(VIDEO) Tesla Confirms Next-Generation Roadster Reveal Date of October 1 in Waco, Texas, After Long Delays

Tesla announced Saturday that it will finally unveil the second-generation Roadster on October 1, ending months of speculation over when the company's long-delayed sports car would make its public debut nearly nine years after it was first shown to the world.

The electric vehicle maker posted a brief teaser on X, writing simply "Go for launch" alongside a graphic displaying the date "10.01." The image also appeared to hint at cold-gas thrusters developed by SpaceX, the rocket company also run by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, technology long rumored to give a high-performance version of the Roadster the ability to briefly lift off the ground. According to reporting from The Information, the reveal is set to take place in Waco, Texas.

A vehicle nearly a decade in the making

Tesla first showed the second-generation Roadster to the public in November 2017 during an event centered on the Tesla Semi. At the time, Musk promised extraordinary performance figures: a 0-to-60 mph time under two seconds, a top speed above 250 mph, and a range of 620 miles, specifications the company still lists on its official Roadster webpage. Production was originally targeted for 2020.

That timeline has slipped repeatedly in the years since, pushed back through 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 as Tesla redirected engineering and manufacturing focus toward other priorities, including the Cybertruck launch, the ramp-up of the Tesla Semi, and more recently the company's pivot toward artificial intelligence, robotics and autonomous driving technology through projects like the Cybercab and its Optimus humanoid robot.

At Tesla's shareholder meeting on Nov. 6, 2025, Musk set a demonstration date of April 1, 2026, for the Roadster, while acknowledging the timing choice gave him what he called "deniability because I can say I was just kidding." He also said at the time that production would likely begin 12 to 18 months following the reveal, placing an actual delivery timeline in 2027 or 2028, and described the finished car as being "very different from what was shown previously." Musk further called the planned unveiling the "most exciting, whether it works or not, demo ever of any product."

That April date came and went without an event. Musk had already begun shifting the timeline in mid-March, posting on X that the unveiling would come "hopefully next month" and would be "a banger next-level" reveal, before saying it would "probably" happen in late April instead. By the company's April 22 earnings call, Tesla described the Roadster as still being in design development, with Musk estimating the reveal was "a month or so" away pending further testing and validation.

A public dispute over reservation costs

The Roadster's repeated delays became the subject of a public back-and-forth last year between Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who had placed a reservation for the vehicle years earlier. Altman said on social media that "7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait" after paying a $50,000 reservation fee for the car, a comment Musk pushed back on by asserting that Altman had actually received a refund on his deposit.

Reservations for the Roadster have ranged from $50,000 for the base configuration up to $250,000 for a limited "Founders Series" edition, with tens of thousands of early depositors from 2017 and 2018 still waiting for concrete answers about the car's final specifications, pricing and delivery timeline. Asked previously whether Founders Series customers who paid the higher reservation amount would be invited to attend the eventual reveal event, Musk said, "Sure, absolutely. It's the least we can do for our long-suffering Roadster reservation holders."

What Saturday's teaser suggests about the design

Close observers of Tesla's teaser image noted that the silhouette shown does not appear to match the rear profile of the original 2017 concept car, lending some support to Musk's past statements that the finished production vehicle will differ meaningfully from what was originally displayed. Commentary from the widely followed Tesla-focused account Whole Mars Catalog characterized the teaser as hinting at "an all new design," a reading consistent with Musk's earlier remarks describing the eventual production Roadster as a significant departure from the prototype shown nearly a decade ago.

The teaser's imagery, along with earlier reporting from The Information, has also reinforced longstanding expectations that Tesla may demonstrate a SpaceX-derived cold-gas thruster package as part of the October event, potentially as an optional performance upgrade available on a limited version of the car. Whether that system is fully functional and road-legal in various markets remains an open question that the October event is expected to help clarify.

Key questions heading into October

For the many depositors who have waited years for updates, Saturday's announcement sets up several unresolved questions that the October 1 event will likely need to address. Chief among them is whether the finished production specifications still match Tesla's original 2017 promises of a sub-two-second 0-to-60 time, a top speed above 250 mph and 620 miles of range, or whether the car ultimately exceeds or falls short of those figures. Pricing also remains unclear, with the original $200,000 base price target for the production model not yet reconfirmed by the company.

Delivery timing remains similarly uncertain. Musk has floated both "late 2026" and 2027 as possible windows at different points over the past year, and any unveiling that fails to include a firm production and delivery schedule would likely be viewed skeptically given the vehicle's long history of missed deadlines.

Tesla has not released additional details beyond the October 1 date and the accompanying teaser imagery, leaving open questions about the event's format, location logistics in Waco, and whether the automaker will use the occasion to finally lock in a firm production timeline after years of shifting targets. For now, the announcement marks the most concrete signal in months that Tesla intends to move the long-awaited Roadster from concept to public reveal, even as questions about an actual delivery date to paying customers remain unresolved heading into the fall.