New Roadster: Don't Need 250 mph

[R.S]

I'm disagreeing with you here. I think they DO need to introduce this car.
Not to make money.
To advance Elon's dream of sustainable transportation.
Yes, I would like a cheaper Roadster 2020. But there is already that car-- a 2008 or 2010 Roadster.

I really don't want to go there, but is a 200 kWh two seat sports car even sustainable?

I'm a car fan, so I am not one of those people who would have us driving around in autonomous shared EVs, but that's the sustaibable vision, right? Making the most of the resources and therefore reducing our impact on our environment. A toy like the roadster is wasteful by definition.

Now I don't think they should therefore not build it, others might disagree, but I like cars and therefore I really love this Roadster. But it doesn't fit a sustainable vision of the world, nor did it really change any meaningful part of the automotive industry.

Sure Ferrari might have to go EV, but Ferraris aren't daily driven and it will take quite some time to amortize the massive battery, if the car isn't really driven that much. On the list of automotive segments that need to move to electric drive trains because of the environment, the segment of 200k+ supercars is second to last, only surpassed in irrelevance by the million dollar plus supercars.

Other than that, it's a technological marvel and as a person who likes fast cars and electric vehicles it's my dream car. But it isn't a really meaningful car. In 20 years people will remember the original Roadster, the Model S, the Model 3, all of them as cars that were important steps towards the transition from fossil fuel based transportation to electric transportation. There might also be others in that list, like the Leaf, or the Tesla Semi, or some other future EV, but surely not this Roadster.

 

[ecarfan]

I really don't want to go there, but is a 200 kWh two seat sports car even sustainable?

Certainly, when powered by sustainable energy, which is a driving principle behind every EV. The future goal is for all ground transportation to be powered by sustainable energy. That includes even the tiny segment of the automotive market called “supercars”.

In 20 years, those interested in automotive history will surely remember the 2020 Roadster, and I expect that in 20 years there will still be Tesla Roadsters in production and on the road. Unless of course, this has happened... (poster on the wall of Elon’s SpaceX cubicle, if the recent Rolling Stone article is accurate)

 

[buttershrimp]

I think the roadster is simply a statement of what’s possible, similar to the f1 racing idea that racing on Sunday translates to car sales on Monday, as it captures imagination and fascinates us.... not to mention the pant crapping.

 

[gregd]

A toy like the roadster is wasteful by definition.

This is the issue. I believe you have an outdated definition of the term "wasteful".

We were all taught, with some degree of certainty, that powerful cars were inefficient, "gas guzzling", and bad. The oft-cited Bugatti has become the most recent poster-child of this effect. Any car that can inhale, consume, exhaust, and squander some 22 gallons of gasoline in under 10 minutes certainly fits that definition. And there are so many other examples of "muscle cars" where a single-digit city fuel economy is displayed almost as a status symbol or badge of honor. We have been taught that, to be "green", efficient, and nice to the planet, we need to suffer in small, ugly, gutless tin cans. The more you suffer, the better you are supposed to feel about yourself. If you're having fun, you are being a bad person. By definition.

But as you know, EVs are different. Their already stellar efficiency doesn't plummet with power, and regenerative braking returns most of that back into the battery upon deceleration, regardless how fast you got there. In fact, as the new Roadster demonstrates, making a more powerful car (for the 0-60 spec) results in a longer range, not a shorter one, due to the larger (yet still recyclable) battery pack. And judging from the videos, it's also a lot more fun.

So we need to stop applying old stereotypes to our new electric cars. They simply do not apply. Getting stuck in traffic doesn't kill your fuel economy. Refueling takes seconds to plug the car in at home, not tens of minutes of your time at a remote smelly gas station. And most importantly to this thread's topic, we give you permission to have fun and not feel bad about it. You are not being a bad person to want a Roadster. Owning such a car is not a guilty pleasure; it's simply a pleasure. Go enjoy!

 

[skitown]

I think the roadster is simply a statement of what’s possible, similar to the f1 racing idea that racing on Sunday translarw to car sales on Monday captures imagination and fascinates us.... not to mention the pant crapping.

Agreed. At a minimum, the NextGen Roadster is likely an incredible halo vehicle. One can read up on halo effect & cognitive bias here. Perhaps @buttershrimp could provide an equal citation for 'pant crapping' to further along the convo.

 

[gregd]

Can you imagine the impact if the 2020 Indy 500 Pace Car was a Tesla Roadster?

 

[buttershrimp]

Can you imagine the impact if the 2020 Indy 500 Pace Car was a Tesla Roadster?

Imagine if it raced and won! See we are already doing it.... love it

 

[gregd]

Imagine if it raced and won! See we are already doing it.... love it

It wouldn't have to race. Just having an electric car as the pace car for a petrol-driven race would be the ultimate "smackdown" in bragging rights. I doubt the race's marketing team would let them get away with it, but it would be fun to try.

 

[buttershrimp]

Agreed. At a minimum, the NextGen Roadster is likely an incredible halo vehicle. One can read up on halo effect & cognitive bias here. Perhaps @buttershrimp could provide an equal citation for 'pant crapping' to further along the convo.

Sure, I can do that... The Tesla roadster does for cars what this SNL skit does for my analogy of the type of pant crapping that will be experienced in a Tesla roadster

Watch Colon Blow from Saturday Night Live on NBC.com