Tesla Sports Cars

The second-generation Tesla Roadster, which is supposed to hit the market by 2020, is still nowhere to be seen. It’s nearly the end of 2021, and Tesla apparently has removed pricing information on its website, along with stopping reservations for the Founders Series.

With the pandemic still looming over our heads, 2021 was a pretty action-packed year for the auto industry. Sure, you had challenges, with automakers having to contend with issues like chip shortages, causing delays to consumers. But regardless, the show had to go on and we got some pretty cool cars making their debut, predominantly towards the latter half of 2021.

Let’s get one thing out of the way, 2021 really was also the year, when the market as a whole began to embrace EV’s and you could see several automakers both the legacy as well as EV startups bring several new models to market. Having said that, we did see some pretty cool ICE cars, also make their debut. Now there were several cars that made headlines this year, it was very difficult to pick out the best ones, but the cars on this list definitely stood out. Here’s our list of some of the most highly anticipated and important cars that were unveiled in 2021.

There is no dearth of electric cars in the market now. We aren’t just talking about the urban commuters, but also fast electric cars. There are many new automakers that start their electric car journey with fast cars or electric supercars. Companies like Estrema, Aspark, and even Tesla, for that matter, came up with fast electric sports cars or electric supercars. While some have faded into oblivion after showing us promising concepts, some have weathered the storm and are either into production or will enter production.

Here’s a list of the eight fastest electric cars in the world today that are in the production stage or about to enter production. Some of these fast cars are from mainstream automakers, some from established EVmakers, and some from new start-ups.

Hoonigan’s YouTube channel returns with another “Hoonicorn versus the world” episode and this time it’s all on the line because the mighty Hoonicorn goes up against a Tesla Model S Plaid – the bane of many high-performance, combustion-powered vehicles. So far the Lia Block – Ken Block’s, 14-year old daughter - has been crushing it, losing only to a 2,000 horsepower Nissan GT-R. Will Tesla take another scalp or will the Hoonicorn finally put it in its place?

Accler8, recently pitted a Tesla Model S Plaid against a C8 Corvette. Yes, yes, the Plaid has been mega at the drag strip ever since it went on sale earlier this year. So, with less than 500 horses in the C8 to 1000 in the Plaid, was this even fair? Well, there’s a twist to this one. Let’s see how this pans out.

Brooks from DragTimes brought two of his best vehicles on the drag strip for a face-off. The contenders are a Tesla Model S Plaid and a McLaren 765 LT. The Plaid is invincible, but the McLaren is no slouch. The 765 LT was the quickest production car to a quarter-mile before the Plaid arrived, taking just 9.3 seconds at 150+ mph. So, this will be an interesting match-up. From the looks of it, the Plaid might claim the bragging rights, but could the McLaren score some upset victories?

On paper, an SUV should have no business competing against a supercar in a drag race. But the cars in question, a Ferrari 812 Superfast and a Tesla Model X P100D, aren’t exactly too far apart in the performance category. One produces 588 horsepower and 910 pound-feet of torque, while the other has 790 horsepower and 530 pound-feet of torque on tap. Line them side-by-side on a drag strip and the question of who wins isn’t as ridiculous as it sounds. In the end, such a race took place at the Drag Times home track of Palm Beach International Raceway. As for which car won? Watch the video and find out.

The news surrounding the Roadster has surely gotten us frustrated at some point or the other. It was unveiled in 2017 and was expected to hit the roads in 2020, but Tesla made it clear that the Roadster is not its priority and it will arrive later.

Although its arrival date is pushed to 2022 for now, we do get constant updates about it every now and then. This time, it comes from none other than the CEO himself about the Roadster going to Nurburgring. Elon Musk confirmed on Twitter that the Roadster will hit the tarmac on the Green Hell next year. From what we know already, can it set a record?

When Musk announced that the next-gen Roadster will be offered a SpaceX option package that includes rocket thrusters, it took many people by surprise. Although he said that the Roadster pack will “definitely enable it to fly short hops.”, it also meant it will be much faster than the 1.9-second claim. J

Jason Fenske of Engineering Explained worked out the math and concluded that the next-gen Roadster with rocket thrusters will do the sprint in just 1.1 seconds.

Based on this figure, a CGI artist has created a video that depicts what that specific run could look like. Check out the video in the tweet below.

The next-gen Tesla Roadster is going to be a revolutionary car and there’s no doubt about that. The automaker has claimed an 0-60 mph time of 1.9 seconds for the base model. However, this could probably be the slowest trim in the lineup.

Elon Musk has already said that Tesla will offer the Roadster with a SpaceX option package. According to Engineering Explained’s Jason Fenske, the Roadster with this package will be able to sprint to 60 mph from a standstill in 1.1 seconds! Phew!

While the Tesla Model S has its hands full dealing with the all-electric Porsche Taycan (not when it comes to range, though), the Model 3 has been pitted against the 2020 Porsche 911 by the fellas over at Carwow.

We know, we know, and they do too, these two are not exactly direct rivals and the differences between them aren’t only related to how they generate power and torque. The 911 is rear-wheel-driven, while the Model 3 spins all four wheels. The EV is also a tad more powerful and quicker off the line, but the Neunelfer packs a mean Launch Control feature and is, after all, a purely-bred sports car.

Elon Musk has made another bold claim regarding the Tesla Roadster’s optional SpaceX package. If the package’s “cold-air thrusters” aren’t ambitious enough, Musk indicated that these thrusters would allow the Roadster to fly. At first, he qualified the term “fly” as the ability to hover or make hops over stretched distances. Now, he’s saying that the Roadster can actually do something akin to the hovering DeLorean from Back to the Future. Perhaps it’s best to assume that Musk is being a little cheeky with this latest boast, but for what it’s worth, he’s also followed through on past claims that were deemed ridiculous at the time. Is this a case of Musk finally biting off more than he can chew, or is he up to something yet again? Either way, the idea of a flying Tesla Roadster is so absurd that it’s actually awesome. Here’s to hoping that there’s more to Tesla’s SpaceX package than what we’ve been let on.

As the electric car market becomes bigger and more populated these days, Porsche is looking for a way to stand out from competition, and a big part of that approach is developing technologies that will allow it to claim the industry’s quickest charging times. The Porsche Taycan electric sports car — it’s Porsche’s first all-electric model ever — is expected to showcase that with the ability to charge 80 percent of its battery in just 15 minutes.

The world went gaga when Tesla dropped a surprise debut of its next-gen Roadster last November, with analysts and speed fans alike drooling over the claims made by the high-tech EV sports machine. Some of the numbers and specs seemed insane for a street-legal road car, but with an official on-sale date still several years away, there was time for the rest of the industry to catch up. Now, it looks like the Tesla just got one-upped before it could even hit the road, as Rimac dropped the C Two in Geneva with a list of numbers capable of delivering a K.O. punch to the upcoming Roadster 2.0.

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Earlier this afternoon, as a multitude of anxious space exploration fans watched with bated breath, the Falcon Heavy rocket lifted off from the NASA Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida. With all 27 individual Merlin engines lit, the trio of boosters providing more than 5 million pounds of thrust, the Falcon Heavy became the world’s most powerful rocket currently in service, officially launching us into a second Space Age.

Once the first stage was complete, the spent rockets were jettisoned and aimed back at Earth. Moments later, the two side boosters successfully touched down simultaneously on the ground in Florida. The third booster was supposed to land on a drone ship out in the Atlantic, but as it approached, the camera feed cut out due to the extreme vibrations. It’s not yet known if it landed successfully or not, but it’s believed to have crashed into the ocean.

The reusable rockets were designed to make space flight less expensive in the long run. Each Falcon Heavy launch is expected cost around $90 million, while similar flights from government organizations like NASA could cost upwards of $1 billion.

Most importantly though, the Falcon Heavy successfully delivered its payload into orbit. Strapped to the tip of the Falcon Heavy was a first-generation Tesla Roadster (painted in red, or course), complete with “Starman” strapped in at the wheel (Starman being a dummy wearing the SpaceX spacesuit). On the Roadster’s primary infotainment screen were the words “Don’t Panic!”, a reference to Douglas Adam’s classic novel “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”

The goal is to get the Roadster and its Starman passenger into an orbit around the sun that’ll take it by Mars, with the intention being to eventually launch a manned mission to the Red Planet. This successful test launch is the first big step towards that goal. But before it slingshots through the solar system, the Roadster will need to pass through the radiation-filled Van Allen belts, after which there will be a final burn to send Starman towards our planetary neighbor.

Since the launch, social media has been filled with breathtaking imagery, including several shots taken live from the space-traveling drop-top. Make sure to check out the live feed of Starman on YouTube.

The final countdown is now imminent. Following a successful static test, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy is now cleared for the real thing, with liftoff scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. The payload will include a deep-red first-gen Tesla Roadster with “Starman” strapped into the driver’s seat.

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