Photo: Tesla
The next-generation Tesla Roadster is projected to become the next Cybertruck, with new design goals added on the fly and repeated delays. In a rare update, Elon Musk confirmed that the next Roadster deliveries are again pushed back to at least 2025, while the EV maker is making some last-minute changes set to make the Roadster "the most mind-blowing product demo of all time."
If Tesla and Elon Musk taught us anything, it's that product timelines are as fluid as hot water. Nothing is as it seems, and everything is up for debate until the very last minute. For the past couple of years, the Cybertruck was the product that was announced only to be continuously updated, improved, or simply changed, with features added or taken away. First unveiled to the public in 2019, the Cybertruck arrived four years later when nobody thought it was anything but vaporware.
However fresh the Cybertruck is in the collective memory, another Tesla model fares even worse in this regard: the next-generation Roadster. The first prototype of the Roadster 2.0 was shown in 2017 at the end of the Tesla Semi event, but Elon Musk teased a second-generation Roadster as soon as the OG model ended production in 2011. The first deadline was ambitious, with the new Roadster set to debut in 2014. Still, when the prototype was shown in 2017, Musk said a production model might arrive in 2020.
Since then, production dates have been pushed back year by year, up to the point when Tesla executives admitted the Roadster was no longer a priority. That's too bad for people who placed a $50,000 deposit to secure their Roadster. Even today, you can place a deposit for a Roadster if you have nothing better to do with your $50K. Deliveries are just around the corner, as Elon Musk informed us in a rare update about the Roadster. The only problem? Musk promised before the Roadster would start production in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and, now, 2025. This makes the Cybertruck a poster child for timely vehicle development.
Although you might think you know everything about the next-generation Tesla Roadster, make no mistake: just like the Cybertruck, the Roadster might end up very differently. The same, but different. But still the same, right? Now that the Tesla patriarch has finally turned his face towards the new Roadster, things will get wild. The design might not change very much, but everything else will. As Musk announced, Tesla "radically increased the design goals for the new Tesla Roadster."
Only Elon Musk and a few people around him know what that means, but he promised: "There will never be another car like this, if you could even call it a car." Tesla is still expected to work with SpaceX for some mind-blowing space thrusters. Still, the Roadster's acceleration goal is no longer 1.1 seconds. Now it's "under one sec," and that is the least interesting part, as Musk promised. As with many other mind-blowing things Tesla is working on (including every iteration of the FSD Beta software), the next-generation Roadster is also set to become "the most mind-blowing product demo of all time."
And this means literally anything is on the table, including flying. Remember how the Cybertruck was touted at some time as being capable of "serving briefly as a boat?" Well, don't act surprised if the Roadster will be able "to fly a little." Musk indicated that he's at least considering this possibility. Hopefully, this doesn't mean more delays. As it stands now, the Roadster should be ready for debut by the end of 2024, with the first units delivered next year.
However fresh the Cybertruck is in the collective memory, another Tesla model fares even worse in this regard: the next-generation Roadster. The first prototype of the Roadster 2.0 was shown in 2017 at the end of the Tesla Semi event, but Elon Musk teased a second-generation Roadster as soon as the OG model ended production in 2011. The first deadline was ambitious, with the new Roadster set to debut in 2014. Still, when the prototype was shown in 2017, Musk said a production model might arrive in 2020.
Since then, production dates have been pushed back year by year, up to the point when Tesla executives admitted the Roadster was no longer a priority. That's too bad for people who placed a $50,000 deposit to secure their Roadster. Even today, you can place a deposit for a Roadster if you have nothing better to do with your $50K. Deliveries are just around the corner, as Elon Musk informed us in a rare update about the Roadster. The only problem? Musk promised before the Roadster would start production in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and, now, 2025. This makes the Cybertruck a poster child for timely vehicle development.
Although you might think you know everything about the next-generation Tesla Roadster, make no mistake: just like the Cybertruck, the Roadster might end up very differently. The same, but different. But still the same, right? Now that the Tesla patriarch has finally turned his face towards the new Roadster, things will get wild. The design might not change very much, but everything else will. As Musk announced, Tesla "radically increased the design goals for the new Tesla Roadster."
Only Elon Musk and a few people around him know what that means, but he promised: "There will never be another car like this, if you could even call it a car." Tesla is still expected to work with SpaceX for some mind-blowing space thrusters. Still, the Roadster's acceleration goal is no longer 1.1 seconds. Now it's "under one sec," and that is the least interesting part, as Musk promised. As with many other mind-blowing things Tesla is working on (including every iteration of the FSD Beta software), the next-generation Roadster is also set to become "the most mind-blowing product demo of all time."
And this means literally anything is on the table, including flying. Remember how the Cybertruck was touted at some time as being capable of "serving briefly as a boat?" Well, don't act surprised if the Roadster will be able "to fly a little." Musk indicated that he's at least considering this possibility. Hopefully, this doesn't mean more delays. As it stands now, the Roadster should be ready for debut by the end of 2024, with the first units delivered next year.
Tesla/SpaceX collab
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 28, 2024
I think it has a shot at being the most mind-blowing product demo of all time
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 28, 2024
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 28, 2024
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