Tesla has once again delayed the official unveiling of the highly anticipated Roadster model.
Replying on Tuesday to an X post that mentioned the beginning of the Roadster production exactly 18 years ago, Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk wrote, “True,” adding, “New Roadster unveil probably in late April.”
The new Roadster has faced repeated delays since its initial unveiling in 2017, when the company began accepting $50,000 deposits for the $200,000 base model and $250,000 for the Founders Series.
Late last year, the CEO said Tesla was “aiming for” the demo and unveiling event to take place on April 1.
In the latest earnings call last January, however, Musk was more cautious on the timeline.
“I really think long-term, the only vehicles that we’ll make will be autonomous vehicles,” the CEO said, shortly after announcing that Tesla will stop offering its flagship Model S and Model X later this year as it transitions production lines toward the Optimus humanoid robot.
He added, “with the exception of the next-generation Tesla Roadster (second generation), which we’re hoping to debut in April.”
Previous Timeline
During Tesla‘s Annual Shareholder Meeting last November, the CEO announced that the demo event for the new Roadster would take place in early April 2026.
“So, we’re aiming for (…) April 1 of next year,” the chief executive noted, adding in a jokingly manner, “I have some deniability because, like, I could say I was just kidding.”
Musk said Tesla is “actually tentatively aiming for April 1, for what I think will be the most exciting, whether it works or not, demo ever of any product.”
He added that production of the model is expected to begin in mid-to-late 2027.
“Production is probably about, you know, 12 to 18 months after that,” he said, referring to the demo event, reiterating a timeline of “probably a year or so after that.”
By then, the CEO also announced that Cybercab production would begin in April — a timeline he has consistently repeated in recent months — with the first units having been produced last month.
A month before the event, Tesla‘s Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen reaffirmed that the Roadster unveil event was still on track to take place in 2025 — which did not happen.
The executive stated that the model would be available “within two years.”
Then, just a week later, a new job listing confirmed that preparations are underway, with the company looking for a Manufacturing Engineer for the Roadster.
Musk Promises
The first generation of the Roaster, Tesla‘s first production vehicle, was launched in 2008 and sold until 2012.
Five years later, as the Roadster neared its ten-year anniversary, Tesla announced plans for a second-generation model. Its been eight years since then.
In February 2024, Musk had written on X that the company had “radically increased the design goals for the new Tesla Roadster. There will never be another car like this, if you could even call it a car,” he wrote.
In the ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast late last year, the Tesla CEO said that the company might be considering a flying model.
“Well, you know, my friend Peter Thiel [PayPal, Palantir] once reflected that the future was supposed to have flying cars, but we don’t have flying cars,” Musk teased.
He added that “if Peter wants a flying car, he should be able to buy one.”
The chief executive confirmed the new Roadster would differ significantly from previous prototypes Tesla has publicly displayed — an ideia he also reaffirmed on the latest event.
In late January, the well-known tech YouTuber MKBHD reacted to news that Tesla would discontinue the Model S and Model X by commenting, “Oh Roadster is so cooked,” to which Musk replied that the upcoming model “will be incredible.”
Tesla has been filing for several patents and trademarks related to the model this year, including a stylized “Roadster” wordmark, an updated vehicle design, and — earlier this month — a single-seat framework concept.
