Tesla delays new Roadster to 2023, but there’s a big ‘if’

Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla has delayed the new Roadster program to 2023, and even then, that’s only going to happen with a big “if.”

The new electric hypercar is now three years behind its original timeline.

When first unveiling the next-generation Tesla Roadster in 2017, Musk said that it will come to market in 2020.

Tesla started taking reservations for the impressive electric supercar with a 0-60 mph in 1.9 seconds and over 600 miles of range at the unveiling event.

People who wanted to be first in line to get the vehicle had to put down between $50,000 and $250,000 in deposits.

The vehicle program was later delayed, as the CEO said that it wasn’t a priority for Tesla.

In 2020, Musk hinted at Tesla Roadster being delayed to 2022 as the automaker focuses on the Cybertruck.

Earlier this year, the CEO confirmed that the new vehicle will indeed not come to market until 2022.

We haven’t heard much about the new Tesla Roadster all year and suspected that it might have been delayed again. The automaker had a tough year due to the chip shortage, and the Cybertruck itself, which is clearly the priority, has been also delayed.

When asked about the Roadster’s timeline today, Musk confirmed that it is now delayed to 2023.

Furthermore, he explained that it will also depend whether 2022 will prove not to have too much drama, which is a big if:

2021 has been the year of super crazy supply chain shortages, so it wouldn’t matter if we had 17 new products, as none would ship. Assuming 2022 is not mega drama, new Roadster should ship in 2023.

Tesla has been presenting the new Roadster as a ‘halo” vehicle to dethrone fossil fuel-powered supercars as the most powerful vehicle in the world.

When first unveiling the vehicle, Tesla claimed a list of insanely impressive specs for the new Roadster, including 0-60 mph in 1.9 sec, 620 miles of range, and more.

However, the CEO quickly added that the insane specs announced in 2017 for the new electric hypercars are only “the base specs.”

Musk later explained that Tesla plans to offer a “SpaceX package” with cold air thrusters around the vehicle to boost performance.

More recently, Musk claimed that the package would push the Tesla Roadster’s 0-60 mph time to just 1.1 seconds.