The Tesla Roadster 2.0 could be Tesla's next vehicle to hit production
Tesla
Tesla's Chief Designer, Franz von Holzhausen, has designed the company's entire fleet of vehicles, but the Model S, 3, X, Y, Cybertruck and Semi are not his favorites. "My favorite one is the one that is coming.
I can't talk about (it)," von Holzhausen told CNBC. He then quickly pivoted the conversation away from that topic. Nevertheless, several rumored vehicles will be the next to carry the "T" logo. So, which one is the creative mind of Tesla referring to in his evasive answer?
Franz von Holzhausen Interview
Let's start with the suspects. A cheaper, smaller and less expensive electric vehicle has been predicted for years. More recently, there have been ideas about a van. And then there is the second generation of the highly anticipated Roadster. While von Holzhausen didn't talk about the next one, he did give some clues later in the interview. "My all-time favorite car is a '62 250 GTO (Ferrari). I mean, it is quintessential. It's an insane car. I'm also a big fan of this kind of wedge era. The early (Lamborghini) Countachs, the whole kind of flat, low sports car. Those were always the posters on my wall."
The Designer Loves Sports Cars
When a 54-year-old man reminisces about the cars featured in posters plastered on his wall when he was a kid, he is not excited about a van or a compact vehicle — no, he is excited about a sports car. The second-generation Roadster was unveiled in 2017 simultaneously with the Semi. But there hasn't been much mention of the sports car since. The company is just now delivering Semis, and Cybertrucks are expected in 2023, but the Roadster doesn't have an ETA. Or does it? The chief designer says, "… the one that is coming." So, we can only assume that the Roadster is next to hit the production line.
Tesla Roadster 2.0
A Designer Who has Changed the Industry
One of the first employees of Tesla back in 2008, von Holzhausen, recalls the early days and how things have changed. "There is a moment that I thought when I first joined Tesla that it would be great to see multiple Teslas in one drive experience around town. And now, it's hard to go anywhere without seeing a bunch of Teslas. So, it's great to see the impact that Tesla has had in people's lives but also how it's changed the industry. It really pushed this idea that an EV can be better than an internal combustion vehicle."
He also gave some insight into designing vehicles that have and continue to change the auto industry, "Tesla isn't beholden to what has been done in the past. We are always trying to push the boundaries and deliver on a promise of something fun, something enjoyable and something you would love to own and tell your friends about."
It looks like The Roadster could be the next fun, enjoyable vehicle to tell everyone about.
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Tesla’s Vice President of Vehicle Engineering, Lars Moravy, recently took to X and opened the floor for user input. There, he asked the community for features and improvements they’d like to see to make Teslas better heading into 2026.
This post generated thousands of suggestions - and we recapped the best of them. There were also a few that Lars responded to, giving owners hope for some much-requested future changes, so let’s take a look at what may be coming
Lumbar Profile Support
Today, lumbar support is one of the few items that is not saved in the Tesla profile. That means if you have multiple drivers who use the same vehicle, you’re often left adjusting this setting manually, as it retains the setting that was last used. One community member suggested saving your lumbar setting to your profile just like Tesla does for other seat settings.
Lars said making this change seems doable, but it’ll take some engineering magic. The lumbar support isn’t tied to an absolute sensor like the other seat settings. This suggests that Tesla does not have an exact value to save, as it does with other seat functions, but Lars believes Tesla can find a way to save lumbar preferences. Tesla could potentially time how long the motor runs to get to the user’s lumbar setting and save this value.
With that said, it seems the vehicle engineering team may take a look at this one, and we may see it included in a future update.
Model 3 Signal Stalk Retrofit
The move away from traditional stalks in favor of the steering wheel buttons on the Refreshed Model 3 has been a point of debate. While the author is squarely in the camp of steering wheel buttons (at least with the Cybertruck), many dissent and say that the buttons on the Refreshed 3 aren’t as satisfying or easy to use.
Many other drivers also prefer the tactile feel and muscle memory of a physical stalk for signaling. Tesla appears to favor stalks, as they retained the turn signal stalk with the new Model Y. There are also rumors that Tesla is going to reintroduce the turn signal stalk to the Model 3.
If Tesla adds stalks back to the new Model 3, current 2024+ Model 3 owners are still left without stalks. However, a user suggested adding stalks as a retrofit option. Lars said that he would try to consider a retrofitted signal stalk for the Refreshed Model 3, similar to the simplified version in the Refreshed Model Y.
While less definitive than the lumbar support response, it appears that Tesla may at least consider offering a stalk retrofit for the new Model 3. If you’re a lover of signal stalks and can’t wait for Tesla to get an official one - we recommend the Enhauto S3XY Stalks, which are customizable and feel very close to Tesla’s original fit and finish.
With that said, it’s nice to see Tesla incorporating more community feedback into its vehicle design these days. Perhaps one day, they’ll address the infamous auto wipers. They have gotten better, but they’re still not as reliable as what’s available in most other vehicles. With that said, we look forward to the changes that will emerge from these recent conversations.
Sometimes, even with Tesla’s intensive bug-testing regime, bugs manage to make it out into the wild. In this particular case, a European user (@darkwaffle48484 on X) noticed that their 2024 Model 3 was using up more battery than normal while parked. Normally, they noted that the vehicle would lose about 1-2% per week; however, recently, they noticed much larger drops of 3-4% per night.
They monitored their Tesla widget and noticed the car wasn’t entering deep sleep. The widget consistently showed a recent connection time—usually within the past 45 minutes.
Fix Inbound
After discussing the issue with other Tesla owners and realizing it was somewhat widespread, they contacted Tesla Service. The service team confirmed that it was a firmware bug affecting the Telematics Control Unit (TCU), which prevented the vehicle from entering deep sleep mode.
The TCU is essentially the communications hub of your Tesla - and is mounted on the ceiling of newer vehicles such as the Model 3 and the new Model Y. It enables cellular and location services (via GPS) and also handles Wi-Fi and Bluetooth services. Tesla Service stated that this bug is planned to be fixed in update 2025.14.6, although the exact version number could change. However, they confirmed that they are aware of the issue and it is being addressed.
@darkwaffle48484
When the user reached out to Tesla Service, Tesla Service responded with the following (translated from Dutch):
“It has been confirmed that this is a firmware bug. The fix is in one of the next updates. Currently, it is planned for 2025.14.6 (subject to change). Do you have any more questions?”
Potentially Region-Specific
This bug could potentially be region-specific. TCUs often require specific hardware components, such as modems, as well as specific firmware versions that support different regions and cellular providers. These enable Tesla to comply with local cellular standards and regulations and ensure that your vehicle can connect to the networks available in that particular region.
At this point, it’s not clear when the fix will roll out, but given that update 2025.14.1 has practically stopped rolling out, Tesla may be waiting to resume the rollout with update 2025.14.3 or this 2025.14.6 version.
If you’ve noticed this issue and are in a non-European nation, let us know.
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