Tesla Roadster turns 15 years old today, still no sign of the new version

Tesla Roadster, credited by some for launching the EV revolution, is turning 15 years old today. While we celebrate the original Roadster, there’s still no sign of the new version that Tesla promised.

While the Tesla Roadster wasn’t exactly a successful vehicle program on its own, it did succeed in its goal to show that you can have a compelling electric vehicle that can compete with gas-powered cars in its segment – sports cars, in this case.

As a vehicle program it didn’t turn out great, with only about 2,000 units produced and the early production batches having to be worked on a lot as Tesla failed to successfully merge technologies from early partners AC Propulsion and Lotus.

After those first few difficult batches in 2008 and 2009, Tesla started to hit its stride and made many happy costumers with the Roadster; many of them are still using their vehicles more than a decade latter.

Today, Tesla celebrated the 15th anniversary of the first Tesla Roadster deliveries:

Electrek’s Take

I am huge fan of the original Roadster, and I’m in the camp that gives it a lot of credit for launching the EV revolution. I think that without it, we would probably be 5-10 years behind where we are now.

As for the new Roadster, I understand why it’s not a priority for Tesla; high volume EV programs are more important.

However, the mission of a “halo car” is still important in my opinion, and Tesla did use the vehicle to save the company in 2018-2019. It was a difficult time for the company and using the Roadster as part of its referral program helped create a ton of publicity for Tesla.

Five years later, the vehicle program is still delayed even though Tesla took millions of dollars in deposit for the vehicle and promised it as a reward to many Tesla enthusiasts who help promote the company.

At the very least, Tesla should be more transparent about what is happening with the Roadster program. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.