SpaceX option package for new Tesla Roadster will include small rocket thrusters | Hacker News Reader

SpaceX option package for new Tesla Roadster will include small rocket thrusters

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14 pointssidcool14 comments

Just watched a documentary on the original Tesla (Nikola). Got me wondering if Elon isn't actually a bit like him. A genius, but after his big home run with alternating current, Tesla became obsessed with wilder and wilder ideas that were impractical if not outright insane. He died alone and broke living in a hotel room.

Tesla saw the world in a fundamentally different way to his contemporaries. In a time of bankers and businessmen, he was a brilliant engineer and inventor. His "impractical" ideas were often labelled as such because Tesla wasn't interested in making a business except as a means to an end. That end being "free power".

I don't see Elon as a parallel to Tesla, if anything, I see him as Edison reborn.

The irony is palpable of course seeing as that creates a worldview where even in reincarnation, Edison is milking Tesla for all he's worth.

Except one of Elon's gifts is marketing and selling. Rocket boosters are a brilliant way to stay in the media and on top of everyone's mind.

Nikola Tesla was never a billionaire. Even of all of Elon's companies go bust, he'll not die broke.

There's not going to be rocket thrusters on the tesla roadster. Some things that the Elon says irritate me. I really really wish he wouldn't make twitter posts like this. Why does it bug me, maybe because I want him to be that shining saint on a hill for technology and science.

What else has he said that he didn't eventually do?

Bio-weapon defense mode?

Flamethrowers?

bioweapon defense mode seems to be a co2 sensor and autoswitch to internal air, plus a good filter. flamethrowers did end up getting created I guess (but they call them "not a flamethrower". I guess it could be like shooting nitro out the exhaust to make bigger flames or something. but there's no exhaust and no nitro on an ev.

For that performance, a steal at its pricepoint.

Keep in mind folks this new roadster will compete with hypercars, yet at a 1/5th or less of the price. Also...umm it’s a 4-seater that’ll smoke ANY exotic and still have cheap cost of ownership...do you know the fuel efficiency of gasoline cars that go over 250mph??

I only know a handful of people that pre-ordered this. Can anyone justify buying the Roadster over other cars in the same tier?

I love how fast it is and all these nifty features but I personally feel that the design is lacking compared to its competitors.

Why buy it over other cars in the same tier? Just buy all the cars in the same teir, so your garage can properly snapshot this moment in engineering history.

Tesla's are interesting cars, and iconic for this generation. That's why I like them. It's not a performance versus price equation. It's purely artistic drive.

Buy all the things! I never thought I would have a 100k car, yet there I went, stupidly (and joyfully?) spending my hard earned money on my S. The startup I'm in would have to IPO at a billion before I could imagine wasting 200k on one of those.

I think it's the coolness factor. It's about a futuristic car. Any person who can afford this car probably will buy it, mostly for the social status factor.

The same could be said of Tesla's other vehicles. A Tesla buyer has a different set of criteria than a Honda/Mercedes/Lamborghini buyer.

I don’t think people in the market for a $200,000+ car expect to justify their purchase to anyone on unemotional grounds.

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