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HAWTHORNE, Calif. — This is how to run a crowdfunding outcome, Tesla style. It was billed as the unveiling of the Tesla Semi, the 500-mile electric truck. Simply surprise: Th night'southward event was also the unveiling of the 2nd-generation Tesla Roadster and its amazing performance figures. An equally impressive figure was the quarter of a billion dollars Tesla plans to take in on reservations.

The offset ane,000 Roadsters are Founders Serial cars. You put up the full $250,000 price in accelerate, and so wait until the 2022 (projected) delivery date. Others who want to reserve put down $50,000 and wait forth with the founders.

What is the Tesla Roadster?

The first Tesla Roadster lived from 2008-2012 and put the visitor on the map. This is an all-new blueprint with serious performance chops. These are specs Tesla CEO Elon Musk laid out:

The Tesla Roadster, as it is over again chosen for now, is a four-passenger electrical sports motorcar with a removable glass roof panel, whereas to purists roadster connotes a ii-seat, sporty convertible. So it'southward more similar a Porsche 911 Targa, just costlier. But close enough.

Tesla's spec sheet says the new Roadster is awesome. First, there's the ane.9 second clocking for 0-100 kph (0-62 mph), quicker than any other street legal car. I hundred miles per hr comes up in 4.two seconds. At a drag strip, y'all'll trip the quarter-mile lights at but 8.8 seconds. Top speed? "More than 250 mph," and, Musk said, "This is just the base of operations model."

The battery is 200-kWh, twice every bit much every bit on other Tesla. Information technology's good for 620 miles or i,000 kilometers of driving (depending on how y'all drive). Power goes to three motors, two in dorsum and one in front, making this an all-bike-drive automobile.

With these kinds of performance numbers, the days of combustion-engine supercars may be on the wane.

Elon Musk unveiling the 2022 Tesla Roadster outside Los Angeles Thursday.

Reality Check: When Will Information technology Ship?

At the rollout, afterward watching a Roadster prototype zoom into and out of view, Musk said, amidst cheers, "People asked us for a long time, 'When are you going to brand a new Roadster?' We are making it now."

Technically,"now" is actually 2022 as the promised ship date, and for Tesla, ship dates should taken with a grain of salt. Meanwhile, if all i,000 Founders Edition cars sell, besides as another ane,000 regular ($50,000) reservations for the regular-price $200,000 Roadsters, Tesla has $300 meg in the bank to get the Roadster out the door. All crowdfunding should be so successful.

The original Tesla Roadster, 2008-2012.

Tesla Roadster I vs. Roadster II

The first Roadster was a two-seater with a removable soft acme, and sold for $109,000 to $128,500. Tesla worked with Lotus on the trunk, which it produced as a glider — no running gear — and shipped to Tesla in California.

The 288-hp electric motor drove the rear wheels merely. Product ran until early 2022 and sales amounted to just under ii,500. Production of the Model S sedan began in 2022, and Tesla moved from a small, niche car company to a less pocket-sized, serious automobile company that before this year had the fourth largest market value (marketplace cap), behind Toyota, Daimler, and Volkswagen.

It's unclear if Tesla will ultimately choose a different name for the second-generation Roadster. There is some defoliation hither, because later production of the first generation model was called the Roadster 2.v.

With the Tesla Semi and Roadster, Tesla now has five vehicle lines: Model S, X, and 3 currently shipping, and Tesla Semi and Roadster on the way. A pickup truck is in the offing.