Did you like the new Tesla Roadster so much that you want one of the first ones in 2020? That’ll be $250,000 up front, like right now, thank you very much.
Tesla has opened the reservation books for both the Roadster and the Semi truck but unlike the Model 3 pre-order scheme, the deposits are understandably larger.
Pre-order reservations for the new Tesla Semi are available now for a $5,000 deposit, with Musk saying that production will start in less than two years.
As for the new Roadster, the deposit rises to $50,000. Nothing strange here, we’ve seen a lot of sports cars and supercars demanding a hefty deposit in order to get you in front of the line but that’s where Tesla is going a different route.
Tesla quotes $200,000 for the base version of the new Roadster, where the $50k deposit applies; if you truly want one of the first examples on the road in 2020, you’ll have to opt for the special ‘Founder’s Edition’ version which is applied for the first 1,000 Roadsters. The cost for that one is $250,000 but securing one means paying Tesla upfront the full price of the car right now.
Some might say that Tesla’s move to ask for the whole $250k for a car that theoretically will arrive in three years at best is a bit of a stretch, especially since the company has made a reputation of missing its targets consistently. Other might argue that this will be basically a free, zero-interest loan to a company that burns cash at an alarming rate. After all, if Tesla does sell all 1,000 Founder’s Edition Roadsters, it’ll be a $250 million capital raise for the company.
With the company currently struggling to kickstart mass production of the Model 3 -essentially the most crucial of their models- the new cash flow coming from the deposits of their two new models could be used towards solving some of their “production bottlenecks” while the hype of the two new models might drive once again the value of the company up in the stock market.
Is this a stretch? Or the very impressive numbers promised by the new Tesla Roadster are worth paying the full price three years ahead of its launch? Only time will tell.
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