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Elon Musk has seen his company in the spotlight a lot lately after a series of controversial tweets culminating in his announcement a few days ago that Tesla might go private. For Tesla aficionados, though, none of this really matters. As the deadline for the reveal of the new Tesla Roadster draws near, enthusiasts are eager to spot any news about its upcoming features.
The Tesla Roadster 2020 is looking like the new flagship vehicle of the company, after the famous Model S, 3 and X. The new vehicle is set to launch in 2020 and will be able to reach 60 mph in just 1.9 seconds and 100 mph in just 4.2 seconds, while it will be able to go over 250 mph and drive for roughly 620 miles with a single charge. The base price will be $200,000. Tesla is a forerunner in the field of electric cars, which many regard as the future. Their current focus on Model 3 seems to have paid off, as it has crushed the competition. For instance, in July 2018, it sold 16,000 units, whereas BMW’s 2, 3, 4 and 5 Series sold a combined 12,811, Mercedes luxury models sold 11,835 units, Audi’s reached 9,282 and Lexus a decent 4,382 cars.
Tesla is also highly invested in developing autonomous technology, although it seems that these vehicles still have a long way to go to reach full operational autonomy. One of the biggest concerns for self-driving cars is the possibilities they open up for hackers, and if you have an understanding what malware is then you can easily understand why.
Self-driving cars like Tesla rely on software and updates to function autonomously, which means that if cyber-criminals dispatch malicious software that successfully infiltrates the system exploiting its vulnerabilities, it could lead to data theft, crippling of the driving system, or even taking control of the vehicle. The popularity of ransomware-type attacks online could come to such cars too, with criminals locking them to owners until the owner pays “ransom” to regain access. Perhaps some of the resources that would have made the new Roadster 2020 available sooner had to be directed towards working on the self-driving technology that will power Tesla cars in the near future.
So far, the future seems bright as everyone is concentrating on the modern design details of the Roadster 2020. From a tweet shared on August 11th, Elon Musk announced that the production design of the new model will be better, particularly when it comes to the details.
The exterior of the prototype unveiled last year was visually striking, and its interior did not stay behind by any measures. With a steering wheel that indicated to its Formula 1 counterpart, a center screen and smooth overall design, the interior left many Tesla devotees happier than anticipated.
Even though that was the concept vehicle and Musk clarified that their funding priorities are currently set elsewhere, he did promise a “better” production design. After all, he has been speaking about a “spaceship” interior for a while now; suggesting recently that the new Roadster 2020 would have “rocket thrusters”.
It is very optimsitic that as we move nearer to the unveiling date, more and more details about the Roadster’s design will be discovered; and, as the concept model suggests, we are looking forward to some amazing things.
Tags: Autonomous Technology
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