The new Tesla Roadster is here. Is it practical?
By Aarush Yadav · · 662 words
Topics: Tech, Automotive Technology, Electric Cars, Electric Supercars, Electric Vehicles, Elon Musk Copy tags, EV News, Flying Cars
The first Tesla Roadster was shown to the world 2 decades ago and it proved that EVs were viable cars, but what was revealed just now proved that flying cars are also possible.
The next gen Tesla Roadster just arrived, it’s an electric sports car with SpaceX inspired thrusters, a demonstration that looks straight out of a sci fi movie and performance claims that sound absurd.
However, the new Roadster isn’t the flying car everyone imagines, and it’s real world practicality is still a big question.
What’s Different About The New Roadster?
The new Roadster pushes the boundaries of what a sports car does. While electric sports cars rely on motors and aerodynamics to deliver high speeds, the Roadster has compressed air thrusters to help it.
These thrusters are developed with technology from SpaceX, and they allow the car to generate additional force, more than what tyres provide alone.
While it is still electric at its core, adding aerospace technology to a conventional road car gives it unusual capabilities.
How does it even fly?
Cold Gas Thrusters (SpaceX inspired tech)
The car uses cold gas thrusters which release highly pressurized air through nozzles which generates thrust, and unlike rocket engines they don’t need to burn fuel.
It has 10 of these air nozzles, all of them use compressed nitrogen stored in a 200-600 liter COPV (Carbon overwrapped pressure vessel) operating at a max of 10000 psi.
When the pressured nitrogen escapes the nozzle, it produces a force in the opposite direction which helps in propelling the car forwards and upwards.
Smaller thrusters help control the car’s orientation in air which is very important for the mid air maneuvers like the air rolls the car did in the demonstration.
We did see how these thrusters work, but their full specifications and limits still remain unknown.
Sucker Fan System
Thrusters are not the only unusual feature, the Roadster’s flight capabilities got the spotlight, but It can also drive upside down with a fan suction system that can hold the car upside down.
Cars depends on tire grip and gravity for downforce and at high speed aerodynamics also helps by pushing the vehicle down for more grip, the Roadster however takes a different approach. It draws air from under itself which allows it to remain attached
Even though it looks amazing its functionality and reliability in real world scenarios is still not guaranteed.
Performance That Sounds Ridiculous
Tesla claims that the car can accelerate from 0-60 miles per hour in less than a second, more specifically, 0.8 seconds. It can reach a top speed of 230 mph or 370 kph. Also it last about 300 miles or 480 kilometers on a single charge.
These statistics make the new Roadster one of the most extreme performance vehicles ever announced. But still they are only claims made for now and verified production car tests are yet to be done.
Theres a difference between accelerating that fast in a demonstration and how well the final car will do. Battery output, thermal management and demands of the thrusters will also affect how the production cars will perform.
When Will It be Available?
Pre orders and reservations are already open.
The base performance model costs 50000 usd
Thrust variant is 250000 usd
The rocket version, which can fly is not publicly available, and is invitation only
Elon Musk said at the demonstration that the production will probably begin in 2028.
Is it really viable?
The new Roadster is the most unusual car Tesla has made in years. An electric sportscar with air thrusters which use compressed nitrogen to go airborne, and a fan suction system which can make the car go upside down. That does not really sound street legal, and will it be drivable without any major safety issues? The car pushes conventional boundaries of automotive design.
So the real question is whether Tesla can turn their demonstration into an actually reliable and safe vehicle.
watch Tesla’s demonstration here