After posting these engine internals, Mate Rimac was asked if Elon Musk’s claim that the Tesla Roadster will hit 60 mph in under a second is theoretically possible. In August 2022, the Nevera’s chief program engineer said the feat would be achieved someday but did not elaborate. Mate did, replying that simulations have already been carried out.
According to him, “it is possible with thrusters,” but these have a significant drawback: after 60 mph, the car is carrying around dead weight from tanks, valves, nozzles, and the compressor(s).
What about fans like the McMurtry Spierling? Mate says that “you need something like 30,000 Nm” (22,127 lb-ft of torque) on the wheels, which means “massive” motors, inverters, gearboxes, and driveshafts, among other things.
The feat has been achieved by students in a custom kart, but for road cars that people enjoy driving, it’s not feasible for acceleration to improve much more than it already has. The bottom line is that Rimac agrees with Musk – thrusters are the only practical way to get quicker. Whether the Tesla Roadster will actually have them remains to be seen.