It was in November 2017 when Tesla first unveiled the second Roadster, promising incredible numbers — a 1.9 second zero-to-sixty time, for one — though the most incredible number was 2020, the year Tesla said the Roadster was scheduled to start production. Obviously, that never happened, though Elon said in September production would start in 2023.
In the meantime, lots of deposits have been made on a car that still isn’t in production. You, too, can put down a deposit of only $50,000 to get in line for a Roadster, though as Electrek recently noticed, Tesla has removed pricing information from its website for the car, which used to list at $200,000 and $250,000 for the limited-run Founders Series.
You also can’t make a reservation for the Founders Series anymore, suggesting that possibly all 1,000 Founders Series reservations have sold, at the cool Founders Series reservation price of the full $250,000. The fact that Tesla no longer shows the base price also suggests that it may end up being different than the $200,000 Tesla had originally planned, which is understandable given that it’s been years now and inflation and all of that. Who knows when this car may actually be built? It will be funny, though, if the price for the base Roadster ends up being more than the price of the Founders Series.
And, obviously, it isn’t uncommon to fork over money and have to wait for your car to be built — especially your supercar — but the Tesla way is that you have to wait several years, which maybe that just adds more allure.
Still, if you haven’t put down $50,000 already for your Roadster deposit and are considering it, might I suggest putting that $50,000 in an index fund instead. Whenever this car actually does come out, your $50,000 will likely have grown, instead of being given to an automaker that really doesn’t need it.