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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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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang explains difference between Tesla FSD and Alpamayo

“Tesla’s FSD stack is completely world-class,” the Nvidia CEO said.

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Credit: Grok Imagine

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang has offered high praise for Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system during a Q&A at CES 2026, calling it “world-class” and “state-of-the-art” in design, training, and performance. 

More importantly, he also shared some insights about the key differences between FSD and Nvidia’s recently announced Alpamayo system. 

Jensen Huang’s praise for Tesla FSD

Nvidia made headlines at CES following its announcement of Alpamayo, which uses artificial intelligence to accelerate the development of autonomous driving solutions. Due to its focus on AI, many started speculating that Alpamayo would be a direct rival to FSD. This was somewhat addressed by Elon Musk, who predicted that “they will find that it’s easy to get to 99% and then super hard to solve the long tail of the distribution.”

During his Q&A, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was asked about the difference between FSD and Alpamayo. His response was extensive:

“Tesla’s FSD stack is completely world-class. They’ve been working on it for quite some time. It’s world-class not only in the number of miles it’s accumulated, but in the way it’s designed, the way they do training, data collection, curation, synthetic data generation, and all of their simulation technologies. 

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“Of course, the latest generation is end-to-end Full Self-Driving—meaning it’s one large model trained end to end. And so… Elon’s AD system is, in every way, 100% state-of-the-art. I’m really quite impressed by the technology. I have it, and I drive it in our house, and it works incredibly well,” the Nvidia CEO said. 

Nvidia’s platform approach vs Tesla’s integration

Huang also stated that Nvidia’s Alpamayo system was built around a fundamentally different philosophy from Tesla’s. Rather than developing self-driving cars itself, Nvidia supplies the full autonomous technology stack for other companies to use.

“Nvidia doesn’t build self-driving cars. We build the full stack so others can,” Huang said, explaining that Nvidia provides separate systems for training, simulation, and in-vehicle computing, all supported by shared software.

He added that customers can adopt as much or as little of the platform as they need, noting that Nvidia works across the industry, including with Tesla on training systems and companies like Waymo, XPeng, and Nuro on vehicle computing.

“So our system is really quite pervasive because we’re a technology platform provider. That’s the primary difference. There’s no question in our mind that, of the billion cars on the road today, in another 10 years’ time, hundreds of millions of them will have great autonomous capability. This is likely one of the largest, fastest-growing technology industries over the next decade.”

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He also emphasized Nvidia’s open approach, saying the company open-sources its models and helps partners train their own systems. “We’re not a self-driving car company. We’re enabling the autonomous industry,” Huang said.

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Elon Musk confirms xAI’s purchase of five 380 MW natural gas turbines

The deal, which was confirmed by Musk on X, highlights xAI’s effort to aggressively scale its operations.

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Credit: xAI/X

xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, has purchased five additional 380 MW natural gas turbines from South Korea’s Doosan Enerbility to power its growing supercomputer clusters. 

The deal, which was confirmed by Musk on X, highlights xAI’s effort to aggressively scale its operations.

xAI’s turbine deal details

News of xAI’s new turbines was shared on social media platform X, with user @SemiAnalysis_ stating that the turbines were produced by South Korea’s Doosan Enerbility. As noted in an Asian Business Daily report, Doosan Enerbility announced last October that it signed a contract to supply two 380 MW gas turbines for a major U.S. tech company. Doosan later noted in December that it secured an order for three more 380 MW gas turbines.

As per the X user, the gas turbines would power an additional 600,000+ GB200 NVL72 equivalent size cluster. This should make xAI’s facilities among the largest in the world. In a reply, Elon Musk confirmed that xAI did purchase the turbines. “True,” Musk wrote in a post on X. 

xAI’s ambitions 

Recent reports have indicated that xAI closed an upsized $20 billion Series E funding round, exceeding the initial $15 billion target to fuel rapid infrastructure scaling and AI product development. The funding, as per the AI startup, “will accelerate our world-leading infrastructure buildout, enable the rapid development and deployment of transformative AI products.”

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The company also teased the rollout of its upcoming frontier AI model. “Looking ahead, Grok 5 is currently in training, and we are focused on launching innovative new consumer and enterprise products that harness the power of Grok, Colossus, and 𝕏 to transform how we live, work, and play,” xAI wrote in a post on its website. 

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Elon Musk’s xAI closes upsized $20B Series E funding round

xAI announced the investment round in a post on its official website. 

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Credit: xAI

xAI has closed an upsized $20 billion Series E funding round, exceeding the initial $15 billion target to fuel rapid infrastructure scaling and AI product development. 

xAI announced the investment round in a post on its official website. 

A $20 billion Series E round

As noted by the artificial intelligence startup in its post, the Series E funding round attracted a diverse group of investors, including Valor Equity Partners, Stepstone Group, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Qatar Investment Authority, MGX, and Baron Capital Group, among others. 

Strategic partners NVIDIA and Cisco Investments also continued support for building the world’s largest GPU clusters.

As xAI stated, “This financing will accelerate our world-leading infrastructure buildout, enable the rapid development and deployment of transformative AI products reaching billions of users, and fuel groundbreaking research advancing xAI’s core mission: Understanding the Universe.”

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xAI’s core mission

Th Series E funding builds on xAI’s previous rounds, powering Grok advancements and massive compute expansions like the Memphis supercluster. The upsized demand reflects growing recognition of xAI’s potential in frontier AI.

xAI also highlighted several of its breakthroughs in 2025, from the buildout of Colossus I and II, which ended with over 1 million H100 GPU equivalents, and the rollout of the Grok 4 Series, Grok Voice, and Grok Imagine, among others. The company also confirmed that work is already underway to train the flagship large language model’s next iteration, Grok 5. 

“Looking ahead, Grok 5 is currently in training, and we are focused on launching innovative new consumer and enterprise products that harness the power of Grok, Colossus, and 𝕏 to transform how we live, work, and play,” xAI wrote. 

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