- The second-generation Tesla Roadster has been delayed once again.
- The production version of the radical two-seater was supposed to debut by the end of this year.
- Yesterday, however, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the reveal will probably happen on April Fools' Day next year.
After countless delays, the production version of the second-generation Tesla Roadster will finally debut next year. Probably. Nobody knows for sure, not even the company that announced it no fewer than eight years ago.
Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, said yesterday that the company is “tentatively aiming for April 1” as the reveal date for the road-ready Roadster 2, which doesn’t inspire much confidence, seeing how that’s April Fools' Day 2026.
Musk added that he has “some deniability” because he can say he was just kidding. And yes, he used those words during the same shareholders meeting where his $1 trillion pay package was approved with 75% of the vote.
Tesla’s head honcho teased that next year’s demo will be the “most exciting, whether it works or not, demo ever of any product,” adding that the car “will be very different from what was shown previously.”
In 2017, the second-generation Roadster made a surprise appearance during the reveal event for the Semi. Back then, Tesla said the sleek, high-performance two-seater would go into production in 2020. That hasn’t happened yet, and it will not happen for at least one more year.
Musk said during yesterday’s shareholders meeting that he believes the second-generation Roadster will go into production 12 to 18 months after the April reveal. If this timeline is to be believed, the Roadster 2 will become one of the most delayed vehicles in history, taking a decade to go from initial prototype to production car.
Despite the numerous delays and insignificant development updates, Tesla has been taking $50,000 reservations for the non-existent car ever since the prototype drove on stage in 2017. To make matters worse, the company even took $250,000 from people who ordered the Founders Series model. This was supposed to be fitted with all the available options, but Tesla never disclosed what those options would be.
Musk said yesterday that the revamped Roadster would have “crazier” tech than all James Bond vehicles combined, hinting once again that the second-generation two-seater would somehow be able to fly. All of these promises haven’t convinced some reservation holders to finally give up on the dream and cancel their pre-orders, with famous YouTuber Marques Brownlee and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman documenting the cancellation process.
