Will 2021 be the year?
The refreshed 2021 Tesla Model S and Model X aren t the only vehicles from the EV carmaker to feature that weird, if not outright completely unnecessary, steering yoke. Does anyone remember the second-generation Tesla Roadster? Of course you do, but since the concept was revealed back in November 2017, its production start date has been pushed back more than once, despite the fact Tesla immediately began accepting $50,000 deposits. And now, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed another delay. Musk was asked on Twitter the other day about the new Roadster s status and his reply was straightforward: 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.
Look, ma! No hands!
The same day the Tesla Model S and Model X refreshes debuted, the automaker s famous CEO discussed a few other things during the quarterly earnings call. Elon Musk could have spent a chunk of time focusing on the fact Tesla, for the first time ever, had a profitable year in 2020, though this was largely thanks to selling EV credits to other automakers, which isn t a new practice. 2021 is going to be more exciting, Musk said. I think it s going to be a great year for Tesla.
But he didn t stop there.
He also said the company s Full Self-Driving system will be capable of Level 5 autonomy by the end of the year and will be capable of driving vehicles anywhere regardless of conditions with zero need for any human interaction. Why is this so controversial? Oh, where to begin.