400-Mile Battery Pack for the Tesla Roadster Runs $29,000

Tesla Roadster (Credit: © Tesla)

A while back, Tesla promised an upgraded battery for the now-discontinued Roadster. Today, the automaker has revealed most of the details surrounding this new battery, including its price tag, which is only slightly south of a base Mercedes CLA250.

The new battery pack will set buyers back a whopping $29,000. Before you begin griping about the price, Tesla claims that it will not make a profit on selling the battery to roadster owners. This price is a little higher than the same capacity pack for the Model S, but this is because the Roadster’s battery is hand-built at a volume that is lower than the Model S’ battery.

When the Roadster tapped out following the 2011 model year, its range was 245 miles, which was actually pretty incredible for the time. Tesla promises this battery will increase the Roadster’s range by 40 percent, putting it at about 400 miles.

While a 400-mile EV sports car is amazing, there are a few trade-offs. First, the new battery pack is slightly heavier than the original one. The other downside is that this battery still does not make the Roadster compatible with Tesla’s Supercharger network.

A few bits of info that Tesla left out was the charging time with this new battery and its warranty. With its standard battery, the Roadster took just 3.5 hours to charge on a 240-volt system, but I am sure this higher-capacity battery will take a good bit longer to top off. As for the warranty, I figure Tesla will offer something for it.

If you’re looking to get this upgraded battery, you’ll need to $5,000 deposit and Tesla will contact you once the battery is ready for installation.