Tesla Roadster
Courtesy: Tesla
Six years ago, Elon Musk promoted the next generation of the Roadster, under the name… Tesla The car debuted in 2008. An updated version was never produced, but Musk once again promises that a new roadster is on the way.
“Tonight, we radically increased the design goals for the new Tesla Roadster,” Musk wrote on X as part of a series of posts Tuesday night. “There will never be another car like this, if you can even call it a car.”
“I think it has a chance to be the most mind-blowing product demo ever,” he wrote, adding that it will reach 60 mph in less than a second, “and that's the least interesting part.”
Musk promoted the next-generation roadster concept at an event in November 2017, and in June 2018 in a series of tweets. “SpaceX's option package for the new Tesla Roadster will include about 10 small propulsion rockets arranged seamlessly around the vehicle,” he said at the time. The engines would improve speed and braking, and might “even allow a Tesla to fly,” he wrote at the time.
On Tuesday, he responded to his old tweets, saying: “You will love your new roadster more than your house.”
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Musk's renewed comments came in the wake of news that Chinese rival BYD has introduced a new electric supercar, dubbed the U9, that can reach speeds similar to high-end models from companies like Ferrari.
BYD's electric hypercar, which it says will be able to reach a top speed of about 192 mph, is scheduled to be delivered to customers this summer. While BYD has no plans to sell its cars in the United States, Tesla competes with BYD in mainland China and other markets.
Tesla's market share in China in January fell to 6.1%, while BYD's was 29.2%, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association cited by Morgan Stanley China Automotive researchers in a note on Wednesday.
Grandiose promises from Musk are nothing new. His repeated failures to keep them are the subject of an online promise-tracking website called ElonMusk.Today. The site noted on Wednesday that it had been “1,876 days since Elon Musk said the new Roadster would use rocket technology that would allow it to fly.”
In Tesla's latest quarterly shareholder update, the company said the new Roadster remains “under development” with no pilot production line built and no production location identified.
“Musk is a master of selective information disclosure,” said Warren Ahner, an automotive technology expert and former competitive driving coach.
It's not clear how the supercar will benefit Tesla's business, Ahner said, adding that it's “mostly for ego.”
“If you have the right credit score, you can walk into a Tesla showroom and buy a Model S Plaid today,” Ahner said. This “actually has much more power potential than 99% of drivers on the road can handle.”
Ross Gerber, a longtime Tesla fan and Musk's recent critic, agreed that it would be difficult to “move the needle” for Tesla with an updated Roadster.
“If they make a great car that people will talk about, there could be a halo effect,” said Gerber, CEO of wealth management firm Gerber Kawasaki. He compared it to the recently released Cybertruck. “Everyone wants to be looked at and stuff,” Gerber said. “But does that mean it will help Tesla sell other cars?”
Gerber said Tesla should focus more on its affordable electric car, which it calls its “next generation” platform. He added that Musk's candor on political matters was “really harmful” to the company and shareholders.
“I don’t think he’s focused,” Gerber said. “And I don't think he's trying at all to sell cars. It's put Tesla in a very difficult position where we've had to cut back on our investment in Tesla because we don't feel like the opportunity is good now that Elon is out of business. Many of the company's core customers.”
On Musk's X account, which claims to have 174.1 million followers, Musk recently denounced immigrants and disparaged diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in medicine and other fields.
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