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Tesla Roadster will have a “SpaceX option package” that boosts performance beyond base levels

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed that the next-generation Roadster will have a “SpaceX option package” that will upgrade the all-electric supercar’s performance to even higher levels.

Speaking during Tesla’s 2018 Annual Shareholder Meeting, Musk addressed the room full of investors that range and performance of the Tesla Semi and Roadster prototypes that were unveiled last November will be even better in the final production version. “In particular, the Tesla Roadster. What we unveiled with the Roadster was the base model performance. It’s going to have a SpaceX options package. It’s crazy,” said Musk.

The announcement reinforces a previous statement made about the general specifications of the all-electric supercar. Following its debut, Musk tweeted that there would be a “special option package” that takes the vehicle to the “next level.” In a follow-up tweet, Musk candidly noted that with the special upgrade, the next-gen Roadster would be able to fly “short hops,” considering that applying rocket technology opens up new possibilities for the vehicle.

The specs of the next-gen Roadster with the SpaceX option package could very well be beyond hypercar territory. The base trim of the vehicle, after all, is already equipped with impressive features, such as a top speed of more than 250 mph, a 0-60 mph time of 1.9 seconds, a quarter-mile time of 8.9 seconds, a 200 kWh battery pack that gives 620 miles of range, and 10,000 Nm of torque from the supercar’s 3 electric motors.

The supercar is also equipped with “Plaid Mode,” Elon Musk’s latest nod to sci-fi comedy film Spaceballs that features even faster acceleration than the Model S P100D and Model X P100D’s Ludicrous Mode. With the SpaceX option, the next-generation Tesla Roadster would practically be an electric rocket on wheels — a vehicle that can, in Elon Musk’s words, truly deliver a “hardcore smackdown” to gasoline cars.

The next-gen Roadster carries much of the practicality that Tesla’s vehicles such as the Model S, Model X, and Model 3 are known for. Despite being a supercar, for example, the next-gen Roadster can seat four passengers, thanks to its 2+2 seating arrangement. Vehicles that feature comparable performance, such as the Koenigsegg Agera R and the Bugatti Chiron, and every vehicle in the hypercar trinity like the Porsche 918 Spyder, the Ferrari LaFerrari, and the McLaren P1, are exclusively 2-seaters.

A white Tesla Roadster prototype is displayed outside of the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA on Tuesday, June 5, 2018 [Credit: Dennis Pascual via Twitter]

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More importantly, the $200,000-$250,000 next-generation Roadster is also far more affordable than its gasoline-based competitors. The hypercar trinity, for one, are all in the $1 million price range. The Koenigsegg Agera R and the Bugatti Chiron, on the other hand, are even more expensive, with the former costing $2.1 million and the latter commanding a hefty $2.8 million price tag.

Tesla is starting to feature the next-generation Roadster more frequently on its social media channels and live events. During the company’s first-quarter all-hands promo video, the all-electric supercar’s blistering acceleration and its unique interior were highlighted prominently. Earlier this year, the vehicle was also displayed at Tesla’s Palo Alto headquarters.

Test drives of the next-gen Tesla Roadster are set to begin sometime towards the end of 2019. Production of the vehicle is expected to start in 2020.

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Tesla is stumped on how to engineer this Optimus part, but they’re close

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has been stumped on how to engineer one crucial part of the Optimus bot, but CEO Elon Musk says the company is “on the cusp” of achieving something great with the project.

During the Q3 2025 Earnings Call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed the company is moving closer to a major breakthrough with the Optimus project, and said they are “on the cusp of something really tremendous.”

However, it seems there is one specific portion of the robot that has truly stumped engineers at the company: the hand, fingers, and forearm.

Musk went into great detail about how incredibly complex and amazing the human hand is, highlighting its dexterity and capability, as its ability to perform a wide variety of tasks is especially impressive:

“I don’t want to downplay the difficulty, but it’s an incredibly difficult thing, especially to create a hand that is as dexterous and capable as the human hand, which is incredible. The human hand is an incredible thing. The more you study the human hand, the more incredible you realize it is, and why you need four fingers and a thumb, why the fingers have certain degrees of freedom, why the various muscles are of different strengths, and fingers are of different lengths. It turns out that those are all there for a reason.”

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It’s been pretty apparent that Tesla has made massive strides in the Optimus project, especially considering it has been able to walk down hills, learn things like Kung Fu, and even perform service tasks like serving food and drinks.

However, a recent look at a Gen 2.5 version of Optimus posted by Marc Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce, showed that Tesla was likely using mannequin hands until it developed something that was both useful and aesthetically pleasing:

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Musk continued on the call last night that the Tesla team was confronted with an “incredibly difficult” challenge from an engineering perspective, and the hands and actuators for that specific part were tough to figure out:

“Making the hand and forearm, because most of the actuators, just like the human hand, the muscles that control your hand are actually primarily in your forearm. The Optimus hand and forearm is an incredibly difficult engineering challenge. I’d say it’s more difficult than the rest of the robot from an electromechanical standpoint. The forearm and hand are more difficult than the entire rest of the robot. But really, in order to have a useful generalized robot, you do need an incredible hand.”

The CEO continued that developing a useful and effective robot was “crucial to the future of the company,” and that he works with Optimus’s design team each Friday night.

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Elon Musk sets definitive Tesla Cybercab production date and puts a rumor to rest

“The single biggest expansion in production will be the Cybercab, which starts production in Q2 next year.” -Elon Musk

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Credit: Teslarati

Tesla CEO Elon Musk finally set a definitive date for Tesla Cybercab production and, at the same time, put a substantial rumor regarding the vehicle that has been circulating within the community to rest.

Tesla’s Cybercab was unveiled last October as the company’s two-seater, affordable option that would ultimately be the car used for autonomous travel. It was initially slated for production in late 2025 or early 2026.

Tesla is ramping up its hiring for the Cybercab production team

However, Tesla has finally said it will start production of the Cybercab in Q2 2026, a more concrete date for the company, as it has moved the entire project forward in recent weeks by testing it at the Fremont Test Track and conducting crash safety assessments.

Musk said on the Q3 2025 Earnings Call:

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“The single biggest expansion in production will be the Cybercab, which starts production in Q2 next year. That’s really a vehicle that’s optimized for full autonomy. It, in fact, does not have a steering wheel or pedals and is really an enduring optimization on minimizing cost per mile for fully considered cost per mile of operation.”

In that quote, Musk also put a rumor that has been circulating within the community to rest. Some started to speculate whether Cybercab would be sold with a steering wheel and pedals, as many of the elements of the car seemed to hint toward not being exclusively autonomous, including side mirrors being equipped, among other things.

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It has been interesting to see some consider whether Tesla would sell the vehicle with the elements that would enable human control, especially as there have been a handful of images of the vehicle on company property with a steering wheel spotted.

However, Musk doubled down on the autonomous nature of the Cybercab with this confirmation during the earnings call, something that many investors likely wanted to hear because it was, in a way, a vote of confidence for the company’s path to autonomy.

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Investor's Corner

Tesla (TSLA) Q3 2025 earnings: Wall Street’s reactions

Tesla’s third-quarter 2025 results delivered the highest quarterly revenue in company history, and Wall Street analysts are taking notice. 

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla’s third-quarter 2025 results delivered record quarterly revenues, and Wall Street is taking notice. 

The automaker reported $28.1 billion in revenue, topping estimates of $26.4 billion, while non-GAAP EPS landed at $0.50 versus $0.54 expected. Despite the slight earnings miss, Tesla’s free cash flow surged to nearly $4.0 billion and total cash on hand jumped to $41.6 billion, a new high.

The following are some of Wall Street’s reactions to Tesla’s third-quarter results.

Mizuho

Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh maintained an “Outperform” rating on Tesla and raised the firm’s price target to $485 from $460 per share, pointing to Tesla’s next-generation autonomy roadmap. “We see 2026E better with stronger FSD traction and deliveries. TSLA is focusing on AI5/HW5 with ~40x gains gen/gen, while ramping Robotaxis and FSD into 2026E–27E.”

Rakesh also highlighted that Mizuho sees Tesla as “well-positioned” to lead “physical AI with Cybercab/FSD traction, humanoid longer term, offset by near-term demand headwinds.”

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Wedbush

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives reiterated his “Outperform” rating and $600 price target on Tesla. As per the analyst, “Tesla reported its FY3Q25 results featuring beats on the top-line while missing bottom-line expectations as the company benefitted from a pull-forward in its delivery segment with greater strength across EMEA and APAC while making gradual progress with its autonomous and energy businesses.” 

He also pointed to Musk’s upcoming compensation vote as a key inflection point: “We believe it will be approved by a wide margin despite some opposition,” Ives noted. “That will be incremental to keeping Musk as a war-time CEO as the company enters a critical AI expansion phase.”

Baird

Baird analyst Ben Kallo reiterated his “Outperform” rating and $548 per share price target for Tesla following the company’s Q3 2025 earnings results. He praised Tesla’s energy segment for delivering record results. 

“Energy demand is particularly high given grid constraints in several regions and a rapid build-out of infrastructure. We expect this piece of the business to capture more attention in the remainder of 2025 and moving into 2026 with the tipping points for longer-term initiatives (Optimus, robotaxi, etc.) more opaque,” Kallo noted.

Deepwater

Meanwhile, Deepwater’s Gene Munster struck a more measured tone. “The September numbers and earnings call were largely uneventful,” Munster said, adding that Tesla’s decision to move cautiously with robotaxis in Austin is the right one. 

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“Shares of TSLA traded down following Elon’s comment that he remains paranoid about the safety of Robotaxi given any accidents would represent a significant step back in terms of the public’s confidence in the fleet,” he wrote. Munster, however, emphasized that Tesla’s cash position is a major strength: “They have enough cash to will Elon’s vision into reality. It may take a lot longer than many expect, but they’ve got the cash to get there.”

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