Whether you love or hate Tesla (there doesn’t seem to be any middle-ground these days), there’s no denying the shock value of the Roadster’s unorthodox reveal. A car driving upside down, then blasting itself into the air, flipping, and landing safely is the stuff of Hollywood action or sci-fi films. It doesn’t matter if it’s completely impractical. Right now, the world is talking about Tesla. From a PR perspective, it is mission accomplished.
But all that excitement about flying cars overshadowed something notable that was mentioned about Tesla’s future.
The New Roadster Is The End Of An Era. Maybe.
New Tesla RoadsterTesla
There’s a bit of symmetry at work here, if you appreciate such things. The OG Roadster is the car that put Tesla on the map, and it’s arguably the car that pushed EVs towards mainstream use. The first prototype was revealed in 2006 and the production car arrived in 2008, utilizing a Lotus Elise chassis with gobs of batteries. It was the first road-going EV to exceed 200 miles in range, and it had supercar-level acceleration with sub-four-second runs to 60 mph.
Now, 20 years later, the next prototype is revealed (barring the car shown in 2017, anyway). And if CEO Elon Musk’s timeline of a production launch in 2028 holds true, that will mark another 20-year anniversary. Symmetry indeed, but there’s more going on. At the reveal, Tesla Vice President of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy said the future was autonomous, but the new Roadster wasn’t an autonomous car. It was an invitation for Musk to drop a bit of a bombshell.
“This will actually be, long-term, the only manually-driven car that Tesla makes. So, if you’re only going to have one manually driven car, let’s take it to the limits and way past the limits.”
Tesla Really Won’t Build Any Other Cars?
If we take Musk’s words verbatim, Tesla won’t build any new cars beyond Roadster that people can drive. That still leaves all kinds of questions and wiggle room, however. Current Model 3 and Model Y production isn’t likely to end anytime soon, especially with the Model Y still being one of the bestselling vehicles in the world. Who knows how long Cybertruck will stick around, but there’s nothing stopping Tesla from just building updated versions of the 3 and Y for years to come. That fits the “long-term” timeframe.
North America-spec 2027 Tesla Model Y L front three-quarter viewTesla
But, Musk’s statement suggests that a new Model S sedan or another Model X SUV won’t happen. At least, versions that people can actually drive. Musk has long touted a vision of autonomous Teslas that shuffle people around when they need, then turn into Robotaxis while the owners are at work or home.
That future, however, isn’t solely dependent on autonomous technology being up to the task. The current infrastructure isn’t well-suited to fully autonomous vehicles. And then there are a stack of legal and legislative hurdles to clear before any widespread vehicle autonomy comes into play. Beyond that, it’s not as if Tesla’s current autonomous efforts are wildly successful. So while Musk says the Roadster is Tesla’s last manually driven car, don’t be surprised if that doesn’t quite go according to plan.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
Elon Musk has said many things over the years that, to be blunt, simply weren’t true. In 2017, he paraded a very different Tesla Roadster prototype to fans and the motoring world, and here we are, nine years later, with more presentations and promises for the future. If we were Tesla shareholders, hearing the CEO talk about building just autonomous cars while Robotaxis are still struggling to function in specific, geofenced areas would make us a bit nervous.
In short, we’re taking all this, including the Roadster’s proposed 2028 debut, with a grain of salt.
