Production Tesla Roadster will be better in every way, design chief says - CNET

Tesla did its best impression of a Steve Jobs "one more thing" moment at the Semi unveiling event back in 2017. There, just as the party appeared to wind down, CEO Elon Musk welcomed the second-gen Tesla Roadster onto the stage.

Nearly two years later, the production car is still in the works, but according to the electric car manufacturer's chief designer, we're in for a real treat when it's totally ready. Franz von Holzhausen recently joined the Tesla-centric "Ride The Lightning" podcast and von Holzhausen spoke to the production Roadster for the first time in a while.

Not only did he call the electric sports car Tesla's "halo" model, but he also promised the production car will be better in every way compared to the prototypes the company has paraded around in recent years.

That seems like a tall order since the prototypes already run 200 kilowatt-hour batteries (good for 620 miles of range, according to Tesla), and its electric motors (three of them this time to create an all-wheel-drive system) produce enough power to propel the electric car to 250 mph. The 0-60 mph sprint should happen in 1.9 seconds, too.

Von Holzhausen wouldn't elaborate on what areas engineers and designers are focusing on to create an elevated production Roadster, but he said it's "evolving" as it inches toward production. Tesla previously promised those who plunked down a deposit of $50,000 that they'd receive their electric supercar in 2020. At some point, owners will need to pay the remaining balance: $200,000, making a total price of $250,000.

Before the, we'll see likely see another high-performance Tesla hit the streets. The automaker's been busy testing a Model S Plaid at the Nurburgring, which foreshadows a production car due in the summer of 2020, Musk said. We're always down for more performance electric vehicles.