Tesla has the potential to break so many records

Words by Marcus Boothby

Despite what you may think of Tesla, they do have some game-changing technology which when used correctly, can change the car as we know it. But, that’s not the point of this article. Oh no, we want Tesla to do something more ambitious than the Roadster, Semi and anything else they have lined up.

So, our idea is for Tesla to build a car fast enough of breaking multiple land speed records. Ambitious for sure, but hear us out on this one.

The records in question

Knowing Elon Musk and Tesla, they are an ambitious bunch, so only chasing one record would not suffice. The main record would be the fastest EV, which is currently held by the Buckeye Bullet 3 which achieved an average speed of 341.264mph, which is the current record for the fastest EV.

The next record would be the fastest autonomous car. This record is currently held by the Roborace Robocar which hit 175mph. This should be an easy one to break, with a custom version of Autopilot where it would be designed to break this record.

The last record we can think of is the easiest one here, with it being the fastest production car. The record is currently held by the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ which hit an incredible 304.77mph.

The car

As you may know, Tesla are planning on releasing a next-generation Roadster which should come out in a few years, once the CYBERTRUCK is in production. The next Roadster should be a hypercar rivalling product with a top speed of over 250mph, a 0-60mph time of less than 2 seconds and a range of well over 600 miles. Already, this eclipses the McLaren Speedtail and worries the Bugatti Chiron. Oh, and all for an estimated price of $200,000.

Now, we aren’t engineers, physicians or designers but we do believe that given the right resources, the Roadster can break of the records as stated above. The entry level Roadster can already match the McLaren Speedtail in raw performance but we know it can be even faster.

We know that Plaid Mode is coming, which is the next step up from Ludicrous Mode. However, for this fantasy Roadster, we suspect there needs to be something even faster than Plaid Mode...Hyperdrive Mode anyone?

Record breaking specs

According to what we think is possible, the next gen Roadster is the perfect candidate for a Tesla land speed record breaking car. It needs to be as light as possible meaning stripping the car down to the bare essentials. We envision a fully stripped out interior, with a central driving position, a central infotainment screen only displaying the essentials and an all important rollcage.

The overall body can stay the same but it’ll need a fixed roof as it would improve safety, rigidity and would reduce drag. Lightweight materials would be essential, meaning heavy use of carbon fibre, magnesium and aerospace-grade aluminium.

Performance wise, we reckon the Roadster would have about 1300bhp in base guise but, for a record breaking car, the motors would need to be even more powerful, which would mean range has to be sacrificed. This is fine as the car would only have to do a few top speed runs, meaning a 600+ mile range is not needed.

As previously mentioned, the design can stay mostly the same as the normal version, but would have to be slightly longer, lower and wider to achieve the lostest drag coefficient as possible. The entire car would have to be more aerodynamic too, meaning a speed optimised bodykit, hidden rear wheels behind a cover and a cover on the front wheels, similar to the aforementioned McLaren Speedtail.

You may as well sell it too

The land speed record version of the Roadster would still have to be road legal too. This would be easy enough as you could sell it as a limited-run model celebrating the record, and limit production to a few hundred units at say, a million dollars.

Not only would it be a halo model but also a proof of concept that electric and autonomous technology has advanced to the point where a production car can beat purpose built land speed record machines. It would put Tesla at the number 1 spot again and get more people interested into the brand.

So Elon, please build this pipe dream of ours and smash those records.