve never driven 500+ hp EVs on track but I’d imagine I’m one cough from ruining my time (or life). Can’t imagine with 900+ hp and one level of control.

Are you in a metro area? The rivian fleet is only growing where I'm from.

there is zero reason to need gears in any high performance situation if you have an EV. a transmission and gears are a limitation that will slow you down.

I agree simulated gears would be slower. But you’re assuming drivers can control insane hp in the few inches of pedal travel. Mistakes or uncertainties there would result in lost time too im guessing. Btw I have both manual and EV and like them separate, just saying I can see why high end EVs have this mode. Don’t get the hate personally, no one’s making you use it lol.

About 80 of the 1000 founders edition, not that many. That's assuming everyone does indeed collect them (in the US the value is taxed)

The Model Y was the only car that was "on time", largely because they leveraged the Model 3 parts bin and the execs talked Musk off a cliff with wanting to do the ethernet wiring and 48 volt system for it. Every other car suffered delays, some more than others. The Roadster is the worst culprit.

My Silverado ev has the vroom vroom sound. Dumb af. Why can’t Tesla make a truck I could tolerate 😢

Love the look for this car. Hate all Tesla hate on Reddit

crown marry towering fanatical air sense hungry direction straight cows *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev/home)*

zeekr 009 is my new dream car

Autobahn begs to differ. I’d love a Plaid plus. Although I will admit Plaid technology is pretty f ing good. It charges fast and keeps performance up to a very low SOC. The Plaid is a beast.

or Li L9

Im mostly following this because of the promised 200kwh plaid battery. That would be epic. I’d love to get that option in a normal Plaid. Roadster is probably fun but a Plaid has huge trunk and frunk space, carries 5, looks sick. Why would I want that Roadster. Gimme that battery, someone else can worry about building in fake shifters and model 3 cornering performance

well after the removal of the Amazon exclusive, Rivian doesn't seem to be flooding the market with vans

Maybe it’ll have FSD and you won’t have to

>last *best* driver’s car >Miata … *a* driver’s car

I’m old school. I remember how we used to crank start our cars. When they came out with electric starters we all laughed at those pussies. Fast forward several years and everyone gave in to electric starters. Quite a few years later those same pussies put air conditioners in their cars. So stupid. Who wants that kind of weight penalty? Just roll the windows down. Same dumbasses put radios in their cars. If you were a real man, you had a real engine. That was musical! Who’d need a radio? A few decades later I see these Ferrari drivers with electric starts, air conditioners, and radios shitting on these guys with EVs blowing them away in 0-60, quarter miles, and now top speeds with the tesla roadsters. A real man has an electric starter, ac, radio, and flappy paddle shifters to cycle through the gears manually. Who the hell would want full EV?!

You can change it to fighter jet sounds instead if you want!

They’ve sold some, saw a Factor/Hello Fresh EDV in my apartment complex this morning

> I rarely see them. It varies regionally depending on how they’ve rolled them out, it’s extremely rare to see any other last mile Amazon vehicles in my area now. The Rivian ones are a daily sight in my neighborhood now. And this happened kinda all at once, in Dec 2023 I almost never saw them same as you. 6 months later, they were everywhere.

Why not have real gears like the Taycan instead then? This seems lame. Taycan only has two and it’s for higher speeds but still. I know the answer - because it’s expensive and increases mechanical complexity.

The 200kwh roadster isn’t happening for the same reason the 500mi cybertruck didn’t happen. It was based on hopes of energy density improvements that didn’t pan out. Either they’re going to ship this thing with a smaller t-shaped version of the M3P or S Plaid pack, or they’re going to keep delaying it until battery improvements do happen.

Amen! It’s like being in first or second all the time. The best!

https://motherfrunker.ca/fsd/ Elon quotes on FSD since 2014...

250 founder, 175 normal one. I did not plan to buy a rocket, just a wonderful car (at least on paper)

i think they should put the cybercab butterfly doors on the roadster and leave the cybercab with normal doors instead since that car is meant for public use.

LIke the 5N. I have to admit, the gear shifts on it feel crazy real. But I don't see the point.

my point is that after the Amazon exclusivity, which they cut van numbers down instead of the full initial order. It doesn't seem that another company has stepped in to build a fleet

Go back to bed grandpa.

It's ridiculous. Some EVs actually do have a gearbox. I could potentially see them becoming more common in the future, but really not the same thing. And trying to replicate limitations of an ICE car is just dumb. Besides, at this point, who is going to be the invisible fake Roadster, when the Speedster is already selling like hotcakes and ticks basically every box a Roadster owner would be looking for. And more, with its electric roof, and 1/4 of the price. And... It exists.

Delivery date of never

never said i hated it. for a “visceral” experience it’s hard to beat slamming through gears. it’s just fun. that said it’s slower and inefficient. if someone can’t control the horsepower, gearing isn’t the solution. they need stickier tires and to have more seat time to control the power they have. everything becomes slower the more one gets used to it.

The Mach E Rally has 5.8 inches of ground clearance. Your current Tesla Roadster has 5.1 inches. A Model 3 has 5.5. You are not going to be doing any more off roading in a Mach E than I can do in my Model 3.

The Lexus LFA is an example of this. Iterations in the design process would take so long, new technology, manufacturing, and materials would leap frog it.

The battery will be just big enough to deliver the necessary C rate that meets their acceleration performance requirements. My bets are on 85 kWh. Which will still probably deliver 425mi range.

Me too. Since Lamborghini isn't building the car I want I'm rethinking it and considering a Camry. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

>The Mach E Rally has 5.8 inches of ground clearance. I believe that number you quoted is for the standard Mach-E, not the Rally which has an additional inch of lift. And the Rally is not designed to be an off-road vehicle either. It's a rally car meant for unpaved roads, but roads all the same. Which is just fine with me, because off-roading is not my hobby.

Yep 1 inch more brings it up to 5.8 apparently. https://www.theautopian.com/ford-mustang-mach-e-rally-review/

Well somebody has their numbers wrong, because Ford list the standard Mach-E at 5.7-inch ground clearance, and I don't see any way that they lifted that "an inch" or "20mm" (depending on the source) and ended up at 5.8.

Are there still people holding reservations on the Roadster?

peak efficiency right there

Model X is a van to me. I think there is a need for a bigger, 3 row van for a lot of people though.

Because what really makes a car a driver's car is adding a dumbass video game to the experience of accelerating.

Because it costs them nothing to add a few lines code for some optional fun. I don't need the rainbow road either but I use it.

Couldn’t the car actually go faster with a second gear?? Why does this not make any sense? Seems like we could eventually get a manual EV that makes some sense maybe not

Just give it 2 weeks!

Because it's not at the right energy density yet to make it better than ICE economically. No one wants to be the first mover on new tech without a clear payoff. Its not going to be cheap to switch over so why do it when your current system "works". Its better to let somone else clear that path so you can take advantage and but into later generations.

https://www.lamborghini.com/en-en/models/urus#val-ht

Blink twice if he’s holding your family, dude.

The electric car was first. It was dumb and immobile before the Grand and exotic combustion engine car.

found the troll.

You're stating the opinion that ice engines are archaic and dumb, when their application in cars is arguably newer than EV. Battery technology is finally sufficient that EVs can be viable in urban areas, but it took 120 years to catch up to ice for a limited application set. Every modern car has fantastic NVH characteristics regardless of powertrain. EVs have higher mass (both sprung and unsprung) that are manageable because of engineers working on ice cars. Hydrogen will long term replace EVs unless there's a massive increase in energy storage density in batteries. It's the most abundant element in the universe and has less environmental impact than EVs and then they'll be the dumb archaic technology.

It's an expensive car that's meant to be fun to drive. Not a smart one.

You aren't excited over seeing what these companies can produce? They have great engineers at both, and have claimed to work together on this. It's also being called a "Halo" product, so is not about dollar value etc., but about creating something impressive. Why would you possibly need your family hostage to think positively about that? Both companies have produced great things.

Yeah, except Acura actually put theirs into production.

It's a saturated, filled market already. Every traditional car maker that made vans, like Mercedes, Renault, VW all of them have delivered or are in the final stages of delivering a fully electric transport van for last mile delivery. The fleet here in Sweden is changing multiple percentage points per year to electric, we're looking at a fully electric last mile within 5-10 years. The limiting factor is service life on the existing ICE fleet, not availability of replacements.  Tesla would be far to late to this party.

Legit cool

The new roadster that they announced 8 years ago and still doesn't have a lunch date

The EV vans for sale in Australia are overpriced and under-ranged. Traditional car makers don't sell cheap and long-range versions, as they will cannibalise their existing sales.

A total of 1,700 vans per month, [apparently.](https://eletric-vehicles.com/rivian/rivian-delivers-10000-more-vans-to-amazon-in-first-half-of-2025/) Tesla sells 5,000 Cybertrucks in the second quarter (1,666/month )and critics consider it a failed project.

Google’s Sergey Brin predicted self-driving cars would be available “for everyone” by 2017.  Nissan Motor Co. announced that the company will be ready with multiple, commercially-viable Autonomous Drive vehicles by 2020.

long suffering millionaires and billionaires.

The Work XL could be viable for consumers in terms of internal volume, but it's still a converted ICE vehicle and not optimized as an EV, which consumers would want, especially regarding range.

Can't wait for 2020 to get here. /s

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a64690758/minivan-sales-skyrocketing-in-united-states-early-2025/ The minivan is also pretty great for an EV platform. They have a huge floor space for batteries, they're reasonably eggy shaped, and their typical use case is short runs around town and parking overnight at a home where they can be charged cheaply.

Elon got drunk and played CEO again.

With those increases, the entire minivan market in a year for the US is going to be as big as . . . the market for jeep Wranglers.

I used to own a Wrangler. I could go for fewer Wranglers on the road. There are three in my neighborhood of 25 houses.

I'll play devil's advocate and say that it's a fun little feature that makes the car stand out and doesn't involve much additional hardware (more robust outer speakers, maybe?) I've thoroughly enjoyed seeing the competition with newer EV's where each manufacturer tries to add fun (and potentially useful) little features to each vehicle. I still feel like Tesla dominates in this area though.

You have to look at the Chinese market then, they go absolute nuts with with technical gimmicks. Not so much with trying to emulate old gas guzzler stuff, but more in the fashion what Tesla already did.

It’s not 7:00 yet. Gotta watch the evening news first.

Isn't this car like coming for years now?

"We really liked the Ioniq 5N & 6N." Which is fair. I want a 6N. ;\_;

Amen dude. I miss minivans and station wagons. Hopefully with EVs they make a comeback

How about competitive model s/x with 800v architecture and steer by wire at bare minimum? Too bad it’s not a car company anymore…

Self-promotion is worthless. Release new cars and let reviewers give unbiased opinions.

Will it be as good as the cybertruck?

To each there own. I would respectfully disagree on the build quality, customer service, as well as the hardware. I’ve seen new cars fail in ways they have no right in failing in. Door handle failures, locking failures. Failure to start. Failure to switch gear and leaving the driver stranded as it bricked the car. I have several friends who have owned the car had these issues and yet bought another Tesla because they just wanted to support the company or just enjoyed the overall experience. I however was left unimpressed. UI is subjective. Like I said. To each their own. If the car you drive makes you happy then that’s great. It’s just not a car I would drive personally. I’m glad to hear you haven’t had an issues with your car and truly hope that streak continues.

With the wife of 20 years yea?

The new roadster will be launched in 2070 by Elon’s son.

They should make an affordable version of the Roadster. Just take the Model 3 Performance platform, put a lighter sports car shell on top of it, make it a 2 seater, and shave about 500 lbs off the weight, sell it for about 65K. At that price and it can do 0-60 in 2.5 sec, it would sell like hot cakes.

It is actually kinda cool since they even simulate the transmission shock from shifting by pulsing power to the electric motors so it’s like a super realistic ICE simulator 😂

Have they said where they are going to place the giant MAGA and N4ZI logos?

The death of ICE becomes very obvious when you consider faked engine noises and gear changes piped in to a thoroughly modern EV. Represents the last gasp for late adopters.

i wish you were right. the problem is the automotive and oil and gas industry are intentionally keeping terrible ICE vehicles alive for a reason. full EV adoption is not going to happen any time soon.

Oh, they remembered that they were supposed to make a Roadster?

How many are in the wild. That car rules

Doubt it will

Maybe it will have a cutting edge like the cyber truck hood ✂️

all it has to do is beat the 911 gtrs and this car will be golden

Yeah, it does seem stupid but it is probably cheap to implement as it is mostly software and "two buttons/switches".

If they adopt the QSE5 SSB from Quantumscape, that should get them close to promised range, plus a 10C discharge rate for the 0-60 acceleration under 2 seconds

When the Roadster costs $200K, it will be an almost incredible value!

For at least a quick and fast e-supercar…