Bugatti CEO throws cold water on Elon Musk’s new Tesla promise and warns EVs will be ‘carrying a lot of dead weight’
BUGATTI’S CEO has challenged Elon Musk’s claims of the refreshed Tesla Roadster reaching 60 mph from zero in under one second.
He said that several changes would need to be made, otherwise, it’s very unlikely.
Elon Musk announced last week via a vague post on X, formerly Twitter, that the newly redesigned and overhauled Tesla Roadster would go from zero to 60 mph in under a second.
“0-60 mph < 1 sec,” the EV giant wrote.
“And that is the least interesting part.”
The Tesla Roadster is the vehicle that put the company on the man during the early 2000s – and the company is bringing it back to life in the form of an eyebrow-raising sports EV that’s captured the attention of millions in the industry.
Currently, the only EV that can boast a similar zero to 60 time is the Nevera, an EV sports car designed by Bugatti Rimac.
The Rimac Nevera was timed last year by Road & Track magazine with a time of 1.71 seconds.
With that time, the Nevera holds the record for the fastest acceleration time of any EV.
Mate Rimac came across Musk’s claims of the blistering acceleration time, and couldn’t help but take note of the flaws that may compromise that time.
“It is possible with thrusters,” Rimac wrote as a response on Facebook.
“The problem is, you release the air in 2-3 seconds, and then you have a lot of dead weight that you are carrying around (tanks, compressor, valves, nozzles, etc.).”
The problem, Rimac continued to imply, was that the Roadster has a weight problem as of right now, saying that the “massive” equipment and weight would make that time nearly impossible.
Aside from the design critiques, Musk confirmed that the design was complete for the new Roadster, with a full debut scheduled for the end of this year.
“I think [the debut] has a shot at being the most mind-blowing product demo of all time,” Musk wrote on his X profile.
Shipping is said to begin for the first production models early next year.