Bugatti, Koenigsegg, SSC, and Hennessey have chased the elusive 300-mph barrier, turning top-speed bragging rights into an engineering one-upmanship battle. Now, Tesla wants a piece of the action. The long-delayed Roadster targets a top speed of 330 mph (531 km/h), which would put it in seriously rare company if (and that's a big "if") the electric supercar delivers on that ambitious promise.

After all, we are talking about Tesla, so a heavy dose of skepticism is always recommended. If the company delivers, its electric supercar would become the fastest production car ever. There's an important distinction between what Tesla has demonstrated and what it says the Roadster will eventually achieve. The 330-mph target remains a work in progress, and the company still has plenty to prove before production begins.

According to details shared following the reveal, the new Roadster will use two electric motors mounted on the rear axle. The standard model is expected to deliver around 1,073 hp and 885 lb-ft (1,200 Nm) of torque, while the Performance version raises output to approximately 1,350 hp and 1,033 lb-ft (1,400 Nm).

For now, the Roadster's claimed top speed is a more reasonable 214 mph (345 km/h), but Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen and VP of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy told Top Gear magazine that a future version will aim for 330 mph (531 mph). Tesla has made ambitious promises about the Roadster before, so we'll reserve judgment until real-world testing backs up those claims.

As for the other specs, Tesla cites a driving range of 310 to 320 miles (500 to 515 kilometers), depending on the version.

Source link