Tesla will unveil its long-delayed second-generation Roadster on Thursday, October 1, at an 8:30 p.m. ET event in Waco, Texas, and reservation holders who received invitations have until midnight on Wednesday, September 16, to RSVP. The date ends a year of missed demo targets for the electric sports car first shown in 2017.
Tesla announced the date on Saturday, September 12, with a post on X that showed a red Roadster under launch-pad lighting, the words “Go for launch” and the date 10.01, TechCrunch reported. The event matters because the Roadster has become Tesla’s most visible broken timeline: buyers put down deposits of up to $250,000 on a car that was supposed to reach production six years ago.
Tesla Roadster event details: date, time and invitations
Invitations sent to Roadster reservation holders place the event in Waco, about 90 minutes north of Tesla’s Austin headquarters, according to Not a Tesla App, which published the invitation terms. The site also lists the start time as 5:30 p.m. PT, or 12:30 a.m. UTC on October 2.
- Date and time: Thursday, October 1, 2026, at 8:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. PT)
- Location: Waco, Texas
- Who can attend: Roadster reservation holders who received an invitation
- RSVP deadline: Midnight on Wednesday, September 16
- Entry rules: Tickets are non-transferable and guests must be 21 or older
- Livestream: Not confirmed by Tesla
Waco also sits close to SpaceX’s McGregor engine test site, Teslarati noted, a detail that has fed speculation about how the car will be shown. Tesla has not said whether people without an invitation will be able to watch online. A countdown timer on Tesla’s Roadster page now runs to October 1.
Why the Roadster reveal has slipped for nine years
Elon Musk introduced the Roadster prototype in November 2017 with a 2020 production target. According to Electrek’s tally, Tesla has pushed deliveries back at least eight times since then, moving the target to 2022, 2023, 2024, “2025-2026” and most recently 2027 or 2028. Planned demonstrations on April 1 and in August of this year also did not happen.
The 2017 prototype came with headline claims of 0 to 60 mph in under 2 seconds, a range of 620 miles and a top speed above 250 mph. Tesla priced the base car at $200,000 and the Founders Series at $250,000, with a $50,000 deposit for a standard reservation. Some high-profile reservation holders, including YouTube reviewer Marques Brownlee and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, later cancelled.
The car shown on October 1 may look very different from the 2017 prototype. TechCrunch cited earlier reporting from The Information that Tesla had abandoned the original design. The Roadster would join a crowded high-performance EV field that already includes cars from several of the top Tesla competitors.
What the “Go for launch” teaser suggests about the SpaceX package
The launch-themed teaser points to the optional SpaceX package Musk has promoted for years. He has claimed that cold gas thrusters could push the Roadster from 0 to 60 mph in under one second and even lift the car off the ground briefly, Paul Tan’s Automotive News reported. None of those figures have been independently tested, and Tesla has not published specifications for the new car.
Teslarati reported that a thruster-equipped version may not be street legal and could be offered through a track-focused program. Tesla has not confirmed that plan. Electrek noted that the teaser image leaned on the idea that the car will “hover,” which Tesla has yet to demonstrate in public.
When Tesla Roadster production could start
An unveiling is not a launch. Musk has previously said production would begin 12 to 18 months after the Roadster is shown, according to TechCrunch, which lines up with the current 2027 or 2028 window. The car is expected to be built at Gigafactory Texas.
Tesla has also not said whether the event will bring final pricing, a new reservation process or confirmed delivery dates for people who have held deposits since 2017. Earlier Tesla side projects such as the Cyberquad electric ATV showed how an announcement can come well before a product is widely available.
For invited reservation holders, the next hard date is the RSVP cutoff at midnight on September 16. For everyone else, the key question before October 1 is whether Tesla will stream the event.
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