You can hear it in the voices of the creators, when they're giving an overview of the car to MotorWeek and other car media outlets. 99% focused on the rocket and battery tech/innovation, almost zero about the actual driving characteristics of the car, or that it -is- a car. Seems more like a rolling marketing mule.
It's about right there with other sports cars rated ranges; 911/M4 get around 300-350 and the Corvette hits 400ish.
a road rally from LA to LV is 270ish miles. What else do you need a hyper-car-thing for?
Now we just need to get some goofy Musk tunnels involved so there's a reason to have the fan suction.
(aside from breaking the windows of traffic behind you with road debris)
They also enable the insane launch traction needed for the non thrust 0-60.
It's the key to the cars performance.
At this point, the Roadster doesn't exist either, at least as a production car. The sibling comment lists several potential competitors. My guess is that if the Roadster somehow draws a bunch of new pre-orders, there will be more by 2028.
I love adrenaline, and a 2s (or less) 0-60 time is exhilarating. But a 3s isn't much less fun, and on a commute, is not practically any different.
That's your conclusion.
> Most people with performance cars love going 0-60mph, at least here in the USA.
I drive in traffic and I care a lot more about handling than I do about 0-60 which you rarely if ever will do without a car in front of you.
And then I get the joys, living near a base, of 19 year old E-2s with base Challengers thinking they have a "performance car" and constantly wanting to race me.
There should be legal investigations into this practice, because it’s extremely deceptive.
This isn’t a comment on your broader point.
That’s even worse then, because it was supposed to be released by 2020. Here we are in 2026 and I still don’t think it’s possible to cram 200kwh into a sports car. I take this as an admission straight from the horse’s mouth that either: 1) they were lying and had no intention of shipping the car as specified when it was announced, or 2) they’re completely inept at making predictions about the trajectory of technology core to their products. Both are extremely bad.
It got to the point where even Tesla's lawyers had to get involved, and numerous reports from Tesla disclaim that "Elon Musk's statements are aspirational and may not reflect engineering realities".
Based on the specs, I wouldn't compare the (non-existing) roadster to regular electric cars, but rather to something like the McMurtry Spéirling, which also has active downforce. It's not about range, but acceleration and cornering speed.