Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Thursday that the company will unveil the production version of its second-generation Roadster supercar on April 1, 2026. It’s been almost nine years since he first revealed the project.
Musk, who is famous for not meeting deadlines, said at Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting that one of the reasons he chose April Fool’s Day was because “there is some degree of deniability.”
“If it happened to happen later, you could say it was a joke,” he said.
The release of the mass-produced version of the new Roadster next year will itself be delayed. Just a week ago, he appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast and reiterated his claim that he wants to show off the car by the end of the year.
Musk stressed Thursday that the car is “very different than anything we’ve shown before,” and teased again that the demo would be “the most exciting product demo we’ve ever had, whether it works or not.” This is a not-so-sneaky nod to the fact that Musk has spent years trying to get his new Roadster to fly somehow, perhaps using SpaceX-made thrusters.
Musk went on to say that he doesn’t think the second-generation Roadster will go into production until 12 to 18 months after its April announcement.
During a Q&A session at the meeting, a shareholder asked Musk if customers who pre-ordered the Founders Series version of the new Roadster could be invited to the launch event. Those were the customers who shelled out $250,000 to secure a special version of the car in 2017.
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“Of course, absolutely,” Musk replied. “This is the least we can do for long-suffering Roadster pre-order customers.”
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is one of the longtime victims who recently tried to cancel a long-promised EV reservation but was initially unable to receive a refund.
Earlier this month, Altman posted a “three-part story” to X consisting of several screenshots showing the initial reservation, a request for a refund of the $50,000 reservation fee, and a bounced email.
“I was really excited about this car!” Altman wrote. “I understand the delay, but seven and a half years felt like a long time to wait.”
Musk, who had been publicly sparring with Altman for years, went on the offensive. “And you forgot to mention the 4th act where this issue was fixed and I received my refund within 24 hours,” Musk wrote. “But that’s your nature.”
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