The Tesla Roadster is 'Definitely in Development' Says Company VP
The car that was first shown in 2017 is totally still coming. Honest.
Tesla's long-gestating Roadster 2.0 is back in the news after last weekend's X Takeover event in California. Tesla Vice President of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy sat down to talk about the perpetually-upcoming model, which we first saw way back in 2017. And it sounds like we might—might—actually see more of it before the end of the year.
When first asked about the Roadster, Moravy confirms it is still in development. He also recently talked to Elon Musk about it which, when considered alongside a recent post of his on X (formerly Twitter) teasing the "most epic demo ever by end of year," suggests we could see a Roadster demo here in 2025.
The four-seat EV has had something of a reframing according to Moravy. Tesla has made no secret of its push towards full autonomy in the last few years, with products like the Robotaxi arriving in Austin, Texas (with NHTSA investigations close behind). The Roadster, by contrast, is being billed as the "last best driver's car," with Moravy envisioning a near future where drivers actually driving is considered a luxury.
This wouldn't be a Tesla product tease without some hype mixed in, so Moravy saying the Roadster is "even a little bit more than a car" is very on-brand. Maybe he's referencing Musk's 2018 claim that an available SpaceX package would "seamlessly" include 10 rocket boosters dotted around the Roadster, which not only would supposedly improve acceleration, braking, and cornering, but maybe even allow for flight.
The Roadster's original 2017 reveal stats remain impressive even almost a decade later. A 620-mile (998-kilometer) range, 250 mph (402 km/h) top speed, and a run to 60 mph (96 km/h) in under two seconds would put it firmly in supercar territory, and at a relative bargain for the expected $200,000 to $250,000 sticker. As we saw with the Cybertruck however, what is delivered versus what was promised can be quite different. With any luck, we'll actually see the demo Musk and Moravy are teasing before 2026 rolls around.
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Kyle began his automotive obsession before he even started school, courtesy of a remote control Porsche and various LEGO sets. He later studied advertising and graphic design at Humber College, which led him to writing about cars (both real and digital). He is now a proud member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC), where he was the Journalist of the Year runner-up for 2021.
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Like everything Tesla,
im not interested in anything they do …..