Tesla’s next-generation Roadster uses a fan system under the car and, on some versions, cold-gas thrusters. Tesla says together they give grip, acceleration and even flight that tires alone could not. Almost every figure is a Tesla claim, and the accounts we read include no lap time or measured downforce number.
Fans and ground sealing
A fan system pulls air from beneath the car through a ground seal to create suction. Lars Moravy, Tesla’s vehicle engineering chief, said it can pull up to 2 Gs. Tesla says it can hold the car upside down even when stopped, unlike normal aerodynamic downforce, which depends on motion. One account says all three versions have it.
Wings and Track Mode
The Performance version also includes active wings and a Track Mode that lowers the ride height.
Cold-gas thrusters
Cold-gas thrusters push out compressed gas instead of burning fuel. Moravy described 10 thrusters connected to about 600 liters of compressed air, stored in carbon fiber wrapped pressure vessels, and one account says the tank can be recharged. Electric actuators make small adjustments to steady the car in the air. Tesla says the thruster system produces four to five times the force the tires can. The Thrust version has them at the rear, and the Rocket version has them around the edge of the car.
What is not proven
The accounts we read give no cornering force, lap time or measured downforce, and the demo showed the systems working in a staged event. One account says it is unclear whether owners will be allowed to use the car’s full capabilities. How the versions differ is covered in Tesla Roadster Has Three Trims: Performance, Thrust and Rocket.
Our take: fans and gas thrusters are known ideas. What is new is fitting them into a car people could buy and making them work every day. That is what a test lap and an independent drive would show, and neither has been published.
