Tesla is set to unveil its redesigned Roadster on Thursday night, nearly nine years after it first showed a next-generation version of its electric sports car, Reuters reported on 15 October 2026. The event is scheduled to start at 8:55 p.m. EDT (00:55 GMT Friday, 01:55 BST Friday) at a SpaceX test site in McGregor, Texas.
As of this writing, the reveal has not happened. This post is a preview of a scheduled event, not a report of what was shown on stage.
What Reuters says is scheduled
According to Reuters, Tesla revealed a prototype of a $200,000 Roadster in 2017 and said deliveries would begin in 2020. The price has not been updated, Reuters says, but reservations are still $50,000 each.
The original Roadster, sold from 2008 to 2012, was Tesla’s first EV and used a Lotus Elise chassis. Reuters notes that Tesla is now better known for the Model Y, Model X, Model S and Model 3, and that the company has shifted hard toward AI-led self-driving and robotics — including Optimus and the Cybercab robotaxi — while stopping sales of Model S and X to free production space for humanoid robots.
Musk’s claims — not confirmed production specs
Chief executive Elon Musk has repeatedly talked up performance numbers that have never been delivered as production specifications.
In 2017, Reuters says, Musk claimed a four-seat Roadster would travel 620 miles (1,000 km) on a single charge. In 2024, he posted on X that the car had been redesigned and would accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in less than a second, adding that was “the least interesting part” and that it was a collaboration between Tesla and SpaceX. Those range and acceleration figures are Musk’s claims. They are not confirmed production specs from today’s scheduled unveil.
In 2023, Musk played down the car’s financial importance, calling it a “small potato situation” that would not “move the needle in a major way financially,” Reuters reported.
Analyst context via Reuters
Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein, in a note last month cited by Reuters, said Tesla “does not currently have a halo car” and that the Roadster “will be Tesla’s new halo car” — a high-performance luxury vehicle meant to showcase engineering. Goldstein expects Tesla to sell around 2,000 Roadsters a year, a fraction of the 1.6 million vehicles Tesla sold last year, according to Reuters.
Why the timing matters
The Roadster has been one of Tesla’s longest-running delayed promises. A 2017 prototype and a 2020 delivery target left a nine-year gap. Staging the reveal at a SpaceX site, rather than a conventional auto show, also fits Musk’s habit of blending Tesla and SpaceX spectacle — and matches his earlier claim that the redesign involved both companies.
For Tesla watchers, the questions tonight are basic and still unanswered in the Reuters preview: what the production car looks like; whether the $200,000 figure and $50,000 reservation still hold; whether any range, acceleration or delivery date is restated as a firm commitment; and how the car fits a company that now talks more about robotaxis and humanoids than about halo sports cars.
What is still unknown
Nothing in the Reuters report confirms production battery specs, final pricing, delivery year, or whether the “less than a second” 0–60 claim survives the stage. Share-price reactions should not be attributed without a sourced market report after the event.
TSN’s longer Tesla timeline post covers deliveries, robotaxis, NHTSA and FSD claims separately; this Roadster date is a standalone event and should not be folded into that roundup.
What to watch tonight
- Whether Tesla shows a production-intent car or another concept
- Any updated price, reservation terms or delivery window
- Whether Musk repeats or revises the 620-mile and sub-one-second claims
- Any SpaceX collaboration details beyond the venue
Sources
- Reuters via Yahoo Finance (Abhirup Roy), “Tesla set to unveil next generation Roadster sports EV after years of delay”, 15 October 2026. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-set-unveil-next-generation-100401819.html
