Elon Musk is promising a next-generation Roadster, six years later

Six years ago, Elon Musk hyped a next-generation Roadster, the name of Tesla’s debut car from 2008. A refreshed version was never produced, but Musk is once again promising a new Roadster is on the way.

“Tonight, we radically increased the design goals for the new Tesla Roadster,” Musk wrote on X as part of a series of posts Tuesday night. “There will never be another car like this, if you could even call it a car.”

“I think it has a shot at being the most mind-blowing product demo of all time,” he wrote, adding that it will reach 60 miles per hour in less than a second, “and that is the least interesting part.”

Musk promoted the next-generation Roadster concept at an event in November 2017, and in June 2018 in a series of tweets. He said at that time, “SpaceX option package for new Tesla Roadster will include ~10 small rocket thrusters arranged seamlessly around car.” The engines would improve speed and braking, and may “even allow a Tesla to fly,” he wrote at the time.

On Tuesday, he replied to his old tweets saying, “You will love the new Roadster more than your house.”

Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Musk’s renewed proclamations followed news that Chinese rival BYD introduced a new electric supercar, dubbed the U9, that can hit speeds similar to high-end models from companies like Ferrari.

BYD’s electric supercar, which it says will be able to reach a top speed around 192 miles per hour, is slated for delivery to customers this summer. While BYD doesn’t have plans to sell its vehicles in the U.S., Tesla competes with BYD in mainland China and other markets.

Tesla’s market share in China declined in January to 6.1%, while BYD’s share stood at 29.2%, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association cited by Morgan Stanley China Autos researchers in a note Wednesday.

Grandiose promises from Musk are nothing new. His frequent failures to deliver on them are the subject of an online promise-tracking website…