The first car Tesla ever built was the original Tesla Roadster, with deliveries starting in February 2008. It was the testbed for the Tesla business model, solely focused on electric cars. Technology has moved swiftly in the space and Tesla sells the most electric cars in the world (by a landslide). The new Tesla Roadster is set to break all electric vehicle records when it eventually launches, but we aren’t expecting it on roads until 2022.
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The new Tesla Roadster was first announced in 2017, alongside the Tesla Semi delivery trucks. At the time Elon Musk said that it would start manufacturing of the new Tesla Roadster in 2020. Various delayed, none greater than the effect of the global pandemic, has now pushed this delivery date back to 2022.
In the meantime, the company has used all its resources to deliver as many Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, its cheaper sedan and crossover SUV options. These vehicles now make up the vast majority of Tesla sales, a successful part of the business plan to deliver ever cheaper electric vehicles. The technology is advancing quickly, and as Tesla hits critical mass with its production lines it can lower prices even further.
The Roadster’s “tri-motor drive system & advanced battery work were important precursors” to finalising the design of the vehicle, with engineering only finishing this year. This new design will propel the new Tesla Roadster from 0 to 100 kph in a projected 1.9 seconds. It will also have a top speed of 400 kph and a reported range of about 1,000 km.
When the new sportscar was announced the price was quoted at $200,000 and pre-orders were immediately available with prospective customers needing to put down a $50,000 deposit to jump to the front of the queue. There is also a Founder’s Edition of the Roadster that costs $250,000. It is expected that we see the first production ready version of the Roadster sometime in 2021, at which point all the specs and performance should be finalised.
