Glossary
Short definitions for the terms used in the Roadster coverage.
Terms
Definitions follow the way the sources use each word.
- COPV
- A carbon-fibre overwrapped pressure vessel. Tesla has said these tanks fill the usable voids and store the gas for the thrusters.
- Cold-gas thruster
- A nozzle that releases stored gas, here described as nitrogen, without burning fuel.
- Rollout
- A 0–60 mph timing that starts after the car has already begun to move, rather than from a dead stop.
- Torque vectoring
- Speeding one driven wheel relative to the other. On this car it is described as a result of one motor per rear wheel and no differential.
- Planetary gearset
- The gear reduction described on each motor, given as 8.4:1.
- Active aero
- Body surfaces that move. Here that includes front leading edges, barge boards, a hood vent, and a rear wing.
- Barge board
- A panel described as popping out behind the front wheel, also said to cool the brakes.
- T-top
- A roof with removable glass panels, described as stowed in the trunk.
- By-wire
- Steering, braking, or throttle controlled by electrical signals rather than a mechanical linkage.
- 4680 cell
- The cylindrical cell format named for this pack, in a high-power chemistry with aluminium cans.
- V4 Supercharger
- The charger named with the peak rate of up to 500 kW.
- Track Mode
- A setting described as lowering the car 40 mm and making the suspension three times stiffer.