Abstract:
Tesla held an event to unveil its much-anticipated but repeatedly delayed Roadster sports car, showing off a prototype equipped with air thrusters capable of performing aerial stunts. Designed by Tesla in collaboration with SpaceX, this car has a two-seater layout and is equipped with a steering-by-wire system similar to the Cybertruck. Mass production is expected to begin in 2028.
In the context of Tesla's annual sales decline for many consecutive years, its product lineup, which has long been lacking in innovation and has been criticized by the outside world, the Roadster is seen as an attempt to revive the appeal of the Tesla brand.
Tesla finally launched its long-delayed Roadster -- or, more accurately, took it into the sky.
On the evening of October 15th local time, Tesla held an unusual new car launch event, showing a prototype car designed by Tesla and SpaceX. The car is equipped with air thrusters that allow it to jump over other cars and flip through the air. The electric vehicle performed a series of aerial stunts in front of a live audience and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Musk said the car shows "something you've never seen in any movie."
Musk said during this live broadcast: "We need the audience to prove that this is not AI or SI."
The event was held at the SpaceX rocket development base in McGregor, Texas. The base covers an area of 4,000 acres. Musk said on stage: "You're going to see what happens when the best car company in the world partners with the best rocket company in the world."
The market has been waiting for this electric sports car for a long time. Tesla stopped producing the first-generation Roadster in 2012 and announced plans to reintroduce the high-end model nearly a decade ago. Now, the new Roadster has finally been unveiled, but it will still be about two years before it goes into production.
Tesla’s car business is in desperate need of a boost. The company has suffered years of annual sales declines and has faced criticism for a chronic lack of major updates to its product lineup. Musk is trying to shift Tesla's business focus to cutting-edge areas such as artificial intelligence and robotics, but electric vehicle sales still contribute the vast majority of the company's revenue and profits.
The Roadster is priced high and is unlikely to become a mass-market model. However, analysts believe it is expected to reignite enthusiasm for the Tesla brand.
This car also once again highlights the increasingly close cooperative relationship between Musk's two core companies. The investment community generally believes that Tesla and SpaceX may eventually merge.
Gene Munster, managing partner of Deepwater Asset Management, posted on social media after the Roadster was released that the demonstration was a "show of engineering prowess that has no commercial value other than dwarfing traditional automakers."
Another important conclusion he drew from this was that Musk "can't wait to merge Tesla and SpaceX."
At 9:31 a.m. on October 16, Tesla’s share price rose 0.9% in New York, while SpaceX’s share price fell 2.8%. The two companies will further demonstrate their operations to investors in the coming days: SpaceX is scheduled to announce quarterly results on October 20, and Tesla will release results the next day.
The new Roadster incorporates aerospace aesthetic elements into its design, adopts a two-seat layout, and is equipped with a steering-by-wire system similar to the Cybertruck. Tesla also showed a video saying that the car can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in less than 1 second.
However, this long-delayed sports car is not expected to begin mass production until 2028. For commuters who are stuck in traffic every day, it can’t be counted on to fly over traffic jams just yet.
Tesla’s Roadster official website has opened reservations. Consumers can reserve a high-performance version suitable for road driving, or choose the limited-edition “Thrust” track version package. The latter adds acceleration thrusters and a multi-mode adsorption system.
The flight-capable version is available by invitation only, is a "Rocket" kit, and has not yet been approved for public roads.
The eye-catching stunt brought attention to Tesla and highlighted the image the company hopes to project: a company that continues to push technological boundaries and is driven by technological innovation.
At the same time, Tesla executives also emphasized that Roadster is a tribute to the joy of manual driving. This positioning is in sharp contrast to the company's strategy of increasingly focusing on autonomous driving technology.
The new Roadster has experienced multiple delays since it was first announced in 2017. The first-generation Roadster was launched in 2008 and was the first product launched by Tesla. It was discontinued in 2012.
Garrett Nelson, senior equity research analyst at CFRA, said that relaunching the Roadster "should have been on the agenda a long time ago" and that the Tesla brand also needs a new model that can arouse heated discussion in the market.
“Their product development pipeline has been relatively quiet for years,” Nelson said.
The new Roadster will add another model to Tesla's limited consumer car lineup. Currently, the company's consumer models include Model 3 and Model Y, as well as the poorly-selling Cybertruck. Earlier this year, Tesla also discontinued two consumer models.
In addition, Tesla also produces commercial Semi trucks and is producing a two-seat self-driving taxi called Cybercab. Currently, this car is being deployed into Tesla's self-operated fleet.
For years, Tesla has hinted that the next-generation Roadster will offer SpaceX-related options. Some investors and analysts also believe the merger is reasonable based on the overlap in the two companies' businesses.
Musk recently talked about the connection between Tesla and SpaceX again. On September 15, he said when talking about why the two companies remained independent: "This is a good question."
In a recent earnings call, Musk also pointed out that Tesla and SpaceX "have business overlap in many aspects." He singled out Terafab, a semiconductor factory-building initiative being promoted by both companies.
Nelson said: "We are seeing the connection between the two companies getting closer and closer. The situation is now approaching a stage where Musk can make the case that the two companies work so closely together that a merger is a reasonable choice."
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