How Quick Could a Tesla Roadster Be?


CARS.COM — Tesla’s first car was the Roadster, an electric convertible based on the Lotus Elise that was last offered for the 2011 model year. The California automaker has a new Roadster in the works and CEO Elon Musk, in reply to a question on Twitter, recently pondered a sub-2-second zero-to-60-mph time for the upcoming car.
That would an interesting target. Would, of course, only count if capable of doing so right off the production line with street legal tires.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 13, 2017
Related: Tesla Model 3 Production Begins in July
That would be an incredible time, but it doesn’t seem so far fetched when you consider the quickness of Tesla’s current Model S; earlier this year Motor Trend clocked a P100D to 60 mph in just 2.28 seconds and said the car was the first production model it’s tested that’s cracked 2.3 seconds.
There’s another car with claimed acceleration as quick as the P100D: the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon. Other than similar zero-to-60 times, the two cars couldn’t be more different, but was Musk’s tweet an attempt to undercut the Demon’s performance before it even hits the road (or drag strip)? Whatever the case, a drag race between the new Roadster and Demon is something we’d all want to see. YouTube, please oblige at your earliest convenience.
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Mike Hanley has more than 20 years of experience reporting on the auto industry. His primary focus is new vehicles, and he's currently a Senior Road Test Editor overseeing expert car reviews and comparison tests. He previously managed Editorial content in the Cars.com Research section.
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