Tesla Roadster just delayed to 2023 — and this is the culprit

It’s hard not to feel a little sorry for Tesla fans that put down a $50K to $250K deposit on the upcoming Tesla Roadster. The all-electric sportscar has been delayed to 2023 according to founder Elon Musk.

News comes via a tweet from Musk himself that due to supply chain shortages, it’s unlikely the Tesla Roadster would hit the streets this year. The car was initially announced in 2017 for a 2020 release window. Since then Tesla has pushed back the release to 2021, then to 2022 and now 2023.

Elon Musk added that it didn’t matter how many products Tesla had announced, current supply and chip shortages would mean none could ship.

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. Assuming 2022 is not mega drama, new Roadster should ship in 2023.September 1, 2021

Tesla has gone to great lengths to circumvent supply chain shortages, going so far as to rewrite software for different computer chips to ensure more vehicles could get off the assembly line. It’s allowed Tesla to keep pumping out vehicles while other manufacturers have had to close plants and wait for supply to come in from abroad. Granted, Tesla produces far fewer cars than Ford and Honda.

Companies that didn’t have this foresight are now feeling the heat. For example, GM announced yesterday (Sept. 2) that it would be shutting down nearly all plants in the U.S. due to the chip shortage, the second time the company has done so. The car maker did announce that it would take the time to repair and ship unfinished vehicles. Per The Verge, affected vehicles include the following:

Chevrolet

Silverado
Cheyenne
Traverse
Equinox
Express

GMC

Acadia
Sierra
Savana
Terrain
Canyon

Buick

Cadillac

As for Tesla, when it first unveiled the Roadster, the company gave prospective buyers two pre-order options. a $50K pre-order would net the base model, while a $200K pre-order would give a Founders Series model. Tesla claims the car can go from 0-60 in 1.9 seconds. And with its 200kWh battery pack, the Roadster will have a range of 620 miles.

Unfortunately, it’s not just Tesla sports car fans that are being affected — so are pickup truck drivers. In August the company announced that the Tesla Cybertruck had been delayed to 2022.