Elon Musk made new comments about the new Tesla Roadster being equipped with a SpaceX package consisting of cold air thrusters.
As we reported yesterday, Musk is going to be on the next episode of Jay Leno’s Garage.
While Musk’s appearance on the show seems to center around the Tesla Cybertruck prototype, the CEO and Leno appear to also quickly take a look at the next-gen Tesla Roadster.
In a teaser released by CNBC, Musk talks about the “SpaceX package” option that will be offered on Tesla’s new Roadster:
It’s going to have an option to have rocket trusters from SpaceX.
Leno responded with a dismissive “alright” and added that he wasn’t sure if Musk was joking, but Musk assured him that he wasn’t “in this case.”
Musk continued:
We are going use ultra high pressure compressed air — it’s a cold gas thruster. The main thruster will be like behind the license plate so for acceleration, it drops the license plate and behind the license plate is a rocket thruster.
The CEO added:
It’s like full-on James Bond.
Here’s the teaser from CNBC:
Recently, Musk indicated that Tesla’s new Roadster program has been delayed as the automaker is prioritizing the Cybertruck.
He hinted that we probably won’t see the new Roadster until 2022.
However, the CEO is doubling down on his claim that the insane specs announced in 2017 for the new electric hypercars are only “the base specs,” and that the automaker really plans to move forward with the “SpaceX package” with cold air trusters.
When first unveiling the vehicle, Tesla claimed a list of insanely impressive specs for the new Roadster, including 0-60 mph in 1.9 sec, 620 miles of range, and more.
Electrek’s Take
Based on Elon’s previous comments, it sounds like there will be several thrusters all around the Roadster.
Some will be pointing to the sides for improved cornering, others pointing up to provide additional downforce during acceleration, and he is now talking about the “main one” being behind the license plate.
There has been a lot of talk about the legality of such a feature, but I think it’s clear at this point that Tesla means for the SpaceX package to only be used on the racetrack.
I am fairly certain that motorized license plates are illegal in many markets, even if it’s not meant to hide the license number but to enable a cold air thruster.
Unless you are James Bond. If you have a license to kill, who cares about your license plate number?
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