Elon Musk is serious about adding thrusters to the new Tesla Roadster, the option will replace the back seats

Elon Musk has confirmed that he is completely serious about adding thrusters to the new Tesla Roadster and he added that the optional package will replace the mysterious back seats that the upcoming electric supercar is supposedly going to have.

When we reported on Musk first announcing that the vehicle is going to have thrusters this weekend, one out of three readers didn’t think that it was for real.

But Tesla’s CEO has now confirmed that it is going to happen and he revealed a few new details about what is now called the “SpaceX package”.

What Musk first called “small rocket thrusters” are actually going to be “composite overwrapped pressure vessel” (COPV), which basically consists of a sophisticated bottle containing ultra high-pressure air that can be released for thrust.

The air is going to be automatically added by air pumps using power from the Roadster’s battery pack so there’s no need to refuel and the system is technically still all-electric:

Note, gas contained would be ultra high pressure air in a SpaceX rocket COPV bottle. The air exiting the thrusters would immediately be replenished whenever vehicle pack power draw allowed operation of the air pump, which is most of the time.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 10, 2018

While it will draw energy from the battery pack, Tesla is designing a new 200 kWh pack with over 600 miles of range on a single charge for the new Roadster so it shouldn’t be a big issue.

Musk is talking about adding as many as 10 of those systems all around the vehicle, which would help not only for speed and acceleration but also for deceleration and possibly even to turn.

We are starting to talk about adding a significant amount of weight and taking an important space in the relatively small new all-electric supercar.

The CEO says that if chosen, the optional package would replace the backseat:

Trade is just that Roadster becomes a 2 seater instead of a 2+2. COPV in place of the kid seats, which is prob wise for many reasons

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 10, 2018

We never actually had a good look at the backseat even on Tesla’s working prototype of the next-gen Roadster.

At the unveiling event, Musk said that it was big enough to fit children or small adults, but he is now referring to it as “kid seats.”

It sounds like the mysterious back seat is still in the plan, but it won’t be available if you choose to have the “SpaceX Package” with those cold air thrusters all around the car.

While Musk went into more details about the new feature, he didn’t reveal any updated specs that it could bring to the already insane standard version of the Roadster, which includes 0-60 mph in 1.9 sec, 620-mile of range, and more.

But the CEO did hype the vehicle even more than he already had by saying that Tesla’s new Roadster will be “out of this world” and there will be “no finer car in history.”

Are you excited yet?

Electrek’s Take

I might be getting a new Roadster through Tesla’s owner referral program and I was already a little scared about the vehicle’s power, but they are now taking it to a whole new level with those cold air thrusters.

Would you order the package if you were to buy a new Roadster? Let us know in the comment section below.

I guess I’d need to know more about the actual impact on performance and the driving experience, but it sounds like something straight out of a video game.