What's the news?
I think it's fair to say that Tesla had a big night. The California-based electric car maker has been hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons of late - failure to ramp up production of the new Model 3 as expected, accusations of racism within the company, accounts of poor build quality - but for one night at least, Tesla reminded us of why it's become the most disruptive and attention-grabbing of all car makers.
It should have been, and partially was, an event to reveal the Tesla truck; a heavy goods vehicle with a claimed 800km one-charge range, a central driving position - Tesla boss Elon Musk is a McLaren F1 owner, so may have taken inspiration from his nineties supercar - and what's been referred to as 'explosion-proof glass.' While this may be of limited real use, it's part of Musk's Bond-villain-esque image which has already seen Model S and Model X cars on sale with a HEPA-approved air filtration system which is supposedly proof against chemical attack. Speaking of the truck's new windscreen, Musk said: "it survives a nuclear explosion, or you get a full refund."
The Tesla truck has more practical technology than that on board. Sensors can detect if the trailer is swaying, or if the truck is heading towards a jack-knife and deploy individual brakes as appropriate to control it. Those brakes, Tesla claims, could last the lifetime of the truck (pads and all) thanks to the fact that it uses hefty regenerative braking to keep its battery pack topped up. The truck's powertrain will have a purported one-million mile guarantee, and all models will come with a full suite of driving aids and Tesla's Auto Pilot partly-autonomous driving system.
It's also fast - here is a HGV than can hit 100km/h in just over 5.0 seconds, better than most hot hatches. Tesla hasn't yet quoted a maximum load weight, but has said that it intends to design and build a nationwide network of solar-powered 'Megachargers' to support the truck fleet.
However, big and impressive-looking though the truck is, it paled rather in comparison to what was in the back; the new Tesla Roadster. The successor to Tesla's first-ever car, which itself was based on the Lotus Elise, the new Roadster has a claimed top speed in excess of 400km/h, and a 0-100km/h time of around 2.0 seconds. That's fast enough to eclipse any Ferrari LaFerrari, Koenigsegg One:1, Porsche 918, or Lamborghini Aventador by more than one second. Yipe.
The Roadster also gets a hefty 200kWh battery pack (twice the capacity of any current Tesla model) and boasts a claimed one-charge range of 1,000km. Keen buyers are being asked to lay down a USD$50,000 deposit against a USD$200,000 price tag - quite the bargain, considering the (claimed) performance on offer.
Tesla also claims that the Roadster, which uses a lift-out Targa-style panel in the roof, rather than a soft-top, is close to unique as it offers four-seats, open-top motoring, and four-wheel drive, even before you get to its potentially ground-breaking electric powertrain. "You'll be able to travel from LA to San Francisco, and back, at highway speed without recharging. The point of doing this is to just give a hardcore smackdown to gasoline cars. Driving a gasoline sports car is going to feel like a steam engine with a side of quiche" said Musk as he unveiled the car.
Tesla currently holds the second-highest market capitalisation of any American car maker and is reputed to be spending as much as USD$4-billion per year, most of that on building up production of the Model 3 saloon. The truck and the Roadster will add a great deal of gloss to Tesla's image, but serious question marks will remain over Musk's abilities to guide an upstart start-up through to profitable mass-production.