News
Tesla’s next-gen Roadster stuns crowd at famed ArtCenter in Los Angeles
In the world of supercars, there are vehicles that always warrant a second look — cars that are so attractive and iconic; they end up lining the bedroom walls of enthusiasts in their formative years. Decades ago, that car was the Lamborghini Countach and the Ferrari Testarossa. Today, amidst the advent of the electric era, that car is the next-generation Tesla Roadster — a vehicle that Elon Musk aptly dubbed as a “hardcore smackdown” to fossil fuel-powered automobiles.
Tesla’s next-gen Roadster prototype made a rare appearance in Los Angeles over the weekend at the ArtCenter College of Design’s Car Classic 2018 exhibition. The weekend event celebrated the 70th anniversary of the College’s Transportation Design program, which has produced some of the world’s most iconic designers, including Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen and Tesla’s Director of Product Design, Javier Verdura. Both are alumni of the Southern California-based ArtCenter who became friends in the early 90s while attending the school’s design program.
Several high-profile vehicles were showcased alongside a gorgeous red Tesla next-generation Roadster at Sunday’s annual car classic, including Henrik Fisker’s EMotion all-electric sports car, a Michelle Christensen-designed Acura NSX, and a Sasha Selipanov/Chris Ha-designed Genesis Essentia concept car.
Attendees of the exhibition took to social media to share stunning images of Tesla’s upcoming all-electric supercar.
- The next-generation Tesla Roadster at Car Classic 2018. [Credit: t35l_4/Instagram]
- The next-generation Tesla Roadster at Car Classic 2018. [Credit: t35l_4/Instagram]
- The next-generation Tesla Roadster at Car Classic 2018. [Credit: dom_schulz/Instagram]
- The next-generation Tesla Roadster at Car Classic 2018. [Credit: Dave Kunz/Instagram]
- The next-generation Tesla Roadster at Car Classic 2018. [Credit: t35l_4/Instagram]
The next-generation Tesla Roadster at Car Classic 2018. [Credit: Dave Kunz, dom_schulz, and t35l_4/Instagram]
Apart from the operational prototype in red, Tesla has also unveiled two design shells for the vehicle — a midnight silver/gray unit that was showcased at Tesla’s Semi truck unveiling event, and a stunning white Roadster that was unveiled at the 2018 Annual Shareholder Meeting. The white Roadster design shell was eventually brought over to the Grand Basel Car Show in Switzerland, where it attracted a notable amount of attention from attendees as well.
Earlier this year, Elon Musk noted on Twitter that the intent behind the creation of the next-generation Tesla Roadster is to “beat gas sports cars on every performance metric by far, no exceptions, thus transferring the “halo crown” effect gas cars have as the top speed leaders over to pure electric.” Tesla’s electric cars today like the Model S P100D and Model X P100D are monsters on the quarter-mile, but when it comes to races over longer distances, they eventually get overtaken by fossil fuel-powered vehicles. The company aims to address this with the upcoming all-electric supercar.
- The next-generation Tesla Roadster at Car Classic 2018. [Credit: dgaultiere/Reddit]
- The next-generation Tesla Roadster at Car Classic 2018. [Credit: Xavier Carr/Instagram]
- The next-generation Tesla Roadster at Car Classic 2018. [Credit: zolinator/Instagram]
- The next-generation Tesla Roadster at Car Classic 2018. [Credit: dom_schulz/Instagram]
- The next-generation Tesla Roadster at Car Classic 2018. [Credit: Dave Kunz/Instagram]
- The next-generation Tesla Roadster at Car Classic 2018. [Credit: dom_schulz/Instagram]
The next-generation Tesla Roadster at Car Classic 2018. [Credit: dgaultiere/Reddit, Dave Kunz, dom_schulz, Xavier Carr, and zolinator/Instagram]
The specs of the next-generation Roadster are remarkable, with its 0-60 mph time of 1.9 seconds, its 0-100 mph time of 4.2 seconds, its top speed of more than 250 mph, its quarter-mile time of 8.9 seconds, and a range of 620 miles per charge thanks to its 200 kWh battery pack. In true Tesla form, the Roadster is poised to be a disruptor in the supercar industry, delivering its knockout performance with a price tag starting at $200,000. This makes it more affordable than mid-level supercars like the McLaren 720S and the Ferrari 812 Superfast (both of which are priced in the ~$300,000 range), despite boasting performance figures that rival (or even exceed) million-dollar “halo cars” like the McLaren P1 and the Ferrari LaFerrari.
What’s even more impressive is that the specs of the all-electric supercar are true for the vehicle’s base version. Earlier this year, Elon Musk announced on Twitter that a “SpaceX package” for the Tesla Roadster, which would use literal rocket thrusters (small Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels [COPVs]) from SpaceX, would allow the vehicle to fly “short hops.” In this iteration, Musk noted that the Roadster would lose its 2+2 seating capability, but it would give the all-electric supercar the capability to go even faster. Tesla aims to release the next-generation Roadster sometime in 2020, with test drives estimated to begin towards the end of 2019.
Elon Musk
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has ordered the closure of an investigation involving Elon Musk and social media platform X. The inquiry had been pending for about two years and examined whether the platform was used to coordinate attacks against members of the judiciary.
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
According to a report from Agencia Brasil, the investigation conducted by the Federal Police did not find evidence that X deliberately attempted to attack the judiciary or circumvent court orders.
Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet concluded that the irregularities identified during the probe did not indicate fraudulent intent.
Justice Moraes accepted the prosecutor’s recommendation and ruled that the investigation should be closed. Under the ruling, the case will remain closed unless new evidence emerges.
The inquiry stemmed from concerns that content on X may have enabled online attacks against Supreme Court justices or violated rulings requiring the suspension of certain accounts under investigation.
Justice Moraes had previously taken several enforcement actions related to the platform during the broader dispute involving social media regulation in Brazil.
These included ordering a nationwide block of the platform, freezing Starlink accounts, and imposing fines on X totaling about $5.2 million. Authorities also froze financial assets linked to X and SpaceX through Starlink to collect unpaid penalties and seized roughly $3.3 million from the companies’ accounts.
Moraes also imposed daily fines of up to R$5 million, about $920,000, for alleged evasion of the X ban and established penalties of R$50,000 per day for VPN users who attempted to bypass the restriction.
Brazil remains an important market for X, with roughly 17 million users, making it one of the platform’s larger user bases globally.
The country is also a major market for Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, which has surpassed one million subscribers in Brazil.
Elon Musk
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Amazon after the company opposed SpaceX’s proposal to launch a large satellite constellation that could function as an orbital data center network.
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
Amazon recently urged the FCC to reject SpaceX’s application to deploy a constellation of up to 1 million low Earth orbit satellites that could serve as artificial intelligence data centers in space.
The company described the proposal as a “lofty ambition rather than a real plan,” arguing that SpaceX had not provided sufficient details about how the system would operate.
Carr responded by pointing to Amazon’s own satellite deployment progress.
“Amazon should focus on the fact that it will fall roughly 1,000 satellites short of meeting its upcoming deployment milestone, rather than spending their time and resources filing petitions against companies that are putting thousands of satellites in orbit,” Carr wrote on X.
Amazon has declined to comment on the statement.
Amazon has been working to deploy its Project Kuiper satellite network, which is intended to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink service. The company has invested more than $10 billion in the program and has launched more than 200 satellites since April of last year.
Amazon has also asked the FCC for a 24-month extension, until July 2028, to meet a requirement to deploy roughly 1,600 satellites by July 2026, as noted in a CNBC report.
SpaceX’s Starlink network currently has nearly 10,000 satellites in orbit and serves roughly 10 million customers. The FCC has also authorized SpaceX to deploy 7,500 additional satellites as the company continues expanding its global satellite internet network.
Energy
Tesla Energy gains UK license to sell electricity to homes and businesses
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
Tesla Energy has received a license to supply electricity in the United Kingdom, opening the door for the company to serve homes and businesses in the country.
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
According to Ofgem, the license took effect at 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday and applies to Great Britain.
The approval allows Tesla’s energy business to sell electricity directly to customers in the region, as noted in a Bloomberg News report.
Tesla has already expanded similar services in the United States. In Texas, the company offers electricity plans that allow Tesla owners to charge their vehicles at a lower cost while also feeding excess electricity back into the grid.
Tesla already has a sizable presence in the UK market. According to price comparison website U-switch, there are more than 250,000 Tesla electric vehicles in the country and thousands of Tesla home energy storage systems.
Ofgem also noted that Tesla Motors Ltd., a separate entity incorporated in England and Wales, received an electricity generation license in June 2020.
The new UK license arrives as Tesla continues expanding its global energy business.
Last year, Tesla Energy retained the top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year. According to Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings, Tesla held about 15% of global market share in 2024.
The company also maintained a dominant position in North America, where it captured roughly 39% market share in the region.
At the same time, competition in the energy storage sector is increasing. Chinese companies such as Sungrow have been expanding their presence globally, particularly in Europe.










