See All 31 Photos Once again, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has changed his tune from promises he’s made in year’s past. This time the new lyrics came during the Q3 2024 Tesla Earnings call. During the Q-and-A portion of the call Musk was asked about the on-again, off-again $25,000 Tesla and the second-gen Tesla Roadster which was revealed 7 years ago. What Musk had to say isn’t all that surprising. 0:00 / 0:00 Tesla Roadster When? Later in the Q&A session Musk was asked, “What is going on with the Tesla Roadster?” Meaning the Tesla Roadster 2.0 which had a surprise reveal in 2017. Musk and his associates laughed as this is a question he’s persistently received since he originally promised the car 7 years ago. “Well, I just want to thank our long-suffering deposit holders of the Tesla Roadster,” said Musk. “The reason why it hasn’t come out yet is because it’s not just the icing on the cake but it’s the cherry on the icing on the cake.” Seems like Musk enjoys dragging out metaphors as much as he does vehicle release dates. “Our larger mission is to accelerate progress toward a sustainable energy future,” said Musk. “Try to do things to maximize the probability that the future is good for humanity and for Earth.” Blah blah blah, we all want a “good” future for humanity in fact we want a great future, but a bunch of people dropped a lot of cash for a deposit, so where’s their Roadsters? “That necessarily means things like that [the Roadster] are kind of like dessert,” said Musk. “We’d all love to work on the Tesla Roadster it’s super fun and we are working on it, but it has to come behind the things that have a more serious impact on the good of the world.” See All 31 Photos That’s a noble sentiment, but we reckon that those “long-suffering” deposit holders you’ve thanked probably would have held off had they known that the Roadster’s actual release date was “When we’ve officially saved the world.” Musk ended the question by again thanking the deposit holders and saying that Tesla is getting close to “finalizing” the design of the Roadster saying that it will be “something spectacular.” Musk could have stopped there, but of course he had to add one more carrot to the bushel that he’s already dangling in front of his very patient Roadster customers. Musk referenced his friendship with fellow billionaire Peter Thiel and how Thiel was “lamenting” that we don’t have flying cars yet. “Well, we’ll see,” said Musk. So, on top of saying that the Roadster will be as fast or faster than most hypercars and have more range than any EV currently on the market, Musk is now suggesting that it will be able to fly. What’s next? A Cybertruck that can float? Andrew Beckford Andrew Beckford’s passion for cars started as a middle schooler when his friend Richie explained how an internal combustion engine works. He was bitten by the bug and the rest, as they say, is history. He dug deep into the tuner scene and eventually wrote for Turbo Magazine, Import Tuner, Super Street. He covered car shows, feature builds, and reviewed racing games for those magazines in addition to covering motorsports including Formula Drift, Indy Car, and F1 for his personal blog. Eventually Beckford joined MotorTrend to cover the daily automotive news beat. Besides being a gearhead, Beckford has been a gamer since the ’80s and is a huge fan of the arcade racing games of the ’90s like Daytona USA, SEGA Rally, and Ridge Racer. Beckford’s a movie buff as well, especially comic book films from DC and Marvel. When car culture crosses over with gaming and entertainment, rest assured Beckford is aware of it. In addition to serving as a consultant on a “triple A” racing titles, he’s reviewed major racing games such as Forza Motorsport, Need for Speed, Gran Turismo, F1, and more. He’s also interviewed blockbuster directors including Steven Caple Jr. (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) and Neill Blomkamp (Gran Turismo). His biggest profile to date was with Robert Downey Jr. on his love affair with cars and his show Downey’s Dream Cars on MAX. Beckford’s profile of Downey Jr. was the first print cover story written by an African American in MotorTrend’s history. Along with KJ Jones, Andrew Beckford also heads up MotorTrend’s celebration of Black History Month by spotlighting diverse voices in the automotive industry and motorsports. Beckford’s first car was a 1982 Nissan Stanza affectionately named “Stanley” by his late mother.