Next Tesla Roadster to be bigger, faster

The next Roadster won\'t arrive until 2019 at the earliest.

Tesla has shed insight into what we can expect from the next generation of the Roadster.

"It will look a little different, a little faster, and a little bigger," revealed Peter Bardenfleth-Hansen, Tesla's Nordic Countries Manager, during a recent presentation in Sweden.

That's not a lot to go on, but the pieces are starting to come together. We already know that the next-gen Roadster will ride on an evolution of the third-generation platform that's found under the upcoming Model 3, and that it won't be built with components sourced from the Lotus parts bin.

The next Roadster -- assuming the nameplate is retained -- is shaping up to be the fastest member of the Tesla lineup. Company boss Elon Musk previously suggested that the company's next sports will boast an acceleration mode called maximum plaid (a reference to the popular movie Spaceballs) that will be even wilder than the much-hyped ludicrous mode. Taken at face value, his comments indicate that the next Roadster will hit 60 mph from a stop in less than 2.8 seconds, a figure that will allow it to run alongside the world's quickest supercars.

Tesla is currently investing the bulk of its resources into launching the Model 3, so the Roadster isn't at the top of the company's list of priorities. Insiders suggest it's unlikely to arrive until 2019 at the very earliest.