Tesla Roadster 2.5 – Goodwood Reveal

The Tesla Roadster 2.5 - Goodwood Reveal

Of course, if it was going to happen anywhere it was going to happen at Goodwood – the centre of the car universe this week. Which is where Tesla chose to launch the latest iteration of its electric Lotus – the Tesla Roadster 2.5.

We think this is actually the fourth version of the Tesla Roadster since it first arrived on our roads – which means there’s a facelift every 250 cars or so. This one gets the California special, with a new nose and a lifted bum and we expect it will be enough to see Tesla’s only model through to the all new Tesla Roadster due in 2013 – after the launch of the Tesla Model S.

It looks a bit like Tesla are trying to tweak the Roadster to give it a family theme, as the new grill looks like that on the Model S. The back gets a diffuser in its new bumper, although whether it does anything or is just for show we don’t know.

Inside the seats get a tweak and Tesla say the materials used are more premium, which the should be in a £100k car. But why, when the Tesla is as Californian as it gets – and is more like a silicon valley software company than a car maker – does it choose Goodwood to launch?

Well apart from the fact that Goodwood is Supercar heaven, Tesla points out that the Roadster is a good tax bet in the UK as companies can claim full writing down allowance in year one. So in theory you could grab a Tesla Roadster for half price if you’re in the new 50% tax bracket. And there’s no BIK costs for electric cars either.

Stacked deck?

By Cars UK