Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

How about a slower roadster?

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
There seem to be a lot of threads about how they could make the roadster faster.

Much as this is technically impressive it isn't actually a lot of use in daily driving.

I currently have a Model X 75D and a Porsche 911 C4S cabriolet.

I expected to keep the Porsche indefinitely, but am worried that eventually driving an ICE car will be a problem, they could be banned in many places. I also don't like driving it so much since I got an EV.

So I might at some point want to replace it with a 2+2 EV sports car that I can take the roof off.

Very few are proposed, it is a pretty niche market, eventually there will be a PHEV 911 which may be an option, but I'd prefer a full EV.

The Roadster fits the bill, except I would not necessarily feel comfortable driving such a fast car, already the Model X borders on too fast to me in city driving. It struggles for grip at maximum power and there is rarely enough room to exploit it.

So would people be interested in a $150k Roadster with a 100kWh battery pack and 0-6 in 3ish seconds. Obviously this would be a lot cheaper and people would like that, but would it also be a more sensible car to drive day to day.

The economics for Tesla may mean that they could make more money at higher volumes, or they may not work. I have no way of knowing this from outside the company.
 
I try, but i's not always easy to have that much restraint. You'd need a lot of restraint with a 1.9 0-60 time.

I think the level of performance the Roadster will have will be hardly ever exploited. You can of course say the same for various McLaren's, Ferraris etc and they do just fine.

The point is though would there actually be more of a market for a less excessively fast car. The volumes expected are much more than comparably fast cars(actually slower cars).

Already there are a large number of high performance cars that I would not buy as I do not consider them safe due to not being 4 wheel drive and living somewhere where it is wet a lot of the time. Porsche send you on a driving day when you buy one and the difference in stability between a mid engined rear wheel drive Boxster and a 4wd 911 was eye opening on a skidpan.

So clearly this is just for me, there is a level of performance that I would not feel safe having, I am not a professional driver after all and nor are the people I will be driving beside on the roads. Could this actually limit the market if other people feel the same. Maybe I am more risk averse than other people.
 
So would people be interested in a $150k Roadster with a 100kWh battery pack and 0-6 in 3ish seconds. Obviously this would be a lot cheaper and people would like that, but would it also be a more sensible car to drive day to day.

No need to make a smaller pack version (which would also cut range), Tesla can instead add a super-chill mode, or you run in valet or teen driver mode to reduce max performance.
The majority of the cost is in the low volume production and development (and halo). Dropping to a 100kWh pack would only shave ~ 12k off the price (ignoring R&D). Even dropping the front motor and creating a new single motor rear drive unit would not get you $50k off.
Resale on a nerfed Roadster would not be good either...
 
The pedal that makes it go faster?

Don't press it as much.

You're welcome.

That's kind of not the point, even though that's how it was framed, it's about cost. The point is that the Roadster as a car category is quite attractive, just look at something like the Mazda Miata which sells by the bucket load, despite its lack of power. Porsche Cayman is another beautiful example. I can imagine a, EV Roadster would handle beautifully with no rear (or front) engine and a low center of gravity. But $250k is a lot of cash. A smaller battery and less insane specs could be done for a lot less money and attract mid-life crisis types who want to look cool and beat most cars around the canyon, but don't need sub 2-second launch times.

TBH I think Tesla will definitely launch a sub $100k Roadster eventually. A RWD one with a 75Kw battery could be hugely entertaining.

@cwmagui do you ever contribute anything to these conversations, or just "disagree" with things randomly?
 
Do you know that?
Yes?
Tesla Roadster
SmartSelect_20190528-200505_Firefox.jpg
 
No need to make a smaller pack version (which would also cut range), Tesla can instead add a super-chill mode, or you run in valet or teen driver mode to reduce max performance.
The majority of the cost is in the low volume production and development (and halo). Dropping to a 100kWh pack would only shave ~ 12k off the price (ignoring R&D). Even dropping the front motor and creating a new single motor rear drive unit would not get you $50k off.
Resale on a nerfed Roadster would not be good either...

I think this is the best answer. It's doubtful Tesla will come out with a neutered version of the roadster, since it's meant to be a low-volume, max power vehicle. If you'd just want the looks of one, make a kit car.

However, it is very possible for there to be a software controlled chill mode, or otherwise limit the plaid abilities of the car. Don't want to accidentally launch yourself into the car in front of you because you sneezed at the wrong time.
 
I think a less expensive Roadster is an absolutely brilliant idea. If Tesla can sell a car with the Roadster's sheet metal and chassis but with, say, the powertrain of a Model 3 Performance -- and sell if for $100K less -- there will be a line around the block. All my previous cars were 2-door coupes, and I much prefer that body style. In fact, I'd bet Tesla has already considered this, so l wouldn't be that surprised to see them release a lower-powered, lower-priced Roadster once the initial demand has tapered off. I really like quick cars, but there's literally nowhere where I can reasonably accelerate from 0-60 in a couple of seconds ... 3.5 seconds (with no gears and instant torque) is already stupid-fast for 99% of the drivers out there, including me. What about you?
 
As a Hayabusa motorcycle owner, the entire premise of this thread makes me laugh.

If you can't control your actions, don't buy the vehicle. I sincerely mean it. Too many people get hurt because of lack of self control.
 
You guys didn't seem to understand my point. I never suggested that Tesla reduce the maximum power of the Roadster. For those of you who must have (and will pay for) a 1.9 second sports coupe, a Tesla Roadster could be the ideal choice. However, I am suggesting there's a HUGE untapped market for an affordable yet still-very-fast Tesla coupe based on the Roadster sheet metal, combined with the Model 3 Performance drivetrain. Take if from Ford's perspective: While they will certainly sell a number of Mustang GT500s with a 700+HP V-8, at the end of the year, over 80% of their sales will probably have been of the 300 HP V-6 version. There is no possible reason why Ford would walk away from 80% of their Mustang sales, and the same goes for Tesla. And remember, the Model 3 Performance is far, far from a slow car -- it's just not as insane.
 
Last edited: