Tesla Roadster manufacturing has been pushed again once more
The second-generation Tesla Roadster — the all-electric sports activities automobile that made a splashy and shock debut in November 2017 — will “hopefully” go into manufacturing subsequent yr, CEO Elon Musk mentioned Tuesday on the firm’s annual shareholder assembly in Austin, Texas.
Emphasis on hopefully.
The Roadster, which initially was supposed to return to market in 2020, has been repeatedly delayed over time because the high-priced sports activities automobile took a backseat to different Tesla merchandise, together with the Mannequin 3 and Mannequin Y autos.
Musk mentioned, in response to a query from a shareholder, that the corporate expects to finish the engineering and design of the Roadster in 2023.
“This isn’t a dedication, however hopefully we’ll begin manufacturing subsequent yr,” Musk mentioned, calling the Roadster the “cherry on the icing on the cake.”
“It’s positively not going to be an enormous contributor to income,” he added. “It will likely be a modest contributor to profitability, however it will likely be sick.”
Picture Credit: Darrell Etherington
The unique Tesla Roadster, the corporate’s first EV, debuted in 2006 and went into manufacturing in 2008. About 2,400 of the low quantity, high-priced EVs have been offered. Whereas the Roadster put Tesla on the map, it will be Tesla Mannequin S, the next quantity luxurious car that went into manufacturing in 2012, that might turn into a prime vendor.
The second-generation Tesla Roadster made a shock debut through the firm’s Tesla Semi occasion in November 2017. On the time, the corporate mentioned the Roadster would have the ability to journey from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 1.9-second and have a beginning worth of $200,000. The primary 1,000 Founder’s Sequence fashions have been anticipated to begin at $250,000.
Tesla provided attendees on the 2017 occasion a journey within the Roadster in the event that they dropped $50,000, cash that might be used as a deposit. Quite a lot of took the corporate up on the supply.
Since then, Musk has upped the ante — or the specs — on the yet-to-be produced Roadster. In 2018, he tweeted that the Roadster could be provided with a SpaceX choice bundle that can embody 10 small rocket thrusters.
Two years later, he talked about the SpaceX choice once more after somebody visiting the Peterson Museum in Los Angeles observed a plaque beneath the next-gen Roadster that acknowledged “0-60 mph in 1.1 seconds.” On the time, Musk tweeted that “it will likely be protected, however very intense. In all probability not smart for these with a medical situation – identical as a hardcore curler coaster.”
SpaceX choice got here up once more through the 2023 shareholder’s assembly.
“You already know, there’s some worth to me operating two firms as a result of the following gen Roadster may have the SpaceX choice bundle that can make it actually subsequent stage,” he mentioned.
