Tesla made an announcement that the Tesla Roadster is slated to get ‘3.0’ upgrade. The upgrade includes next generation batteries, new aerodynamics, and lower resistance tires. The upgrade is focuses on increased driving range and maximum efficiency.
If you are scratching your head right now because the Tesla Roadster has been out of production for around two years, you are likely not alone. Tesla’s press release says “Appointments for upgrading Roadsters will be taken this spring once the new battery pack finishes safety validation. We are confident that this will not be the last update the Roadster will receive in the many years to come.” We can interpret this as, existing owners are welcome to bring their cars in to Tesla for the upgrade.
TFLcar reached out to Tesla for clarification and to get pricing information. Tesla replied to say that no additional information is available at this time. The company did not offer any images of the new bodywork or anything else related to the 3.0 upgrade.
The new battery cells are able to store 31% more energy than the original Roadster battery. All together, the new battery delivers close to 70 kWh from the same physical package. There is no word if the new battery is lighter or heavier. There is no word on whether the car’s dynamic performance will be improved.
Tesla has prepared a new aerodynamic package that drop the coefficient of drag from 0.36 Cd to a significantly lower 0.31 Cd. This is a 15% improvement.
The final improvement are the new lower resistance tires. Tesla says that it can offer a tire with rolling resistance coefficient of 8.0 kg/ton – a 20% improvement over the original OEM tires.
When you put all these enhancements together, the company claims a 40-50% improvement in driving range for a possible total of over 400 miles. Tesla wants to prove this in a few weeks with a “non-stop drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles”.
Do all these upgrades make sense for a sporty roadster? Are Tesla Roadster owners looking to hyper-mile their cars?
Check out this classic TFLcar road trip video review of the 2010 Tesla Roadster.
