Elon Musk Says Tesla Roadster Will Be Fastest, Best Sports Car in Every Single Way

Unveiled almost a year ago, Tesla promises the Roadster will achieve performance benchmarks unattainable by current internal combustion vehicles. Zero-to-60 in 1.9 seconds, a standing quarter mile in 8.8 seconds, and a top speed well in excess of 250 mph. It won't shortchange on range, either, with its 200-kilowatt-hour battery offering up to 600 miles on a single charge.

"We've got the next-generation Roadster, which will be the fastest sports car on every dimension," Musk told Recode. "Fastest acceleration, fastest top speed, best handling. It's important to have an electric sports car that's faster than the fastest gasoline sports car. And it helps address that halo effect that gasoline sports cars have. So I think it's important to do that to show that, you know, electric is the best architecture."

Musk's grandiose claims regarding the Tesla Roadster have been met with skepticism by many within the industry, though hypercar designer and engineer Christian von Koenigsegg isn't among them. The Swede admitted that Musk's performance claims are possible, and sees a way that Koenigsegg could combat the Tesla Roadster's overwhelming speed.

Tesla will have another challenger from within its own field, however, as styling house Pininfarina is developing its own electric supercar. Called the PF0, Pininfarina promises that its car will too be capable of 0-to-60 in under two seconds, and a top speed beyond 250. Is that enough to keep pace with the rocket-assisted version of the Tesla Roadster about which Musk has joked? Probably not, but until we see either of them tearing down an airstrip, they're vaporware to us.