Today's Edition
SAN FRANCISCO (REUTERS)
Tesla unveiled a redesigned Roadster powered with rocket-style thrusters on Thursday and said it would start production in 2028, more than a decade after it first showed a next-generation version of its electric sports car.
The white two-seater vehicle, developed in collaboration with CEO Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX, drove upside down on a ramp using a suction system, turned in the air and landed using built-in thrusters.
Later in the event it used the thrusters to jump over a truck and other vehicles, twisting in the air during the maneuver.
Some watchers saw the collaboration as Musk drumming up interest in a merger of the two big companies he controls, an idea he has explored by discussing their overlap.
The reveal gives Tesla a showpiece car after years of missed Roadster deadlines, but it comes as the company shifts its focus to self-driving technology and robotics, and days before third-quarter results that analysts say matter more to investors.
Musk and other executives did not specify any target prices at Thursday's event, although Tesla nearly a decade ago quoted a base price of $200,000 for the vehicle.
Tesla's reservation page for the Roadster after Thursday's event showed a "Performance" version of the vehicle requiring a $50,000 deposit and a "Thrust" version with "acceleration thrusters" requiring a $250,000 deposit.
A "Rocket" variant, which Tesla says is "invite only," is described as a single-seat model with a "full flight system."
"This is the culmination of incredible work by Tesla and SpaceX engineers working closely together to make something that you haven't seen in any movie," Musk told a cheering crowd of enthusiasts and investors at the event at a SpaceX test site in McGregor, Texas.
The Roadster can accelerate from zero to 60 mph (97 kph) in less than one second and can hit a top speed of over 230 mph (370 kph), Tesla vehicle engineering chief Lars Moravy said.
The Roadster can also travel over 300 miles (480 km) on a single charge.
