Tesla delays Roadster unveil to April Fools’ Day next year

Just days ago — and before shareholders approved his enormous pay package — Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the next-generation Tesla Roadster will “hopefully” be unveiled “before the end of the year.”

Well, that’s probably not happening. On Thursday, during Tesla’s Annual Shareholder Meeting, Musk said that the product unveil of the Roadster 2 will be on “April 1 of next year.”

“I have some deniability because I can say I was just kidding,” he said. “We are actually tentatively aiming for April 1, for what I think will be the most exciting, whether it works or not, demo of any product.”

Yes, what Musk means here is any product ever, in the history of mankind.

While that’s a pretty hefty delay, the news is even worse when it comes to production of the Roadster, as Musk said it’s probably happening “about 12-18 months after that,” so sometime in mid-to-late 2027.

Despite not having been launched yet, Tesla’s second generation Roadster is one of Tesla’s most unusual products. Originally announced in November 2017, the vehicle kept being delayed into the future (despite numerous people pre-ordering it with a $50,000 down payment), with Musk setting increasingly grandiose goals for it. Speaking with Joe Rogan recently, Musk said, “If you took all the James Bond cars and combined them, it’s crazier than that,” — and hinted that it may actually be able to fly.

Musk and Tesla keep referring to the car as the “second-generation Roadster,” even though it’s probably not have a lot in common with the original second-generation Roadster which was announced eight years ago. That one was shown as prototype in November 2017, with an alleged 0-60mph time of 2.1 seconds. Later, Musk said it might get an (optional) cold gas thruster which would make it even faster. Most recently, Musk said the car would be able to accelerate from 0-60mph in under one second. Hopefully, the saga will end next April, before Musk starts claiming the car can go back in time.