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Tesla's new Roadster, and its new electric truck

Chief executive Elon Musk reveals 'the fastest production car ever', and a new electric truck.

  • Tesla electric Roadster will be 'fastest production car ever'
  • Tesla Semi electric truck will have 500 mile range
  • Will the news distract everyone from Model 3 production delays?
In a surprise move, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk revealed a new Roadster, which he said will be the ‘fastest production car ever’.
At the reveal of a new electric truck, the Roadster was driven out of the trailer during the presentation. Musk said the Roadster will have a range close to 620 miles (1,000km) on a single charge, and will do 0-62mph in 1.9 seconds, and 0-100mph in 4.2 seconds. Top speed will be around 250 mph. The new Roadster, which will cost around $200,000 (£151,000) will be available from 2020. Interested parties can pop their names down for $50,000 (£38,000). Musk said, ‘The point of this is to give the hardcore smackdown to gasoline cars’. The Roadster was Tesla’s first car, which it built from 2008-2012. It sold around 2,450 models across 30 countries during production.
Electric truck
Tesla has also revealed its first electric articulated lorry (semi-trailer in the US), which it hopes will challenge diesel models.
The Tesla Semi has a range of 500 miles on a single charge, and will go into production in 2019. It will do 0-62mph in 20 seconds while pulling 36,287kgs (80,000lbs). That’s the maximum weight allowed on US roads. Each of the wheels of the Tesla Semi will be powered by a Model 3 engine, and the cab will feature two touch-screens found in the Model 3. The technology won’t come cheap though, and estimates suggest a 300-mile battery pack would cost around $200,000. This will make it hard to compete with diesel-powered trucks. Musk said the Semi will work out cheaper than the diesel equivalent when everything is taken into account, but didn’t share how much it will cost.
Distraction?
However, while a shiny, fast red Roadster has got everyone excited, production of the company’s first ‘affordable’ car, the Model 3, is behind schedule due to factory delays. Elon Musk recently described it as ‘production hell’.
Tesla was scheduled to manufacture 1,500 Model 3 cars in the third quarter of 2017, but has only made 260. Musk’s move to reveal both the truck, and Roadster, is either a distraction so people don’t focus too heavily on the company’s goal of making the Model 3 a mass production car, or a serious belief in electric technology.