Originally, the 2nd gen Roadster was marked to start production in 2020. Though the admittedly difficult year came and went without any official mention by Tesla. Only now are they clarifying the rate of progress. And of course, it’s in a tweet by eccentric CEO Elon Musk.
“Finishing engineering this year, production starts next year. Aiming to have release candidate design drivable late summer.”
Musk reveals that they have yet to actually finish the engineering phase of development. He cites the tri-motor drive system and advanced battery work as an important stage in development.
The 2nd gen Roadster was promoted as a performance electric when it was revealed in 2017. They claimed an intended top speed of 250 mph, 620-mile range, and a 0-60 time of only 1.9 seconds.
This comes as little shock to us, honestly. The company has a history of missing deadlines. Nearly every vehicle they’ve announced was delayed at least once. They’re also developing a Cybertruck electric pickup, as well as the Tesla Semi, a fully electric semi-truck. The pandemic undoubtedly delayed progress further. Musk and Tesla drew a lot of negative attention around the beginning of pandemic shut-downs for speaking against the ordinance, even claiming to intentionally ignore it and continuing work anyway.
Power like this doesn't come cheap, either. The Roadster’s base price is set at $200,000. They’re taking reservations now, which requires a minimum $50,000 deposit. So if you want one, you better be rather wealthy or rather serious about the investment.
Delays are always unfortunate, but we weren’t exactly holding our breath about this one.
