Tesla’s Long-Awaited Roadster 2 Revs Up Hype Over Revenue

Tesla’s newest Roadster briefly hovered (yes, hovered) three times in a demo last night — in one instance, it launched over a handful of Tesla vehicles, flipped and touched back down. CEO Elon Musk said the car was created as a collab with SpaceX, hence its vapor-spewing thrusters. 

Just don’t expect to see hordes of Teslas leapfrogging gridlock anytime soon. Tesla said the flying “Rocket” trim of the Roadster will be available on an invite-only basis, though reservations for two ground-bound trims of the electric sports car are now open to anyone with $50,000 and $250,000 lying around, respectively. Its arrival, still technically TBD, is a long time coming; last night’s demo comes almost exactly nine years after Tesla started accepting deposits of $50,000 and up for the long-delayed vehicle. 

The first-generation Roadster was Tesla’s first-ever car, and now Musk said the second-generation will be the last human-driven vehicle it makes as the company moves its focus to robotaxis and robots. While even Musk doesn’t expect the Roadster to have a large impact on Tesla’s revenue, it could be a symbolic stop on the company’s journey. 

A Road Sign of the Times

Tesla’s first Roadster was a breakout hit that showed legacy carmakers the then-newbie could make a car. The Roadster also convinced customers that electric vehicles could be something to show off, a luxury item to drive along the PCH. Electric vehicles were a niche splurge at the time. When Tesla first teased the Roadster 2 in 2017, there were 15 EVs available in the US, according to Cox Automotive. Now, there are more than 90. 

The Roadster 2, which Musk said in 2017 would cost $250,000, is entering a different market than its earlier incarnation. Other high-end sports car brands haven’t seen much demand for what it’ll be selling:

• Porsche’s CEO said the 911 will never be electric and expects two-thirds of its cars in general to still have a combustion engine by 2030. Lamborghini’s CEO meanwhile told Wired this year that high-end electric-car demand is almost zero — the carmaker in February confirmed it had shelved its 2023 plan to make its first electric car, the Lanzador. 
• Bentley still plans to make its first electric car, but got creative to make it sound more combustion-like — a live orchestra was tapped to create the sound of its revving engine. Bugatti CEO Mate Rimac, who previously founded an electric car company, told CNBC this year high-end cars will continue having combustion engines for a very long time.

Lift Off: The Roadster could drive hype, if not much revenue, for Tesla and possibly its corporate sibling under Musk, SpaceX. Tesla’s hovering car could be a preamble to the automaker merging with SpaceX, according to Barclays analyst Dan Levy. But the hovering possibilities may not be practical — creating a flying car is one thing, regulating it is another.