By Andy Jones
The Tesla Roadster had to retreat last year from the market as Lotus decided to cease production of its Elise and Exige sports cars, which shared a platform with Tesla.
However, Tesla says that it will build a successor to Roadster, although it will be a few years before the car goes on sale. Though the second-generation Tesla Roadster was expected to be out sometime in 2014, but CEO Elon Musk now says that the launch has been postponed to late 2015.
The reason for the delay is not a technological glitch, but that Tesla is simply too occupied with the launch of its third-generation electric platform, which will be introduced as an affordable electric sedan that's expected to arrive early in 2015.
Musk told Inside Line at the preview unveiling of Tesla's Model X, that he would very much like to launch the mainstream model earlier than planned before, only to add that nothing was final as yet.
The next-generation Tesla Roadster will have the same construction as the mainstream model. As of now, details are fuzzy over Tesla's third-generation platform, a.k.a. 'Gen 3,' but it's believed that the model will be shorter, lighter, and cheaper to produce than the second-generation platform cars like the soon-to-be-launched Model S sedan and Model X crossover.
To begin with, the affordable electric sedan is expected to be priced under $30,000, and will compete with the likes of the BMW 3-Series and the Project Nina from competing electric car start-up Fisker.
