The Tesla Roadster has finally landed: thrusters, 0-60mph in 0.59s… and *flight*

Tesla has finally revealed the production version of the new Roadster, and amongst all the OMG is quite a lot of WTF?

Yes, the Tesla Roadster is likely splashed generously all over the automotive internet at the moment, but there’s probably a pause where it requires a recalibration of what Tesla has been quietly working on for the past nine years - the timeline has been awkwardly wayward since the idea was first mooted back in 2014.

But the production car has finally arrived - and it can fly. And drive on the ceiling. Which sounds utterly ridiculous, but is fiction become fact at Tesla’s frankly jaw-dropping demo event.

Photography: Greg Pajo

We saw the Roadster kick-flip over a Semi truck, drive upside down and launch itself from 0-60mph at neck-snapping speed, but what wasn’t provided was much detail on the car you can actually buy, so that’s where this briefing comes in.

Prepare for an onslaught of specification, because there’s a lot to get through. Just for reference, Top Gear went to see the car before Tesla’s live event in Texas - and even at that point, the car was still shrouded in secrecy. Blindfolds were involved. It got a little weird.

For a start, it’s a completely new vehicle - it’s got nothing to do with previous Roadsters. The body feels like a Tesla, stretched and formed into what feels like a modern interpretation of the Lotus Esprit - which served as inspiration. But it’s recognisably a member of the Tesla family line - with surfacing and radii that pull it into something entirely new.

Roadster? No, but it does have T-tops (which stow in the boot) for a bit of windy hair. Top surface aero is fully active, with moveable grilles set back into the front intake, a swivelling bonnet vent that exhausts hot air from the front-mounted fan, and extending barge board elements behind the front wheels to pull over-pressured air from the front wheelarch.

The rear wing extends back and up, featuring both low-drag and high-downforce modes, and an airbrake function. Active ride height, and spool valve active dampers appear on the faster cars, and TG loves a spool valve. And there’s the… other stuff.

The basics are that all versions get a carbon body with a long wheelbase encasing a big battery - the exact size of which Tesla has yet to confirm - with energy dense but conventional chemistry, featuring Tesla’s latest and greatest cells.

Range is between 310-320 miles depending on model, with two motors, both nestled in-board on the rear axle to give torque vectoring. All are rear-wheel drive only. The lightest - the basic Roadster - will likely be under 1,700kg - which isn’t bad at all. And they all get 500kW charging for less than 15-minutes 15 to 80 percent. But it gets wilder from here on in.

There are deployable underskirts and rear-bumper extraction fans to provide real time ground effect. It literally sucks itself to the floor - a little like a McMurtry Spierling. And then, depending on which box you tick, you can have a version with a 200-litre pressurised air tank in place of the boot that fires compressed air from four nozzles at the back of the car.

That provides thrust that doesn’t rely on tyre grip and a 0-60mph time of zero-point eight five seconds. Sub one-second to 60mph. That’s hard for a dedicated drag car. But that tank is emptied in just six seconds and needs refilling a station, so it’s a one-shot deal.

It gets even more insane. The 'Rocket' variant gets rid of the passenger seat, adds another 400-litre tank and six more thrusters on the front and sides, which can be deployed to help stop and turn the car - or at least correct yaw - and can be faced downwards to allow the car to leave the ground, fly into the air, and then gracefully land again. Which might take a moment to sink in.

So to recap, there are actually four versions of the Roadster. The standard 210mph Roadster will have an estimated 800kW or 1,073bhp of power, with roughly 885lb ft and ‘normal’ Venturi systems underneath, with 0-60mph probably sub-two.

The Performance version gets a megawatt of power (1,350bhp) more torque at 1,033lb ft, the fans for ground effect, adaptive suspension and some other tweaks.

The Thrust version gets that 200-litre cold-air thruster system with four nozzles for that insane 0-60.

And then there’s the limited-production Rocket - six more thruster nozzles for front and sides, one seat and a 600-litre tank… and flight. And even Tesla isn’t really sure how fast it can be, but reckons 0-60mph in 0.59 seconds. Nought point five nine.

All the megawatt cars manage 230mph - though there’s more being engineered, apparently for 300mph. No word on the price walk from ‘Standard’ version to ‘Rocket’ yet, but expect a gap in the $millions.

As far as the inside, it’s remarkably sane. The seats have a commendably low hip-point with generous shoulder room, with an adjustable manual backrest. The steering column moves, as does the pedal box, so it’s easy to get comfortable. Steering is via yoke and by-wire with a variable rack, and the braking similarly digital - but Tesla assures that the feel is remarkably precise. They wanted it to be the best sportscar it could possibly be.

There’s a large-ish screen in the middle, with exceptional animations (it looks fabulous) and a scuttle that feels miles away, with a strip of display that sits in the bottom of the windscreen offering up relevant information. It feels more like a GT car than a stripped-out racer, though it might be a little different with a 400-litre extra tank sitting in the passenger seat. Which will be something to experience.

But what Tesla is doing here is pushing boundaries for the sake of it. The Roadster has capabilities that are largely useless and yet utterly enthralling. It’s genuinely a little mad.

It’ll take some time to digest for a full work-up of what this car contains, but this feels like Tesla’s Veyron moment. The top brass make some wild claims very early on, and those same engineers and designers make it real, given the freedom to play with the norms.

The truth is that the Tesla Roadster is the myth that forced itself into reality, even if it still sounds like a fairytale.