A new Tesla patent application filed in August has been made public just a week before the second-generation Roadster’s Oct. 1 reveal and it may shed some light on the secretive car’s design.
It’s for a “Deployable and Active Rear Wing Assembly with Safety Features” and depicted in the accompanying drawings on what appears to be an alternate version of the Roadster concept that was revealed in 2017.
The multi-element wing is designed to sit flush and become part of the car’s integral body when stored, but can be extended and rotated to provide various levels of downforce when needed. The patent describes the mechanism in several ways with various electrical and hydraulic systems that move the wing into position.
In its most extreme mode, the wing sits far beyond the trailing edge of the body and high in the air. A system is incorporated into it that can quickly retract it upon impact if sensors detect a person or object is approaching.
The car in the sketches also has a large lower diffuser that the patent says the wing can work in conjunction with. Tesla had previously applied for a patent on a system with fans in a diffuser that actively create a low pressure area under the car by evacuating air, but the wing patent doesn’t mention that function.
Teaser images of the new Roadster that Tesla has released suggest it may have several of these features, along with a significantly different style from the original concept’s. A recent Roadster logo trademark application also includes a graphic that alters the profile of the vehicle.
The latest video that Tesla posted to social media shows just the front lighting element, which is a full-width bar similar to the one on the Cybertruck and not at all like the concept’s design.
The car will also be offered with a SpaceX cold gas thruster package that Elon Musk says will improve its acceleration and allow it to fly to some extent. This could explain why the car in the patent drawing is a coupe without a rear window, rather than a Roadster. The Roadster concept was a 2+2 with rear seats, but Musk has said that the rear seating area would be taken up by the tanks for the SpaceX option.
If you like what you see so far, Tesla has started taking Roadster reservations with $50,000 deposits, but has not yet said what the final price will be.
