Tesla set to unveil redesigned Roadster sports EV after years of delays

A long-awaited new Roadster

Tesla is due to show the redesigned Roadster on Thursday. The unveiling comes nearly nine years after the company first previewed a next-generation version of the electric sports car.

Tesla revealed a prototype in 2017 and said deliveries would begin in 2020. Reservations remain $50,000 each, while the car’s price has not been revised from $200,000.

A showcase, not a financial driver

Chief Executive Elon Musk has minimized the Roadster’s importance to Tesla’s finances. In 2023, he called it a “small potato situation” that would not “move the needle in a major way financially.” Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein said last month that Tesla lacks a halo car, meaning a high-performance luxury vehicle meant to display an automaker’s engineering and technology. He described the Roadster as set to fill that role.

Performance and SpaceX link

The new Roadster is expected to accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour, or 100 kilometers per hour, in less than a second. Goldstein wrote that this was the least interesting part of the car. He also said the vehicle was being developed in collaboration with SpaceX, the rocket company led by Musk.

Tesla’s changing priorities

The first Roadster went on sale in 2008 and remained available until 2012. Tesla’s first electric vehicle used a Lotus Elise chassis and helped alter perceptions of what an electric car could be.

The second-generation model arrives as Tesla redirects its focus from building cars for human drivers toward artificial intelligence-led self-driving technology and robotics. This year, Tesla stopped selling Model S and Model X vehicles to make room for production of its Optimus humanoid robots.