It’s been a long time since Tesla introduced the Roadster 2.0. But despite the long delay, Tesla chief designer Franz von Holzhausen recently hinted that the all-electric supercar will definitely be worth the wait.
While talking to the host Ryan McCaffrey On the Ride the Lightning podcast, Franz von Holzhausen shared some key insights into the next-gen roadster. The vehicle was unveiled alongside the Tesla Semi in late 2017, but has yet to go into production. In comparison, the Tesla Semi began deliveries in early December last year.
As the chief designer noted, Tesla’s current focus is on becoming a mass EV manufacturer, so limited-volume cars like the Roadster 2.0 aren’t really a priority at the moment. Despite this, von Holzhausen explained that Tesla is developing the vehicle and when it comes to market it will be better in every way than the supercar that was unveiled in late 2017.
“We develop the car. I think you know that as a company we have priorities and the priorities are mass electrification. And Roadster is not a mass product. Unfortunately, you know it’s in its kind of position, but we’re seriously working on it. And I think the time that we’ve taken has allowed us to improve on basically every metric that we wanted to set when we first debuted this (car),” said Franz.
As for the Roadster 2.0’s performance, the chief designer noted that extrapolating the performance and usability of a Model S Plaid – and using a little imagination – would probably give a good idea of how capable the all-electric supercar could be. This is a good point, as the Model S Plaid matched some of the overall specs of the Roadster 2.0 prototype, aside from its 620-mile range and top speed of over 250 mph.
“I think if you can just extrapolate the performance and usability of a Plaid Model S and imagine where that might lead, then I think your imagination will lead you in that direction as well, in terms of capability and how much better it is.” Roadster will be and the weight will be absolutely worth it. If you think about it, a Plaid Model S, it basically ticks all the metrics we said the Roadster could achieve, which seemed impossible for a car at the time. So imagine. Let your imagination run wild,” says von Holzhausen.
The Tesla chief designer’s comment on the power inherent in the Model S plaid and the roadster’s weight is quite interesting. Because even in its current state, the full potential of the Model S Plaid has yet to be realised. The Model S is also a very heavy and large car, so unlocking the vehicle’s powertrain into a smaller, lighter package could definitely create a supercar that has what it takes to dominate the competition.
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Tesla Roadster 2.0 is said to be better than the prototype in “basically every metric”.
