Tesla says its all-new Roadster – an update to its first ever car – will be the fastest production vehicle in history. The four-seater sports car will cost $200,000 (£151,000) at launch
One Twitter user speculated that Tesla would use compressed air in the rocket boosters in order to keep its all-electric promise, and achieve the acceleration improvements touted by Musk.
The Tesla CEO confirmed the theory, tweeting in reply: ‘Using the config you describe, plus an electric pump to replenish air in COPV, when car power draw drops below max pack power output, makes sense. But we are going to go a lot further.’
COPV, or composite overwrapped pressure vessel, is a tank designed to hold a fluid under pressure.
The announcement of the rocket-boosted SpaceX option comes less than a week after Elon Musk confirmed a swathe of new features coming to Tesla vehicles during its annual shareholders meeting.
Musk confirmed plans to reduce charge times at Tesla Supercharger stations, promising three- or four-fold improvement for new vehicles, like the Roadster.
Tesla says its all-new Roadster, which starts shipping in 2020, will be the fastest production car ever built.
The $200,000 (£151,000) sports car is an updated version of the 2005 Roadster – the first car ever built by the electric car company.

Breaking new frontiers: The all-new Roadster will be able to travel 620 miles [1000 km] on a single charge

The first 1,000 of the new Roadsters will cost $250,000 each, paid in full up front, with later models starting at $200,000 and they will be available in 2020, Tesla claims.
During a recent shareholders meeting, Elon Musk revealed plans to reduce charge times at Tesla Supercharger stations, promising three- or four-fold improvement for newer vehicles, like the upcoming Roadster.
Powering the car is a 200 kilowatt hour battery pack. Musk claims drivers will be able to drive from LA to San Francisco, and back, at highway speed without recharging.
The all-new Roadster can travel 620 miles  on a single charge – a new record for an all-electric vehicle.

Powering the Tesla Roadster will be a 200 kilowatt hour battery pack. The car itself  can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour [0 to 100 km/h] in 1.9 seconds and boasts a top speed over 250mph (400 kph).
This would make it the quickest electric car ever sold to the public, beating the Chinese-made NIO EP9 all-electric hypercar, which has a top speed of 194 mph [310 kph].
It also makes the vehicle the fastest production car ever, with a 0 to 60 miles per hour acceleration quicker than any non-electric vehicles, including the record-breaking Bugatti Chiron, released this year.
It’s unclear whether the Roadster’s top speed was achieved using the so-called Space X option, or whether the rocket-assisted version of the vehicle will be even faster.
‘You’ll be able to travel from LA to San Francisco, and back, at highway speed without recharging,’ Elon Musk said during the launch event last November.
‘These numbers sound nutty, but they’re real. The point of doing this is to just give a hardcore smackdown to gasoline cars.
‘Driving a gasoline sports car is going to feel like a steam engine with a side of quiche.’
The first 1,000 cars will cost $250,000 each, paid in full up front, with later models starting at $200,000.
It will be available to the public in 2020.
Where does the Tesla roadster rank among the world’s top production electric cars?