The launch of the Tesla Roadster 2 has a new deadline as the wait continues

When you think of a Tesla, I’m willing to bet Model 3A Model Y Or maybe even a Cybertruck comes to mind. You’d be forgiven if you forgot about the roadster.

the Tesla Roadster It was Elon Musk’s first car, produced between 2008 and 2012. It’s been a long time since then, and roughly the same amount of time since Tesla first showed off the car The next generation roadster at a 2017 launch party. It was an impressive revelation: CNET’s Tim Stevens wrote that the car “blown our minds.” But nearly a decade later, those who pre-ordered the sports car Electric car We are still waiting for his arrival.

Now we have a new promise from Musk about when the Roadster 2 will arrive – perhaps? – Really arrive.

Musk shared an update about the Roadster in 2025 Tesla shareholders meeting Last week. (Yes, that was the same meeting where shareholders approved one possibility.) A trillion-dollar pay package for Musk.)

According to Musk, we’ll see the new look of the next-generation Tesla Roadster at an event on April 1, 2026. That’s right: April Fool’s Day. But Musk says he’s serious.

“The Roadster 2 product reveal, which will be very different from what we showed previously, that demo event will be on April 1st of next year,” Musk said, then said, “I have some deniability because I can say I was just kidding.”

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Then shake some more. “But we’re actually tentatively targeting April 1, for what I think will be the most exciting, whether successful or not, demo of any product. And then I think production is probably about 12 to 18 months later. I think production will take about a year or so after that.”

This could be interesting for customers who have made a deposit many years ago. But many Tesla owners, myself included, may find this hard to believe. After all, Musk said just last week The Joe Rogan Experience The demo will happen by the end of this year.

Tesla Roadster 2 Timeline

This latest timeline extends an already long string of delays. After the original reveal in 2017, the new roadster was supposed to arrive in 2020. Pre-orders were opened (and are still open) and customers paid deposits for the electric sports car. That deadline has passed over and over again, To 2021 and then 2022and more or less every subsequent year.

Based on what Musk said on Thursday, here’s the timeline that lies ahead: Car unveiled next year, crossover. The actual car you can buy, maybe 2027 or 2028?

What can we make of Musk’s thoughts about the upcoming demo (“whether it works or not”) and the vehicle itself (“very different from what we showed previously”)? They ask me two questions:

1. Is it still a car?
2. Should Founders Series bookers, who shelled out $250,000 in 2017, be worried?

The Roadster has long been billed as Tesla’s halo car: an all-electric, high-performance machine designed to showcase the brand’s engineering prowess. But at this point its role has become less clear.

There are the loose promises the car makes He has a “shot” at flyingyou can earn Rocket boosters As part of SpaceX’s options package, it will include technology crazier than James Bond cars. The mystery is over Tesla patents a “fan car” system. Aiming to enhance grip through aerodynamic innovation. Whatever it adds, its purpose – and whether it will actually be road legal – remains a mystery.

your Tesla Model Y ownerI continue to be impressed by the company’s ability to deliver forward-thinking, software-driven vehicles. I even think that despite the Roadster’s issues, the Tesla brand and Musk as CEO are doing well in the EV market. However, it’s hard not to be careful with a roadster. After all this delay and few details, expectations must be balanced with realism.

If the final product lives up to the hype — and I hope it does — it could reaffirm Tesla’s place at the forefront of automotive innovation. But first, it must exist.