California-based Tesla Motors revealed the new Model X crossover last week. CEO Elon Musk stuck around after the press conference to answer questions about the company’s future.
According to a report published by Inside Line, Musk confirmed that the launch of the much-anticipated next-generation Roadster has been delayed until after the company introduces what it calls the Gen 3 EV.
The yet-unnamed Gen 3 EV will be smaller and less expensive than the Model S, the company’s current entry-level sedan. It is billed as a people’s EV and it is slated to become the company’s bread and butter model. It will compete in the same arena as the BMW 3-Series and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class.
The Gen 3 was initially scheduled to debut in 2016, but Musk said that the tentative date had been moved up to 2015. That means that buyers will have to wait until mid-2015 at the very earliest to get their hands on a new Tesla-badged convertible. Earlier reports indicated that a successor to the Roadster was coming in 2014.
It is too early to confirm any technical details about the next Roadster. However, Tesla announced several months ago that it was done using Lotus platforms, and that the next Roadster will ride on a shortened version of the platform that underpins the Model S and the Model X.
