Full Walkaround with Chief Designer of Tesla Roadster

Summary
MotorTrend’s Head of Editorial, Ed Loh, visits a SpaceX facility in McGregor, Texas, for an exclusive first walkaround of the redesigned next-generation Tesla Roadster alongside Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen. Franz walks through the new vehicle’s design philosophy, active aerodynamics, cabin interior, and multi-tier configurations ranging from base dual-motor models to fan-suction and SpaceX cold-gas thruster variants.

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What is shown

• [00:27] Unveiling of the redesigned white Tesla Roadster prototype in a studio setting.
• [06:29 – 07:27] Video demonstration of the Roadster driving up an over-vertical launch ramp, going airborne, firing cold-gas thrusters to pitch/level out over parked vehicles (including a Tesla Semi), and touching down.
• [11:28] Demonstration of pop-down hidden headlights retracting and opening into the bodywork alongside the full-width front daytime running light (DRL) bar.
• [12:43] Active aerodynamic surfaces on the front: hood ducts opening for airflow and radiator cooling, lower front wings, and wheel-well fender bargeboards.
• [17:58] Detailed view of the rear diffuser housing four cold-gas thruster nozzles and four underbody suction fans.
• [20:43] Opening of the rear hatch revealing a 200-liter carbon-overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV) compressed-gas tank and valve gate actuators repurposed from the Tesla Optimus humanoid robot.
• [22:31] Demonstration of dihedral opening doors and the multi-position biplane active rear wing shifting between high-downforce/airbrake mode and low-drag DRS mode.
• [26:43] Hidden charge port revealed beneath the deploying rear wing mechanism.
• [27:28 – 34:47] Interior cabin tour: lightweight bucket seats with fixed hip points and adjustable backrest angles, bottom-hinged racing pedals, steer-by-wire yoke, and center touchscreen showing track telemetry and aero mode controls.

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Claims & numbers

• Powertrain & Battery: Features a bespoke 115-kWh battery pack and a rear-wheel-drive twin-motor setup (presenter says).
• Configurations:
  • Base Roadster: Active aero, twin-motor RWD, targeted 0–60 mph in just over 1 second, and top speed around 220 mph (presenter says).
  • Performance: Adds an active underbody four-fan suction system with perimeter skirts able to generate downforce at 0 mph (presenter says).
  • Thrust Version: Adds a 200-liter COPV storing cold gas (compressed nitrogen/air) at up to 10,000 PSI with 4 rear nozzles; targeted 0–60 mph in ~0.8 seconds and top speed of 330 mph (presenter says).
  • Rocket Version: Adds a second 400-liter COPV in place of the passenger seat (600L total capacity, single-seater) with 6 additional thrusters (4 down-firing for lift/hover, 2 front for yaw control; 10 thrusters total) (presenter says).
• Weight Target: Aiming for under 1,700 kg (presenter says).
• Hardware Integration: Actuators controlling the thruster valves, seatbacks, and wing mechanisms repurpose components from the Tesla Optimus robot (presenter says).
• Autonomous Driving: Will include a limited version of Full Self-Driving (FSD) due to windshield rake and driver-centric positioning (presenter says).
• Release Timeline: Target delivery window is 2028; reservations are open, with extreme thruster versions potentially invite-only (presenter says).

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Notable quotes

• [04:03] “In the Performance, you add a fan suction system... trying to get to the limit of physics on grip.” — Franz von Holzhausen
• [08:24] “So we’re targeting, and we see, about 0.8 [seconds].” — Franz von Holzhausen
• [34:34] “We’re looking at 2028.” — Franz von Holzhausen

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Assessment

This is an authentic journalistic first-look prototype walkaround and executive interview produced by MotorTrend with Tesla’s chief designer. While the stationary concept vehicle, functional active aero surfaces, and interior software UI are demonstrated live in the studio, the airborne thruster maneuvers are shown via pre-recorded stunt footage, and all acceleration and top-speed benchmarks represent unverified manufacturer targets.

Described by gemini-3.8-flash on 2026-10-18 from the video’s audio and frames.