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Tesla’s next-gen roadster to take spotlight on upcoming episode of Jay Leno’s Garage
The next-generation Tesla Roadster is coming to Jay Leno’s Garage for this Thursday’s upcoming episode. A preview of the all-electric supercar’s segment was teased on CNBC this Friday, which featured the iconic talk show host talking about the next-gen Roadster with Tesla’s Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen.
This would not be the first time that the veteran talk show host would feature a Tesla in his show. Leno also did a pretty extensive segment on the Tesla Model S back in 2012, where he discussed the design, performance, and features of the electric family sedan. Franz von Holzhausen also joined the veteran talk show host then, providing a background on the development and capabilities of the Model S.
The next-generation Roadster is Tesla’s upcoming halo car, a vehicle designed to showcase the ultimate capabilities of the company. Elon Musk shocked the automotive world with the specs of the supercar when it was unveiled last year, with its 0-60 mph time of 1.9 seconds, top speed of over 250 mph, 200 kWh battery, and range of 620 miles per charge. Inasmuch as these figures are nothing short of insane, Musk mentioned during the unveiling, and in subsequent tweets over the past few months, that these specs were actually true of the next-gen Roadster’s base model. Considering that there will also be a “SpaceX option package” for the vehicle, there is a very good chance that the specs Tesla announced last year for the all-electric supercar were actually conservative.
The next-gen Roadster is expected to start production sometime in 2020, but Elon Musk has already been dropping some hints about the vehicle’s capabilities every so often. A recent interview with noted YouTube tech reviewer Marques Brownlee, better known as MKBHD, saw Elon Musk discussing several aspects of the Roadster, including its lack of side mirrors, its space, and its range. Musk even addressed the company’s Track Mode, which is set to make a debut on the Model 3 Performance.
One of the things that surprised people with the next-gen Roadster was its 200 kWh battery, particularly since its 620-mile range is pretty much unheard of in an electric car of its class. Even the Rimac C_Two, an upcoming all-electric hypercar that costs $2.1 million, is listed with a 400-mile range — roughly 35% less than the range of the next-gen Roadster. Musk noted in his interview that the next-gen Roadster’s 620-mile range could be accomplished even with the company’s current technology, though it would likely increase the volume of the Model S P100D’s battery pack by 80%.
More details about the next-gen Tesla Roadster would most likely be revealed in the upcoming episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, particularly since the veteran talk show host has been largely supportive of Tesla over the years. Back in 2016, Leno noted in a segment on CNBC that Americans should be supportive of the California-based company.
“We live in a world now where every year, you lose about 5% of the new car companies. In the mid-teens, there were 350 car companies in the United States. Every year since then, two or three of them dropped out. I mean, just in my lifetime, we’ve lost Oldsmobile, we’ve lost Pontiac, we’ve lost Saturn. There’s a whole bunch that just disappeared.
“So here comes a brand new car company, so that’s impressive. It’s a tough business to get into; and the fact that Tesla is making a go of it and quite successfully, I think is impressive and should be applauded. We’re becoming like the British — we like noble failures. I would watch, listen to these radio talk shows just tear Tesla apart; and I go, ‘Here’s a guy, building an American car in America, using American labor. Why are you not rooting for it to be successful? Why do you wish it would fail?’ I don’t quite understand.”
Watch a preview of the next-gen Roadster’s segment in the upcoming episode of Jay Leno’s Garage in the video below.
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Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
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Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
Tesla plans to supply over 100 Megapack units to support a large stationary storage project in Japan, making it one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities.
Tesla’s Megapack grid-scale batteries have been selected to back an energy storage project in Japan, coming as the latest of the company’s continued deployment of the hardware.
As detailed in a report from Nikkei this week, Tesla plans to supply 142 Megapack units to support a 548 MWh storage project in Japan, set to become one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities. The project is being overseen by financial firm Orix, and it will be located at a facility Maibara in central Japan’s Shiga prefecture, and it aims to come online in early 2027.
The deal is just the latest of several Megapack deployments over the past few years, as the company continues to ramp production of the units. Tesla currently produces the Megapack at a facility in Lathrop, California, though the company also recently completed construction on its second so-called “Megafactory” in Shanghai China and is expected to begin production in the coming weeks.
READ MORE ON TESLA MEGAPACKS: Tesla Megapacks help power battery supplier Panasonic’s Kyoto test site
Tesla’s production of the Megapack has been ramping up at the Lathrop facility since initially opening in 2022, and both this site and the Shanghai Megafactory are aiming to eventually reach a volume production of 10,000 Megapack units per year. The company surpassed its 10,000th Megapack unit produced at Lathrop in November.
During Tesla’s Q4 earnings call last week, CEO Elon Musk also said that the company is looking to construct a third Megafactory, though he did not disclose where.
Last year, Tesla Energy also had record deployments of its Megapack and Powerwall home batteries with a total of 31.4 GWh of energy products deployed for a 114-percent increase from 2023.
Other recently deployed or announced Megapack projects include a massive 600 MW/1,600 MWh facility in Melbourne, a 75 MW/300 MWh energy storage site in Belgium, and a 228 MW/912 MWh storage project in Chile, along with many others still.
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
Tesla highlights the Megapack site replacing Hawaii’s last coal plant
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Elon Musk responds to Ontario canceling $100M Starlink deal amid tariff drama
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said, opens new tab on February 3 that he was “ripping up” his province’s CA$100 million agreement with Starlink in response to the U.S. imposing tariffs on Canadian goods.
Elon Musk company SpaceX is set to lose a $100 million deal with the Canadian province of Ontario following a response to the Trump administration’s decision to apply 25 percent tariffs to the country.
Starlink, a satellite-based internet service launched by the Musk entity SpaceX, will lose a $100 million deal it had with Ontario, Premier Doug Ford announced today.
Starting today and until U.S. tariffs are removed, Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts.
Every year, the Ontario government and its agencies spend $30 billion on procurement, alongside our $200 billion plan to build Ontario. U.S.-based businesses will…
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) February 3, 2025
Ford said on X today that Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts:
“We’ll be ripping up the province’s contract with Starlink. Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy. Canada didn’t start this fight with the U.S., but you better believe we’re ready to win it.”
It is a blow to the citizens of the province more than anything, as the Starlink internet constellation has provided people in rural areas across the globe stable and reliable access for several years.
Musk responded in simple terms, stating, “Oh well.”
Oh well https://t.co/1jpMu55T6s
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025
It seems Musk is less than enthused about the fact that Starlink is being eliminated from the province, but it does not seem like all that big of a blow either.
As previously mentioned, this impacts citizens more than Starlink itself, which has established itself as a main player in reliable internet access. Starlink has signed several contracts with various airlines and maritime companies.
It is also expanding to new territories across the globe on an almost daily basis.
With Mexico already working to avoid the tariff situation with the United States, it will be interesting to see if Canada does the same.
The two have shared a pleasant relationship, but President Trump is putting his foot down in terms of what comes across the border, which could impact Americans in the short term.
Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
