Tesla patents ‘Electric Fan Car’ with 4 ducted fans ahead of Roadster reveal — SkimNews
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- Tesla was granted US Patent 12,746,987 B1 for an 'Electric Fan Car' using four axial fans in the rear diffuser that evacuate air from under the floor to create a 'suction region,' producing downforce independent of vehicle speed and feeding off the same high-voltage pack as the wheels.
- Tesla filed the patent in January 2024 with a provisional from January 17, 2023, listing eight inventors, seven of them based at Tesla's Hawthorne design studio in Los Angeles.
- The drawings depict a Model S — with its fastback roofline, taillights, lip spoiler, and door handles clearly visible — but Tesla ended Model S and Model X production in April after 14 years and is converting the Fremont line to Optimus production.
- This is Tesla's second fan car patent in just over a year, following an August 2025 filing for underbody fans with deployable skirts, and it comes alongside a recently patented hidden active rear wing rated for up to 700 kg of downforce drawn on what looks like the new Roadster.
- McMurtry's Spéirling, which uses similar fan technology off the main battery, already produces 2,000 kg of downforce at a standstill, smashed the all-time Goodwood hillclimb record in June 2022, drove upside down, and began production of the $1.36 million Spéirling PURE earlier this year.
- Tesla's design works without the skirts that McMurtry uses to seal the car to the ground, packaging fans into a normal-looking diffuser — though Electrek notes that without skirts, it is hard to see Tesla matching McMurtry's 2,000 kg figure.
- The Roadster demo has been pushed to October 15, blaming weather, with production now slated for '2027 or 2028' — giving Tesla two weeks to decide whether to show the fans in public or join the long list of Tesla patents that never ship.
Why it matters: With the Model S discontinued and only the Roadster left as a performance car, Tesla's accumulated fan and active-wing patents have one possible home — and the October 15 demo is now the only venue to prove any of it is real. McMurtry already sells a fan car making 2,000 kg of downforce, so Tesla's no-skirt design choice is the make-or-break packaging call for whether it can compete on track aero.
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