Tesla to unveil production Roadster Thursday, nearly a decade after 2017 announcement
Tesla is due to show the production version of its second-generation Roadster on Thursday, years behind schedule, into an EV market that has cooled. Both outlets covering it, Wired and The Verge, question whether the car still matters.
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The story, neutrally told
Left · 2Tesla is set to debut its second-generation Roadster on Thursday night, nearly a decade after Elon Musk announced the car in 2017. WiredLC “Nine years after its reveal, the overdue Roadster is set to debut on Thursday” Read at Wired ↗ The VergeLC “It’s been nearly a decade since Elon Musk made the surprise announcement about plans to build a next-gen Roadster.” Read at The Verge ↗ Left · 2The Verge says the production-ready debut is expected at an event in Waco, Texas. Wired says Tesla has billed it as its last unveiling event for a human-driven vehicle, and that deliveries are slated to start next year. The VergeLC “the Tesla Roadster is finally expected to make its production-ready debut at an event in Waco, Texas” Read at The Verge ↗ WiredLC “Tesla is slated to start deliveries next year.” Read at Wired ↗ Left · 2In 2017 Tesla said the car would start at $200,000, and reservation holders put down $50,000 deposits. Musk promised a 0-to-60mph time under two seconds. He has also said it will have a top speed over 250mph and an optional “SpaceX package” of cold-gas thrusters that would let it “fly a little”. WiredLC “In 2017, Tesla said the car would start at $200,000; reservation holders put down $50,000 deposits.” Read at Wired ↗ The VergeLC “will have a top speed over 250mph, and will come with an optional “SpaceX package” that adds cold-gas thrusters” Read at The Verge ↗
Left · 2Wired notes that a handful of other production cars have since broken the sub-2-second barrier. The Verge adds that Tesla's own Model S Plaid, released in 2021, had a claimed 1.99-second time that independent tests later confirmed. WiredLC “Now that a handful of other production cars have broken that barrier, Tesla will have to meet a high bar.” Read at Wired ↗ The VergeLC “Tesla’s Model S Plaid was released in 2021 with a claimed 0–60mph time of 1.99 seconds” Read at The Verge ↗ Left · 2Both outlets describe a changed EV market. Wired cites the Trump administration's reversal of US EV policy, the end of buying incentives and looser fuel-economy standards, with EV sales now shrinking. The Verge cites high energy prices, political turmoil, stalling US sales and automakers scaling back EV plans. WiredLC “Now, after the Trump administration reversed the US’s course on the powertrain, EV sales are shrinking, not growing.” Read at Wired ↗ The VergeLC “Automakers are scaling back their EV plans as sales stall in the US.” Read at The Verge ↗ Left · 2Both also point to doubts about electric hypercars. Wired says Porsche and Ferrari plan to keep developing gas engines and that Lamborghini said it would shelve electrics altogether. The Verge says Rimac, Pininfarina and Lotus electric hypercars faced low sales and delays, and that Bugatti's CEO Mate Rimac struggled to sell a planned run of 150 Neveras. WiredLC “Lamborghini said earlier this year it would shelve electrics altogether.” Read at Wired ↗ The VergeLC “the company struggled to sell its planned run of 150 units” Read at The Verge ↗
Left · 2Both link the car to Tesla's shift toward robotics and autonomy: Musk has told investors to think of Tesla as a robotics and autonomy company. The Verge adds that Tesla ended Model S and X production to make room for Optimus humanoid robots and that Musk is mulling a Tesla–SpaceX merger. WiredLC “instructing investors to think of Tesla as a robotics and autonomy company” Read at Wired ↗ The VergeLC “The company recently ended production of its original flagship models, the Model S and X, to make room for production of its humanoid Optimus robots.” Read at The Verge ↗ Left · 2The Verge reports that reservation holders including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and YouTuber Marques Brownlee canceled orders, and suggests the Roadster is likely a limited run where success is measured by scarcity. Wired quotes analysts saying success is hard to define for a hypercar aimed at buyers who want to show off and go very fast. The VergeLC “Several reservation holders, like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and YouTuber Marques Brownlee, canceled their orders” Read at The Verge ↗ WiredLC “What success looks like for the Roadster, then, is a bit complicated.” Read at Wired ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left2 outlets
- Framing
- Both outlets present the Roadster as a late, possibly irrelevant halo car arriving in a weaker EV market. Wired is an explanatory market piece; The Verge is an opinion column with sharper criticism.
- Emphasis
- Market and policy headwinds, past EV hypercar failures, Tesla's pivot to robots and autonomy, and the Roadster's missed deadlines.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Neither gives Tesla's own account of the car or its specifications beyond Musk's earlier promises, and neither reports what Tesla will actually unveil, since the event had not yet happened.
- Charged language
- “vaporware”“relic status”“sweet-ass time”“normies”
Centre0 outlets
No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
Right0 outlets
No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
What every side reports
- The production Roadster is due to debut on Thursday, years after its 2017 announcement.
- The Roadster was promised with sub-2-second 0-to-60mph acceleration.
- The US EV market has cooled and electric hypercars have struggled to sell.
- Musk has described the Roadster as the last Tesla built for human driving, as Tesla pivots to robotics and autonomy.
Where accounts differ
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How long the car is overdue
- Left
- Wired says the car was supposed to reach driveways six years ago and puts the reveal at nine years ago; The Verge says nearly a decade since the announcement and calls it vaporware that might never have launched.
Elon Musk person
As reported, Musk promised record acceleration and a flying-capable SpaceX package, and has said the Roadster will be the last human-driven Tesla while he steers Tesla toward robotics and autonomy.
“has said that the Roadster will be the last Tesla vehicle built for human driving” — The Verge
“Musk has suggested several times over the years that the new Roadster will fly” — Wired
Left2 articles
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WiredLC ·
Tesla’s Roadster 2 Is Late—and Entering a Different EV World
Mixed Explanatory piece placing the late Roadster in a changed, shrinking EV market, using analyst quotes and policy context, with a wry closing note on Tesla exiting human driving.
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The VergeLC · · Opinion
The Tesla Roadster could have stayed vaporware
Critical Opinion column arguing the Roadster is an obsolete relic of a Tesla that has moved on, and that it nearly stayed vaporware.
Centre0 articles
No coverage yet.
Right0 articles
No coverage yet.
- 14 Oct 10:15 First WiredLC Tesla’s Roadster 2 Is Late—and Entering a Different EV World
- 14 Oct 12:00 +1h 45m The VergeLC The Tesla Roadster could have stayed vaporware Opinion
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.
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