Tesla has said it will reveal the second-generation Roadster on October 1, a debut that may finally end the lengthy postponements that have affected the electric sports car since it was first shown in 2017.

The announcement came on Saturday, when the electric vehicle manufacturer published “Go for launch” on X together with an image showing “10.01”, indicating that the new Roadster is anticipated to make its debut on October 1. The image appears to allude to the cold-gas thrusters that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said in the past might be made available as an option for the Roadster — a system created in collaboration with Musk’s SpaceX and characterized as technology capable of giving the sports car extraordinary abilities, such as briefly rising off the ground.

Key takeaways

• Tesla has signaled an October 1 reveal for the second-generation Roadster.
• The teaser image “10.01” appears to reference the cold-gas thruster option Musk has discussed.
• The Roadster was first shown in November 2017 with a claimed 0-60 mph time of 1.9 seconds and a top speed above 250 mph.
• The vehicle has been repeatedly postponed and has still not gone into production.
• Tesla has not yet disclosed complete information about how the thruster system would function in the production vehicle.

What Tesla has announced

Tesla has not yet disclosed complete information about how the thruster system would function in the production vehicle, leaving open how much of the earlier performance and thruster commitments will be included in the final car. The October 1 event is thus anticipated to offer the first in-depth view of Tesla’s redesigned Roadster.

From 2017 debut to repeated delays

The second-generation Roadster was first shown by Tesla in November 2017, with promises of a high-performance electric sports car that had a claimed 0-60 mph acceleration time of 1.9 seconds and a top speed above 250 mph. Since then, the vehicle has encountered repeated postponements and has still not gone into production.

The Roadster also figured in a public disagreement between Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman after Altman stated he had been waiting years for a car he had reserved. Altman had earlier remarked that “7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait” after paying a $50,000 reservation fee, and Musk replied that Altman had been given a refund.

A redesign and a production timeline

The forthcoming reveal might also bring a significant change from the Roadster that was displayed in 2017. The Information reported recently that Tesla had discarded the original design in favor of a new version of the sports car, which had not yet been shown publicly.

Musk has said in the past that even after the new Roadster is revealed, customers might still have to wait another 12 to 18 months before production starts. That timeline means the October 1 event is expected to clarify how much of the company’s earlier performance and thruster commitments will be included in the final vehicle.

Roadster at a glance

Why it matters

The October 1 event is positioned to resolve years of uncertainty around Tesla’s flagship sports car, including whether the SpaceX-collaborated thruster system will reach production and whether the redesigned vehicle will match the performance figures promised in 2017.