Elon Musk Says Tesla Roadster Won’t Enter Production Until 2022

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the much-anticipated Roadster won’t enter production until 2022, acknowledging that the electric supercar is delayed for roughly two years.

When Musk revealed the Roadster in concept form back in 2017, he said that Tesla was going to put it into production in 2020. However, things obviously didn’t go as planned and news about it quickly dried out. Until now.

Following the reveal of the updated 2021 Model S and Model X, Musk responded to a Twitter user who asked about the Roadster, saying that Tesla is going to finish engineering of the model this year and have a driveable car with “release candidate design” late this summer. As with many things Tesla, feel free to take this with a grain of salt.

Finishing engineering this year, production starts next year. Aiming to have release candidate design drivable late summer. Tri-motor drive system & advanced battery work were important precursors.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 28, 2021

When Tesla first revealed the Roadster in its concept form, it promised that the production version will pack some serious performance. More specifically, they claimed that the Roadster will employ a triple-motor electric powertrain, believed to be closely related to the Plaid versions of the 2021 Model S and Model X, in combination with an advanced battery pack that will give it the impressive driving range of 620 miles (997 km) on a single charge.

In addition, Tesla promised a 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) in 1.9 seconds, 0-100 mph (0-160 km/h) in 4.2 seconds, and a top speed of over 250 mph (402 km/h).

Tesla has been accepting reservations for the second-generation Roadster ever since the concept was revealed, with prospective customers asked to place a $50,000 deposit for the standard model and the full $250,000 for those wishing to get the special ‘Founder’s Edition’.