With all the acclaim and news surrounding the Model S and it came as a bit of a surprise to see Elon Musk’s tweet regarding an update to the Tesla Roadster. Apparently, an owner of the 2-door sports car got a bit frustrated with the lack of updates and took to twitter to send a message to Musk. Tesla’s CEO’s reply simply read, “new Roadster battery should complete safety validation by end of July, so likely available in August.”
The upgrade is an actual physical change of hardware designed to extend the car’s range. It is expected that the new battery will be rated at 70kWh and store about 30% more energy despite having the same dimensions. There’s also a new aerodynamic bodykit in the works, which will reportedly improve the Roadster’s coefficient of drag by Cd 0.05, bringing it down to Cd 0.31.
Though the Elise-based Roadster was released over 7 years ago and lives in the shadow of its more practical and exciting big-brother, it’s nice to see Tesla still give it the attention it’s due.
