Elon Musk says the long-awaited Tesla Roadster won’t go into production this year as planned, with its CEO confirming design and engineering are expected to be completed later this year.
The brand held its 2023 annual shareholder meeting, or Cyber Round Up, this week and a shareholder took the opportunity to ask for an update on the Tesla Roadster.
“We expect to complete the engineering and design of the next-gen Tesla Roadster this year, this is not a commitment but hopefully start production next year,” said Mr Musk.
This would be the fourth confirmed delay for the car after it was first announced in 2017, with its debut originally planned for 2020.
The CEO went on to say that the Roadster won’t be a huge contributor to its revenue but will be a modest “contributor to profitability”.
Mr Musk also referred to the Roadster as “sick”, saying it will have a Space X option package, which has been previously promised to have cold-air thrusters.
Tesla claims the Roadster will be able to achieve a 0-100km/h sprint in 1.9 seconds, hit 160km/h in 4.2 seconds, and do the quarter mile in 8.9 seconds.
With a 200kWh battery pack and a claimed range of around 1000km, the Roadster promises to put the current Tesla line-up in the shade on all fronts.
Originally, the Roadster was advertised with a US$200,000 (A$260,000) asking price, while the Founder’s Edition was priced at $250,000 (A$325,000).
Customers looking to pre-order the next-generation Roadster will be required to place a US$50,000 (A$75,104) deposit.
Mr Musk has previously said the Roadster isn’t a top priority for Tesla. The brand is currently working on the launch of its Cybertruck with production of the controversially styled electric ute starting later this year.
Tesla has also been recently spied testing its updated Tesla Model 3.
