Tesla is ready to unveil its new model at next week's Grand Basel motor show. An invite was sent to Tesla car owners, which reveals a part of the car's side profile. The eco-friendly news portal Electrek showed the aforementioned preview image and accompanying text. As expected, the image gave little of the car's identity away. However, the profile makes the car out to be lower and sleeker than any of Tesla's models so far – sedans or SUV, alike.
The Model X is the current flagship of the range. Since no further luxury models are planned in the near future, the possibility of this Basel-bound mystery car being a limousine-like flagship is slim. Also, given that the theme of the show is "automotive masterpieces", the brand's long-awaited flagship Roadster model is the most likely model to be revealed when doors open at the Swiss car event, next week.
The Roadster's full styling was revealed last year and the production version is expected to remain true to the prototype's look. After the reveal of the Roadster concept, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the new Roadster will be a "base model"; so faster iterations of the new Roadster should be due.
On the weekend following the Roadster concept's surprise reveal, the company boss took to Twitter and said that the successor to Tesla's first production car will be offered with a special upgrade package. Musk did, however, hint that producing a faster version of a car that is already claimed to be capable of accelerating from 0-97kph in 1.9sec may prove to be a cause for safety concerns. "[An upgrade is] just a question of safety," he said. "Rocket tech applied to a car opens up revolutionary possibilities."
The 2+2 sports car was a surprise debutante during the launch event for the new Tesla Semi lorry in California. Musk also announced that the roadster produces 10,000Nm of torque from its three motors. It can hit 97kph half-a-second quicker than the current fastest-accelerating Tesla – the Model S P100D.
He said the successor to Tesla’s first production car, which went off sale six years ago, can also accelerate from zero to 160kph in 4.2sec and complete a quarter-mile sprint in 8.9sec.
"This will the first time that any production car has broken nine seconds in the quarter mile," he said at the reveal event, where the Roadster was driven out of the Semi’s trailer without prior warning. The numbers also claimed that the Roadster, which has a removable glass lid and wraparound rear section to give it a look similar to the Mazda MX-5 RF, will have a top speed of more than 402.3kph.
Musk revealed that the car’s 200kWh battery pack enables it to have a 998km range, which is another new record for production electric vehicles. According to the American EPA test, the previous highest-capacity battery produced by Tesla is the 100kWh pack with a maximum range of 883.2km in the Model S P100D.
Like the rest of Tesla’s range, the Roadster will be equipped with the brand’s latest autonomous driving technology. Since the last quarter of 2016, all Tesla cars have been equipped with eight surround cameras to provide 360-degree visibility around the car up to 250 metres away. There are also 12 ultrasonic sensors, allowing for detection of both hard and soft objects, as well as a forward-facing radar to through heavy rain, fog, dust and even underneath the car ahead.
The Roadster will be updateable via over-the-air software, meaning the performance, autonomous features and safety systems may be boosted even after a car has been purchased. Recent examples of Tesla updates have enabled quicker 0-97kph times and enhanced Autopilot functionality.
The Tesla Roadster is pegged to arrive on roads in 2020 and will be rivalled by the McLaren electric supercar, Lamborghini Terzo Millennio concept and the Rimac C_Two in the UK.
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