As Tesla stock soared in after-hours trading following its earnings surprise, CEO Elon Musk joined a call with analysts to take rapid-fire questions about the electric vehicle maker’s finances and lagging production. One surprising response riff had to do with the reason behind the four-year delay in rolling out the leveled up Tesla Roadster.
Musk first thanked “the long-suffering deposit holders of the Tesla Roadster,” before he explained that the reason it hasn’t come out yet is because it’s “not just the icing on the cake, it’s the cherry on the icing on the cake.”
Ultimately, production on the Roadster has to come after Musk’s larger mission of driving progress on the future of sustainable energy. Still, developing the Roadster is “super fun,” he added, but it has to take a backseat—for now. He said Tesla is “close” to finalizing a design on the car and noted, “it’s really going to be something spectacular.”
According to Musk’s “Master Plan,” the Tesla Roadster was the EV maker’s very first product, a single, high-end battery-powered sports car Tesla produced as a small startup. In 2006, Tesla announced it would sell the Signature 100 Roadster for $100,000, and by the next year it had pre-sold 570 of them. The cars became available in 2008, the year Musk took over as CEO. Afterward, Tesla rolled out the Model S and eventually in 2015, the midsize SUV Model X.
Incidentally, Musk got back in touch with current board member James Murdoch after Murdoch purchased a Roadster in 2006 or 2007, according to the company. The duo got friendly, taking trips to Israel, Mexico, and the Bahamas. After one of the vacations, Musk invited Murdoch to join the board, which he did in 2017. Murdoch has since invested $50 million in SpaceX.
However, in 2017, Tesla announced that it would launch a next-generation Roadster with a higher top speed and longer battery range than the original version. Production has since stalled and according to Tesla’s latest financial filings, the Roadster is “in development TBD,” a status that has remained unchanged since 2017.
On Wednesday, Musk hinted that even though the Roadster is still TBD, Tesla might have bigger plans in store, which might make private equity billionaire Peter Thiel very pleased. Musk explained that people think he and Thiel are rivals, but the two are actually “really good friends.”
“Peter was lamenting how the future doesn’t have flying cars,” said Musk. “Well, we’ll see, more to come. Yeah.”
Data Sheet: Stay on top of the business of tech with thoughtful analysis on the industry’s biggest names.
Sign up here.
