Whenever you consider a Tesla, I am prepared to wager a Model 3, a Model Y or perhaps even a Cybertruck involves thoughts. You would be forgiven in the event you’ve forgotten in regards to the Roadster.
The Tesla Roadster was the primary automobile from Elon Musk’s firm, produced between 2008 and 2012. It has been a very long time since then, and virtually as lengthy since Tesla first confirmed off the next-gen Roadster at a launch occasion in 2017. It was a formidable unveiling: CNET’s Tim Stevens wrote that the automobile “blew our minds.” However virtually a decade later, those that preordered the sporty electric car are nonetheless ready for it to reach.
Now we now have a brand new promise from Musk about when the Roadster 2 will — might? — really arrive.
This was the unique Tesla Roadster. It appears to be like so much completely different from the next-gen model unveiled in 2017. Who is aware of the way it’ll evaluate with the model we’d see in April 2026.
Musk shared an replace in regards to the Roadster on the 2025 Tesla Shareholders Meeting final week. (Yeah, that was the identical assembly the place shareholders accepted a possible trillion-dollar pay package for Musk.)
Based on Musk, we’ll get to see the new-look, next-gen Tesla Roadster at an occasion on April 1, 2026. That is proper: April Fools’ Day. However Musk says he is critical.
“The product unveil of the Roadster 2, which can be very completely different than what we have proven beforehand, that demo occasion can be April 1 of subsequent yr,” Musk mentioned, then waffled: “I’ve some deniability as a result of I can say I used to be simply kidding.”
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He then waffled some extra. “However we are literally tentatively aiming for April 1, for what I feel would be the most fun, whether or not it really works or not, demo of any product. After which I assume manufacturing might be about 12-18 months after that. I feel manufacturing is a couple of yr or so after that.”
That could be thrilling for purchasers who put down a deposit a few years in the past. However many Tesla homeowners, myself included, may wrestle to consider it. In any case, simply final week, Musk mentioned on the Joe Rogan Experience {that a} demo would occur by the tip of this yr.
Tesla Roadster 2 timeline
This newest timeline stretches out an already prolonged sequence of delays. After the unique reveal in 2017, the brand new Roadster was purported to arrive in 2020. Preorders opened (and are nonetheless open) and clients paid deposits for the electrical sports activities automobile. That deadline slipped repeatedly, to 2021, then 2022, and roughly each subsequent yr.
Based mostly on what Musk mentioned Thursday, here is the timeline forward of us: Unveiling subsequent yr, fingers crossed. Precise automobile you should buy, perhaps 2027 or 2028?
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What to make of Musk’s ideas on the upcoming demo (“whether or not it really works or not”) and the automobile itself (“very completely different than what we have proven beforehand”)? They elevate two questions for me:
- Is it nonetheless a automobile?
- Ought to Founders’ Sequence reservation holders, who shelled out $250,000 again in 2017, be nervous?
The Roadster has all the time been positioned as Tesla’s halo automobile: an all-electric, high-performance machine designed to showcase the model’s engineering prowess. However at this level its position has turn into much less clear.
There are the loosey-goosey guarantees that the automobile has a “shot” at flying, may acquire rocket boosters as a part of a SpaceX possibility package deal, and can embody crazier expertise than James Bond vehicles. There’s the paradox over Tesla’s patent for a “fan car” system meant to boost grip by means of aerodynamic innovation. No matter it provides as much as, its objective — and whether or not it’ll really be street authorized — stays a thriller.
We’re virtually a decade on from the next-gen Tesla Roadster’s unveiling, and so much continues to be unsure.
As a Tesla Model Y owner, I stay impressed by the corporate’s capacity to ship software-driven, forward-thinking autos. I even suppose that, regardless of the Roadster’s points, the Tesla model and Musk as CEO are performing nicely within the EV market. Nonetheless, it is onerous to not be cautious with the Roadster. After so many delays and so few particulars, expectations have to be balanced by realism.
If the ultimate product lives as much as the hype — and I hope it does — it may reaffirm Tesla’s place on the forefront of automotive innovation. However first, it must exist.
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