**Tesla’s Second-Generation Roadster: A Long-Awaited Supercar Gets a New Timeline**
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has once again updated the timeline for the highly anticipated second-generation Roadster, a project that has been in the works for nearly a decade. Speaking at Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting on Thursday, Musk announced that the official reveal of the production version of the Roadster will take place on April 1, 2026. This new date pushes the debut almost nine years after the car was first announced, continuing a pattern of ambitious promises and frequent delays that has come to define the Roadster’s journey.
Musk, who has a reputation for setting—and then missing—aggressive deadlines, acknowledged the irony of choosing April Fools’ Day for the event. “It affords some deniability,” he joked, explaining that he could always claim he was "just kidding" if the reveal faces further delays. This lighthearted acknowledgment of past delays is a typical Musk move, blending humor with the reality of the company’s challenges in bringing new vehicles to market.
The announcement of the new reveal date itself is a delay, as just one week earlier, Musk had appeared on the Joe Rogan podcast and repeated his intention to debut the car before the end of 2024. The shifting timeline reflects both the complexity of the project and Musk’s tendency to make bold predictions that often slip.
A Radical Redesign and Lofty Promises
Musk emphasized that the production version of the new Roadster will be “very different from what was shown previously.” Since its original unveiling as a prototype in 2017, the Roadster has become legendary not only for its promised performance—aiming to be the fastest production car in the world—but also for the increasingly outlandish features Musk has teased. He has previously hinted at the possibility of equipping the car with rocket thrusters, developed in partnership with SpaceX, to deliver previously unimaginable acceleration and perhaps even short bursts of flight.
At the shareholder meeting, Musk continued to lean into this narrative, promising that the demonstration of the new Roadster would be “the most exciting, whether it works or not, demo ever of any product.” This statement keeps fans and critics alike guessing about what Tesla will actually deliver, but it also raises expectations for a dramatic reveal.
Production, however, remains a way off. Musk estimated that the car will not enter production until 12 to 18 months after its April 2026 reveal, meaning that even optimistic projections would not see customers receiving their vehicles until late 2027 or even 2028. This would mark over a decade since the model was first announced, and nearly as long since customers began placing hefty deposits to reserve one.
Long-Suffering Reservation Holders
Among the most patient Tesla fans are those who reserved the “Founders Series” Roadsters back in 2017, putting down $250,000 for the privilege. During the Q&A session at the shareholder meeting,