Lifestyle
Tesla Roadster Sport comes out of retirement to race the Model 3 Performance
Some vehicles will forever hold a special place in people’s hearts. For the Tesla community, that car would be the original Roadster, a car that broke the mold of conventional electric vehicles when it was released. With the Roadster, Tesla proved that electric cars did not have to look and perform like glorified golf carts — they can be fast, sleek, and sexy too.
The original Roadster garnered a lot of awards during its time. On October 27, 2009, for one, the Tesla Roadster set a world distance record for production electric cars, traveling 501 km (311 miles) on a single charge. In March 2010, the sports car also became that first electric vehicle to win the Monte Carlo Alternative Energy Rally, with Formula One driver Erik Comas driving an Arctic White Roadster to dominate the three-day, 1,000-km (620-mile) event.
Tesla released the Roadster Sport in 2009, as a top trim for the electric sports car. In its review of the vehicle, Car and Driver noted that the Roadster Sport hit 60 mph in just 4 seconds, thanks to its powerful AC permanent-magnet synchronous electric motor that produces instant torque. With its 122 mph top speed, 288 bhp of power, and 295 lb-ft of torque, the Roadster Sport was capable of sucking the breath out of unassuming passengers.
Tesla only sold about 2,450 Roadsters during the vehicles’ entire run from 2008-2012. After the Roadster, Tesla focused its efforts on developing and refining the Model S sedan, a vehicle that could very well be the most important car of the decade. Following the Model S was the Model X SUV, and after that came the Model 3, the company’s first attempt at a mass-market car. Tesla passed through “production hell” with the Model 3, though the company was able to power through its difficulties this year. Elon Musk recently noted that Tesla is now at a point when it has no problem building 5,000 Model 3 a week — more than twice the number of original Roadsters the company produced over four years.
The Model 3 Performance is the top trim of Tesla’s latest vehicle. Being powered by larger and more energy-dense 2170 battery cells, the Model 3 Performance is Tesla’s first track capable car. Equipped with two electric motors that produce a combined 450 hp and 471 lb-ft of torque, the high-performance electric sedan has an impressive 0-60 mph time of 3.5 seconds (eventually updated to 3.3 seconds by Tesla), a top speed of 155 mph, and a range of 310 miles per charge.
In sheer specs alone, the Model 3 Performance — the most conservative among Tesla’s Performance-branded vehicles — outguns the original Roadster. As a video of a race between the two cars shows, though, the original Tesla Roadster is still incredibly quick despite its age. The race between Tesla’s past and present electric cars was held at the Atco Dragway in NJ, where two neophyte drivers christened the drag strip with the rather rare matchup.
Thanks to the raw power of its electric motor, as well as the reaction time of the Model 3 Performance’s driver, the Tesla Roadster Sport established an early lead during the bout. Midway through the quarter-mile, though, the Model 3 Performance started catching up. Both vehicles were neck-and-neck until the end of the race. The Model 3 Performance crossed the quarter-mile mark in 11.838 seconds at 114.02 mph, while the Tesla Roadster Sport completed the run in 12.959 seconds at 101.13 mph. Thus, despite getting the jump over the newer car off the line, the Roadster Sport ultimately bowed down to the Model 3 Performance by 0.6623 seconds.
Its loss to the Model 3 Performance aside, it’s difficult to not remain impressed by the Tesla Roadster Sport. The car, after all, is equipped with battery and powertrain technology that has since been improved by Tesla. Despite this, the vehicle was still able to perform the way Elon Musk wanted it to — as an electric sports car that can stand toe-to-toe with some of the best high-performance cars in the market.
Watch the original Tesla Roadster Sport battle the Model 3 Performance in the video below.
Elon Musk
Tesla ditches India after years of broken promises
Tesla has ditched its plans to build a factory in India after years of failed negotiations.
Tesla’s long-running effort to establish a manufacturing presence in India is officially over. India’s Minister of Heavy Industries H.D. Kumaraswamy confirmed on May 19, 2026 that Tesla has informed authorities it will not proceed with a manufacturing facility in the country.
Tesla first signaled serious interest in India around 2021, when it began hiring local staff and lobbying the Indian government for lower import tariffs. The ask was straightforward: reduce duties enough for Tesla to test the market with imported vehicles before committing capital to a local factory. India’s position was equally firm, with an ask of Tesla to commit to manufacturing first, then receive tariff relief. Neither side moved, and the talks quietly collapsed.
Tesla to open first India experience center in Mumbai on July 15
India had offered a policy that would reduce import duties from 110% down to 15% on EVs priced above $35,000, provided companies committed at least $500 million toward local manufacturing investment within three years. Tesla declined to participate. The tariff standoff was only part of the problem. Analysts pointed to significant gaps in India’s local supply chain, inadequate industrial infrastructure, and a mismatch between Tesla’s premium pricing and the purchasing power of India’s automotive market as additional factors that made the investment difficult to justify.
First signs of an unraveling relationship came in April 2024, when Musk abruptly cancelled a planned trip to India where he was set to meet Prime Minister Modi and announce Tesla’s market entry. By July 2024, Fortune reported that Tesla executives had stopped contacting Indian government officials entirely. The government at that point understood Tesla had capital constraints and no plans to invest.
The more fundamental issue is that Tesla’s existing factories are currently operating at approximately 60% capacity, making a commitment to building new manufacturing capacity in a new market difficult to defend to investors. Tesla will continue selling imported Model Y vehicles through its existing showrooms in Mumbai, Delhi, Gurugram, and Bengaluru, but local production is no longer part of the plan.
Elon Musk
Trump’s invite for Elon just reshuffled Tesla’s big Signature Delivery Event
Tesla rescheduled its final Model S farewell to May 20 after Musk joined Trump in China.
Tesla has rescheduled its Model S and Model X Signature Edition delivery event to Wednesday, May 20, 2026, after abruptly calling off the original May 12 celebration. The event will take place at Tesla’s factory at 45500 Fremont Boulevard in Fremont, California, the same location where the Model S first rolled off the line in 2012. Invitees received a follow-up email asking them to reconfirm attendance and download a new QR code ticket, with Tesla noting that all travel and accommodation expenses remain the buyer’s responsibility.
The reason behind the original cancellation came into focus the same day it was announced. President Trump invited Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Boeing’s Kelly Ortberg, and executives from Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, Citigroup, and Meta to join his trip to China this week for a summit with President Xi Jinping. The agenda covers trade, artificial intelligence, export controls, Taiwan, and the Iran war, following weeks of escalating friction between Washington and Beijing over AI technology, sanctions, and rare earth exports. Trump wrote on Truth Social, “I am very much looking forward to my trip to China, an amazing Country, with a Leader, President Xi, respected by all.”
Tesla launches 200mph Model S “Gold” Signature in invite-only purchase
The vehicles at the center of all this are the last Model S and Model X units Tesla will ever build. Priced at $159,420 each, the 250 Model S and 100 Model X Signature Edition units come finished in Garnet Red with a one-year no-resale agreement, giving Tesla right of first refusal if the owner decides to sell. As Teslarati reported, the Model S defined Tesla’s early identity as a serious luxury automaker, and the Fremont factory line that built it is now being converted to manufacture Optimus humanoid robots.
Musk’s inclusion in the China delegation drew attention given his very public relationship with Trump, and the invitation signals the two have moved past and past grievances. Trump originally brought Musk on to lead the Department of Government Efficiency following his inauguration, and despite a sharp public dispute in mid-2025, the two have appeared together repeatedly in recent months. A seat on the China trip, the most diplomatically consequential visit of Trump’s current term, puts Musk back at the table on U.S. economic policy at a moment when Tesla’s China revenue remains one of the company’s most important financial pillars.
Lifestyle
Tesla Semi hauls fresh Cybercab batch as Robotaxi era takes hold
A Tesla Semi was filmed hauling Cybercab units out of Giga Texas for the first time.
A Tesla Semi loaded with Cybercab units was recently filmed leaving Gigafactory Texas, marking what appears to be the first documented delivery run of Tesla’s autonomous two-seater. The footage shows multiple Cybercabs secured on a flatbed trailer being hauled by a production Tesla Semi, a truck rated for a gross combination weight of 82,000 lbs. The location is consistent with Giga Texas in Austin, where Cybercab production has been ramping since February 2026.
The sighting follows a wave of Cybercab activity at the Austin facility. In late April, drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer spotted approximately 60 Cybercabs parked in two organized groups in the factory’s outbound lot, the largest concentration observed to date. Units being staged in an outbound lot is a standard pre-delivery step, and the Semi footage is the logical next frame in that sequence.
En route with @tesla_semi pic.twitter.com/ZfuOjaeLH1
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) May 7, 2026
This is not the first time Tesla has used its own Semi to move Tesla products. When the Semi was unveiled in 2017, Musk noted it would be used for Tesla’s own operations, and over the years Semi prototypes were spotted carrying cargo ranging from concrete weights to Tesla vehicles being delivered to consumers. In 2023, a Semi was photographed transporting a Cybertruck on a trailer ahead of that vehicle’s delivery launch.
The Cybercab itself was first revealed publicly at Tesla’s “We, Robot” event on October 10, 2024, at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, where 20 pre-production units gave attendees rides around the studio lot. Musk stated at the event that Tesla intends to produce the Cybercab before 2027. The first production unit rolled off the Giga Texas line on February 17, 2026, with Musk posting on X: “Congratulations to the Tesla team on making the first production Cybercab.”
Tesla’s annual production goal is 2 million Cybercabs per year once multiple factories reach full design capacity, with the company targeting a price under $30,000 per unit. Tesla has confirmed plans to expand its robotaxi service to seven cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas, building on the unsupervised service already running in Austin. Musk has said he expects robotaxis to cover between a quarter and half of the United States by end of year.
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