Elon Musk: New Tesla Roadster Will Have 400 Mile Range

Tesla Motors didn’t take the holidays off. The California-based electric car company used Christmas as an opportunity to seize the spotlight. Instead of putting off all major announcements until till after the New Year year, Tesla unleashed a major detail about the new Roadster via Twitter.

Near the end of Christmas Day, Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, tweeted out the staggering announcement. Musk’s tweet read, “Roadster upgrade will enable non-stop travel from LA to SF — almost 400 mile range. Details tmrw. Merry Christmas!” According to Google Maps, that’s a distance of 381 miles. If the new Roadster can truly travel that nearly 400 miles on a single charge, that would equal a significant upgrade in the electric car arena. According to the Tesla website, the current Roadster has a listed 245 mile range. To increase the range to 400 miles makes that vehicle a whole new monster. It also surpasses the range of the current Tesla Model S 85 kWh sedan, which sports an EPA-approved range of 265 miles. However, both the 245-mile range for the roadster and that of the Model S are based on freeway travel at 55 miles per hour. If drivers propel themselves faster than a modest freeway speed, their range will of course, be reduced.

Musk’s tweet also mentioned more details; perhaps a range upgrade is going to occur across the entire Tesla fleet? That’s not going to happen anytime soon. A follow-up tweet by Musk extinguished any notion that he will upgrade the Model S range in the near future. After his tweet about the roadster, Musk tweeted, “Should mention that a battery pack upgrade is not coming soon for the Model S, but it obviously *will* happen long-term.” What long-term means and how much of an upgrade the Model S receives is not known currently, however, if Tesla vehicles have more range, it means less reliance on Tesla’s network of free Supercharger stations. According to the Tesla website, the Supercharger network will allow motorists “coast-to-coast” travel. That network is setup to accommodate the range currently available in Tesla vehicles. Drivers are theoretically able to get from coast-to-coast by stopping at strategically placed charging stations. Depending on the discipline of the driver, long-range trips are possible with those timely charges, however, Tesla is clearly open to trying something new.

We told you last week that Tesla is piloting a new battery swap program. Under this initiative, instead of simply charging a battery, Model S drivers can swap out their battery for one, which is fully charged. The process is expected to take around three minutes in practice, compared to one-minute and twenty seconds as demonstrated at a public event. That announcement took place last week. Just days later Tesla has indicated that the future of their feet includes nearly double the current range. The Tesla website explains that their Supercharger station network currently covers 80 percent of the U.S.A. That number is expected to reach 98 percent of the country by sometime in 2015. What will the planned expansion of the Tesla network mean for the future of retail automotive?

It could mean stiffer competition. For one thing, Tesla vehicles could be improving year by year. The most recent Elon Musk Twitter announcement was related to the range of a Tesla vehicle. What if the next one was related to the price? What if the much anticipated Tesla Model III eventually does $35,000 with a range of 300 miles? That vehicle could prove to be a great competitor to the luxury brands such as Audi, BMW and Lexus. However, that vehicle doesn’t yet exist. It is not currently more than a goal and is completely reliant upon success from Tesla Motors Gigafactory, which is still under construction in Nevada.

Tesla has made another announcement, and grabbed headlines. Are they going to be able to live up to their own hype? Do you think Tesla will be able to price their Model III below $40,000? If Tesla Motors ever joined the ranks of franchise dealerships, would you want to sell Tesla vehicles at your store?