All The Hype
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, Tesla’s launch of the all-new Roadster proves there’s much more. Apart from the striking Cybertruck-esque design, the headline for the new Tesla Roadster is the attention-grabbing rocket thrusters. Other articles have gone and done the nitty-gritty of the Tesla Roadster launch, but it seems Tesla wasn’t alone in wanting to make its cars defy gravity and sensibility.
A major automotive boss and brand has just gone on record claiming they, too, wanted to implement a very similar rocket-thruster feature on their cars. You wouldn’t believe which brand wanted to go down that road.
Flying Bugattis and Rimacs
Mate Rimac revealed that his team at Bugatti had discussed a similar idea with him. Entrelligence’s Instagram page published a post in which Rimac claims his team explored the rocket thruster idea years ago; specifically, he points to a 2019 email about ‘static downforce.’ He also said that in 2020, Rimac (the brand) investigated the idea of using ‘cold thrusters’ for the Nevera.
Rimac said that the ambition was to bring those ‘otherworldly’ technologies to the Nevera successor. These included the targets of giving the Nevera hyper acceleration and the ability to take flight. However, the team decided it couldn’t pursue all the technologies at once and instead focused its efforts on developing Bugatti’s next-generation hypercar and engine: the naturally aspirated V16 powering the Tourbillion.
Rimac
Ideas and Mutual Respect
Rimac didn’t go into detail about how extensive or deep the planned technologies were, and pointed out that these were ambitious ideas and goals rather than actual production features. He was also very impressed with Tesla’s engineers and ambition; he was genuinely enthusiastic, not dismissive, about the Tesla Roadster’s thrusters. He even pointed out that the difference between the Roadster’s and the Tourbillion’s approaches and engineering reveals a very exciting future for performance cars in general.
Tesla’s thrusters take inspiration from its sister company’s space program, specifically the SpaceX rocket’s cold-gas thruster system. The system replaces combustible fuel with pure compressed air, enabling ultra-high-pressure tanks to generate instant, massive propulsion. Tesla will sell the Roadster with the thruster technology, but major road and automotive regulators are still monitoring its legality and safety.
Tesla
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