A second-generation Tesla Roadster was originally planned for production in 2020, but that deadline came and went, and since then Tesla CEO Elon Musk has managed to announce a new date almost every year.
His latest announcement came on Tuesday during Tesla's annual shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas, where Musk said the new Roadster would start production in 2024 but stressed that the new deadline wasn't a promise.
"We expect to complete the engineering and design of the next-gen Tesla Roadster this year and hopefully—this is not a commitment—start production next year," he said in response to a question about the long-delayed electric sports car.
When it unveiled the car in 2017, Tesla quoted a 0-60 mph time of 1.9 seconds, a 0-100 mph time of 4.2 seconds, and a top speed of 250 mph. A 200-kwh battery pack would provide 620 miles of range, Tesla said at the time. As if that wasn't ambitious enough, Musk later mused about adding rockets to improve performance.
2020 Tesla Roadster
Tesla at the 2017 reveal said pricing would start at $200,000 for the standard Roadster, and at $250,000 for a limited-edition Founder Series model. The automaker began accepting reservations after the reveal, requiring a $50,000 deposit for the standard Roadster and the full $250,000 price upfront for the Founders Series Roadster.
Tesla is notorious for missing deadlines, so it shouldn't be too surprising that the Roadster is late. Still, the company has managed to eventually deliver on most of its promises.
At the same shareholder meeting, Musk said Tesla's next model to go into production would be the Cybertruck pickup truck, which he said would start deliveries this year.
Musk also said Tesla had two new vehicles in development and said one was already being built, though it isn't clear if he meant prototypes or customer examples.
Teaser for new Tesla shown during shareholder meeting on May 16, 2023
One of the vehicles was teased during the presentation. A shadowy image showing the silhouette was briefly shown, though the vehicle in the image looks like the Tesla Model Y, which may mean the popular compact crossover is about to be updated.
Another, less likely possibility is the vehicle in the teaser being the $25,000 EV that Tesla first announced in 2020. It's rumored the affordable EV will be built at a plant in Mexico that Tesla confirmed during an investor presentation in March.
