Tesla Roadster Launch Delayed Again to April 2026, Mass Production May Be Postponed until After 2027

On November 7th, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, announced at the annual shareholder meeting that the official launch of the next-generation Roadster electric supercar will be postponed until April 1, 2026. Production is scheduled to start 12 to 18 months later, aiming for delivery as early as 2027 and as late as 2028. This indicates that the production timeline for this model has been postponed by nearly ten years since its initial unveiling in 2017. Musk chose April Fools' Day as the release date and said, "In this way, if there is another delay, I can still claim it's a joke." This decision once again cast a shadow over the car's long development process because he had previously promised during an interview on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast to hold a "memorable showcase" by the end of 2025. According to Musk, the production version of the Roadster will have "significant differences" from the prototype showcased in 2017. The new car may feature a cold gas thruster system developed by SpaceX, enabling hovering and even short flight capabilities. Insiders revealed that the latest design will have a two-seater layout with butterfly doors, departing from the original four-seater version. The prolonged delay has left some pre-order customers dissatisfied. Since 2017, many customers have already paid deposits ranging from $50,000 to $250,000. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently publicly requested a refund on social media, stating that his email was bounced back. Musk responded by saying, "Refunded within 24 hours" and joked, "This suits your style." Tech blogger Marques Brownlee also canceled his reservation in September 2025 and described the refund process as "extremely cumbersome." According to Tesla's financial report, these reservation deposits are recorded as "interest-free customer loans" on the books, and the longest frozen period is eight years. (China Times Finance)