The New Tesla Roadster: Design Breakdown
This is the new Tesla Roaster. The next generation of the first car Tesla produced. In this article I’m going to go through a few of the design details with you in no specific order.
There’s no gap between the windshield and the hood. I don’t remember the last time I saw a car that didn’t have a gap here. In the press photos they remove the windshield wipers but there was a grey car at the event that had the wipers:
There are a few benefits to this setup. No gap between the hood and the windshield means less turbulence going over the car, helping it to reach a higher top speed. The wipers in a vertical position are common in race cars with high speeds because they create less drag compared to the horizontal position. Another thing to note is that the wipers are double hinged. It looks like they stay in the vertical position and don’t rotate much from the position of the hinges on the wiper and on the hood but the current design seems to not be the final one as it looks like the two hinges would collide if the wiper was activated.
The double bubble roof famously seen on Vipers helps with channeling the air and keeping the car straight at really high speeds. It also helps guide the air to the rear wings.
The wings on the back of the new Roadster are currently the only active aero in Tesla lineup. The Model X initially came with an active spoiler on the performance models but now they all come in a fixed position. I know that the Model 3 has vents under the front bumper that open and close to help with cooling of the battery, but I doubt they are used for aerodynamic purposes. Model S and X also have vents that only open when the battery needs cooling (while driving fast or supercharging) but stay closed to make the car more aerodynamic and provide better range in highway driving.
The Tesla name is on the back of the car with no Tesla logos just like the original Roadster. The Model S and X have the Tesla name on the chrome and the “T” logo on top of it, and the Model 3 only has the “T” logo.
The rear diffuser. Have you seen it? Look at it! It’s straight from a DTM race car! But you know… better looking. No hate for DTM cars but those are designed for performance only and we all know Tesla doesn’t make ugly cars.
The two flaps on each side are meant to reduce the turbulence caused by rear wheels. The two deviders going down the diffuser help guide clean air to the back and create a lot of downforce! This would be the best place for Tesla to place active aero features to reduce drag for high-speed runs and to create more downforce for curvy roads and to help with braking.
Another sign of great consistency in the Tesla design language is visible in the rear reflector lights. The Model S and X even look like they have smaller versions of the same diffuser on the Roadster!
I think Franz (Chief Designer at Tesla) misses working at Mazda. Those thin floating tail lights are just screaming Furai to me. And just like the Furai (a car design years ahead of its time) the lines on the light are integrated into one of the main design lines of the body and they continue up to the rear wheel arches.
If you had any doubts looking at this car from behind that it was a Tesla, even with the badge removed, you can still recognise it by the bottom portion of the tail lights which is not a signature Tesla design element. It’s interesting to see how this very simple yet now iconic element in the design is evolving.
There’s so much more that I want to talk about but it’s getting late and I have to wake up early tomorrow to donate blood. (#HumbleBrag) I’ll continue this with a part 2 if there’s interest. Let me know what you thought!
Edit: Typos. Thank you Allison and u/failbye
Edit 2: Fixed the active aero part with more accurate information. Thank you u/sdoorex and u/IWasToldTheresCake from reddit for the information.
