Elon Musk: The new Tesla Roadster can travel some 400 miles on a single charge
Elon Musk has confirmed the Tesla Roadster will get an upgrade.
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| How far can your Roadster go? |
The Tesla Motors Roadster is electric car company's convertible mode. Mr. Musk has said the new features increase its range significantly, further than what many traditional internal combustion engine cars are able to drive on one tank of gasoline.
Three retrofits are planned for the Roadster, according to Tesla Motors.
The first upgrade is a battery with a capacity increase of 31-percent. This allows the vehicle to roll a greater distance on a single charge. The second upgrade is an "aero kit" which slightly changes the car's profile, resulting in a drag reduction of 15-percent due to wind resistance. And lastly, the firm said Friday in a blog post, that the Roadster will get new, more efficient tires.
The end product of this upgrade is an electric car that can travel reliably for around 350 miles without recharging. That distance is about the same or better than many typical gasoline-fueled cars. The University of Michigan estimate for the average fuel economy of a new car in 2014 is approximately 25 miles per gallon. Equipped with a 12- or 13-gallon tank, that gets you about 325 miles on a full tank.
"There is a set of speeds and driving conditions," wrote Tesla Motors, "where we can confidently drive the Roadster 3.0 over 400 miles."
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| Is the Roadster in your Price Range? |
The old Roadster can drive up to 244 miles on one full charge, according to the company, which means the new Roadster's 400-mile range is nearly double the old distance.
Of course, since the Roadster's starting price remains above $100,000, the bulk of the 99% probably won't be enjoying ownership of this big technology upgrade. However, Mr. Musk said we should expect it to reach us commoners in the Model S, eventually.
"It obviously *will* happen long-term," he tweeted.
