The comparison to Iron Man is common.

Photograph: Mark Brake/Getty Images

It is things like the shock launch of the Roadster supercar yesterday that give Tesla CEO Elon Musk a cult like following across the world.

Musk was there to launch the Tesla Semi, the prototype of the company's first electric big-rig truck.

Electric trucks are Tesla's newest effort -- after electric cars, solar roofs and power storage -- to move the world away from fossil fuels. And the Tesla Semi is an impressive first.

According to the company, it can accelerate to 60 miles per hour in 5 seconds, and reach that speed in 20 seconds hauling a maximum 80,000 pound load. This means it is must faster than a traditional diesel truck!

It also has a 500-mile (800 km) range.

But then Musk opened the Tesla Semi's trailer and out came the Roadster -- or what Musk described as 'the fastest production car ever'!

The latest Tesla car is capable of going from 0-60 mph in 1.9 seconds, 'the first such car ever to break the two second mark', according to the entrepreneur.

It will also 'climb from 0 to 100 mph in 4.2 seconds' and 'clear a quarter mile in 8.9 seconds.'

'This will the first time that any production car has broken 9 seconds in the quarter mile,' Musk said

And that's not the only new record. The Tesla Roadster has a 200 kilowatt hour battery pack, which will give it a range of 620 miles (1,000 km) on a single charge.

'The point of doing this is to give a hardcore smackdown to gasoline cars,' Musk said. 'Driving a gasoline sports car is going to feel like a steam engine with a side of quiche.'

Musk's fans on the internet, predictably, went berserk.