If you’ve been waiting for the Tesla Roadster, you’re not alone. Unfortunately though, you’re out of luck, at least for now. The Tesla Roadster is delayed until 2023. Even that isn’t a guarantee, as Tesla CEO Elon Musk says that the Roadster will ship “Assuming 2022 isn’t mega drama.” Why hasn’t the Tesla Roadster already shipped, and what kind of drama could keep it from being available in 2023?

What’s been holding up the Roadster so far?

The Tesla Roadster was already due. However, it’s been delayed a couple of times. At one point the Roadster was delayed because Tesla had decided to focus on the Cybertruck instead. Now Elon Musk says that part of the reason that the Roadster hasn’t come to fruition is because of the ongoing supply chain shortages. Musk tweeted, ““2021 has been the year of super crazy supply chain shortages, so it wouldn’t matter if we had 17 new products, as none would ship.” 

We’ve known about the Tesla Roadster since 2017

Elon Musk first revealed the Tesla Roadster in November 2017. At the time Musk said that the Roadster would be able to go 0-60 in 1.9 seconds. According to the Verge, Musk also said that the Roadster would be able to go 620 miles on a single charge. 

When the Roadster was first announced, it was supposed to begin being made in 2020. Obviously that didn’t happen. It wasn’t until 2021 that Musk revealed that the Tesla Roadster was delayed. Then he said it would come about in 2022, but now it looks like that isn’t going to happen either. Musk had tweeted that Tesla was “Finishing engineering this year, production starts next year. Aiming to have release candidate design drivable late summer. Tri-motor drive system & advanced battery work were important precursors.”

So will we really see the Tesla Roadster in 2023?

One never knows if Tesla’s timeline will be accurate. Musk tends to tweet that things will happen at a certain date, and it’s anyone’s guess as to whether that is true. If you’re one of the people who put down a hefty deposit for the Roadster – anywhere between $50,000 and $250,000 – you’re probably extra eager to know when you’ll be getting your car. 
Yet when pressed about the Tesla Roadster, Musk said via tweet, “Assuming 2022 is not mega drama, new Roadster should ship in 2023.” One can only guess that the mega drama that Musk refers to is the ongoing pandemic which is fueling a chip shortage and supply chain disruptions. It seems that things around the world need to regain some semblance of normalcy before we’ll see the Tesla Roadster.