Tesla’s Master Plan Part 3 detailed the final portions of how the electric automaker plans to influence and dominate the global market through sustainability. It featured plans for mass production of a new compact model, volume projections for the Cybertruck, and new details on other commercial vehicles, but it was void of the Roadster.
The Tesla Roadster has been one of the company’s crown jewels, but it has been teased for so many years that some fans are wondering if it will ever actually reach production.
In the third iteration of the Master Plan, Tesla broadened its scope for how it can achieve a monumental transition to sustainable powertrains across the entire market, but also how it can achieve a mass production forecast of its entire vehicle lineup.
It featured key contributors to that plan, which include the heavily rumored compact sedan that could be built at its upcoming Gigafactory in Mexico, as well as commercial vehicle applications like a van and two different pack sizes for the Semi.
What it was void of, however, is the Roadster, and the fact that the Master Plan Part 3 was geared toward Tesla’s long-term goals and major contributors to how it can help the world achieve a sustainable future may be the very reason it was not included.
The Roadster is an extremely low-volume vehicle. It costs $250,000, it is apparently going to feature SpaceX cold-gas thrusters for face-melting acceleration, it might have hovering capabilities, but its production has always been derailed by some sort of circumstance beyond Tesla’s control.
Set to make its first deliveries in 2021, the Roadster was put on the back burner, no pun intended, by the COVID-19 pandemic, which basically disrupted nearly every company in the sector in some way. With Tesla looking to survive supply chain constraints and fulfill orders for its vehicles, the Roadster simply was not a priority. Tesla pushed production back to 2022.
Tesla Roadster 2.0 to be better on “basically every metric” than prototype
2022 came and went, and CEO Elon Musk detailed late last year that the vehicle could come this year, as long as Tesla avoided supply chain “mega drama.”
But it seems the Roadster won’t be here this year, either. Tesla will instead focus on Cybertruck production and ramping up its factories for mass electrification, and the Roadster simply does not fit those plans.
Chief Designer for Tesla Franz von Holzhausen said recently that Tesla was in the process of developing the Roadster, but it just won’t make it to the production phases this year:
“We’re developing the car. I think you know we have priorities as a company, and the priorities are mass electrification. And Roadster is not a mass product. So, unfortunately, you know it takes its kind of position, but we are working on it in earnest. And I think the time that we’ve taken had enabled us to really improve on basically every metric that we set out to establish when we first debuted that.”
Last evening’s release of the Master Plan Part 3 revealed a lot of details, but the global fleet only included mass-market vehicles that will contribute to the company’s plan to increase the volume of cars it puts on the road.
Credit: Tesla
The Roadster simply does not fit those plans, so don’t be discouraged if you’re awaiting any updates on its production.
Nevertheless, there is reason to be slightly frustrated with the timeline of the vehicle, especially as it continues to be pushed back for a multitude of reasons. We can only hope the vehicle will be out within the next few years, and even if it is slightly different than what was shown in 2020 and what some customers are expecting.
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Tesla has expanded its branded ‘For Business’ Supercharger program that it launched last year, as yet another company is using the platform to attract EV owners to its business and utilize a unique advertising opportunity.
Francis Energy of Oklahoma is launching four Superchargers in Norman, where the University of Oklahoma is located. The Superchargers, which are fitted with branding for Francis Energy, will officially open tomorrow.
It will not be the final Supercharger location that Francis Energy plans to open, the company confirmed to EVWire.
Back in early September, Tesla launched the new “Supercharger for Business” program in an effort to give businesses the ability to offer EV charging at custom rates. It would give their businesses visibility and would also cater to employees or customers.
“Purchase and install Superchargers at your business,” Tesla wrote on a page on its website for the new program. “Superchargers are compatible with all electric vehicles, bringing EV drivers to your business by offering convenient, reliable charging.”
The first site opened in Land O’ Lakes, Florida, which is Northeast of Tampa, as a company called Suncoast launched the Superchargers for local EV owners.
Tesla launches its new branded Supercharger for Business with first active station
The program also does a great job at expanding infrastructure for EV owners, which is something that needs to be done to encourage more people to purchase Teslas and other electric cars.
Francis Energy operates at least 14 EV charging locations in Oklahoma, spanning from Durant to Oklahoma City and nearly everywhere in between. Filings from the company, listed by Supercharge.info, show the company’s plans to convert some of them to Tesla Superchargers, potentially utilizing the new Supercharger for Business program to advertise.
Moving forward, more companies will likely utilize Tesla’s Supercharger for Business program as it presents major advantages in a variety of ways, especially with advertising and creating a place for EV drivers to gain range in their cars.
Tesla Cybercab is perhaps the most highly-anticipated project that the company plans to roll out this year, and as it is undergoing its testing phase in pre-production currently, there are some things to work through with it.
Over the weekend, an image of the Cybercab being loaded onto a tow truck started circulating on the internet, and people began to speculate as to what the issue could be.
Hmmmmmm… https://t.co/L5hWcOXQkb pic.twitter.com/OJBDyHNTMj
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 11, 2026
The Cybercab can clearly be seen with a Police Officer and perhaps the tow truck driver by its side, being loaded onto, or even potentially unloaded from, the truck.
However, it seems unlikely it was being offloaded, as its operation would get it to this point for testing to begin with.
It appears, at first glance, that it needs assistance getting back to wherever it came from; likely Gigafactory Texas or potentially a Bay Area facility.
The Cybercab was also spotted in Buffalo, New York, last week, potentially undergoing cold-weather testing, but it doesn’t appear that’s where this incident took place.
It is important to remember that the Cybercab is currently undergoing some rigorous testing scenarios, which include range tests and routine public road operation. These things help Tesla assess any potential issue the vehicle could run into after it starts routine production and heads to customers, or for the Robotaxi platform operation.
This is not a one-off issue, either. Tesla had some instances with the Semi where it was seen broken down on the side of a highway three years ago. The all-electric Semi has gone on to be successful in its early pilot program, as companies like Frito-Lay and PepsiCo. have had very positive remarks.
The Cybercab’s future is bright, and it is important to note that no vehicle model has ever gone its full life without a breakdown. It happens, it’s a car.
Nevertheless, it is important to note that there has been no official word on what happened with this particular Cybercab unit, but it is crucial to remember that this is the pre-production testing phase, and these things are more constructive than anything.
Tesla analyst Andrew Percoco of Morgan Stanley teased the company’s dominance in its self-driving initiative, stating that its lead over competitors is “not even close.”
Percoco recently overtook coverage of Tesla stock from Adam Jonas, who had covered the company at Morgan Stanley for years. Percoco is handling Tesla now that Jonas is covering embodied AI stocks and no longer automotive.
His first move after grabbing coverage was to adjust the price target from $410 to $425, as well as the rating from ‘Overweight’ to ‘Equal Weight.’
Percoco’s new note regarding Tesla highlights the company’s extensive lead in self-driving and autonomy projects, something that it has plenty of competition in, but has established its prowess over the past few years.
He writes:
“It’s not even close. Tesla continues to lead in autonomous driving, even as Nvidia rolls out new technology aimed at helping other automakers build driverless systems.”
Percoco’s main point regarding Tesla’s advantage is the company’s ability to collect large amounts of training data through its massive fleet, as millions of cars are driving throughout the world and gathering millions of miles of vehicle behavior on the road.
This is the main point that Percoco makes regarding Tesla’s lead in the entire autonomy sector: data is King, and Tesla has the most of it.
One big story that has hit the news over the past week is that of NVIDIA and its own self-driving suite, called Alpamayo. NVIDIA launched this open-source AI program last week, but it differs from Tesla’s in a significant fashion, especially from a hardware perspective, as it plans to use a combination of LiDAR, Radar, and Vision (Cameras) to operate.
Percoco said that NVIDIA’s announcement does not impact Morgan Stanley’s long-term opinions on Tesla and its strength or prowess in self-driving.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang commends Tesla’s Elon Musk for early belief
And, for what it’s worth, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang even said some remarkable things about Tesla following the launch of Alpamayo:
“I think the Tesla stack is the most advanced autonomous vehicle stack in the world. I’m fairly certain they were already using end-to-end AI. Whether their AI did reasoning or not is somewhat secondary to that first part.”
Percoco reiterated both the $425 price target and the ‘Equal Weight’ rating on Tesla shares.
Tesla expands its branded ‘For Business’ Superchargers
Tesla Cybercab ‘breakdown’ image likely is not what it seems
