Nine years late, and it still forgot the price tag. The new Tesla Roadster finally rolled out in Texas on Thursday night after nearly nine years of delays. It drove upside down and jumped over other Teslas, yet it still has no price.
Tesla unveiled the redesigned second-generation Roadster at an outdoor, livestreamed event outside Waco, according to TechCrunch. The stream aired on X at 7:55 p.m. Central. One report places the show at SpaceX’s McGregor test site, though Tesla hasn’t confirmed the venue in anything I found. If you missed the buildup, our earlier look at the nine-years-late reveal date covers how we got here.
The Tesla Roadster Demo: Upside Down, Then Airborne
Forget a ribbon-cutting. Tesla opened the show by driving the car up an inverted ramp, using fans and thrusters to stay stuck to the surface, as InsideEVs described it. The Roadster then spun around and landed. (Gravity declined to comment.)
Next came the jump. Thrusters launched the car over a Cybercab, a Cybertruck, a Tesla Semi, a Model Y and a Model 3, per TechCrunch. Elon Musk’s takeaway, as relayed by Drive Tesla Canada: “Flying cars are real.”
Tesla engineering VP Lars Moravy said the thruster system uses 10 thrusters fed by 600 liters of compressed air. He also added that the tank can be recharged.
Three Trims, One Invite-Only
Tesla showed three versions of the car:
- Performance: the “road ready” version, with two seats, active aero and a multi-mode suction system.
- Thrust: the “race ready” version, with two seats and rear-mounted cold-gas thrusters.
- Rocket: invitation only, and not approved for public roads.
On paper, this Tesla sports car claims 300-plus miles of range and a top speed above 230 mph. However, those are Tesla’s numbers, not independent tests. Even the claims vary a bit by outlet. TechCrunch says every trim tops 230 mph, while Electrek ties that speed to the Rocket trim.
The 0-60 mph number is also murky. Outlets reported figures from under 0.59 seconds to about one second, and the timing method isn’t clear. Treat them as Tesla’s claims until the official spec page confirms.
What the Tesla Roadster Costs (Nobody Knows)
Here’s the thing: Tesla didn’t announce a price. What it did post were reservation amounts, $50,000 for the Performance and $250,000 for the Thrust, and those are deposits, not sticker prices.
So someone can put down the cost of a nice house in a lot of Texas towns for a car with no price tag. That’s a bold way to take a deposit.
Musk said Tesla will build the car in 2028. His exact words, per Electrek: “2028, actually.” No customer delivery schedule was reported to back that up.
Nine Years of Waiting
The first Roadster prototype appeared in November 2017 at the Tesla Semi launch, with production promised for 2020. The 2017 pitch was 620 miles of range, a top speed above 250 mph and 2+2 seating, per Electrek. The new car claims over 300 miles and, at most, two seats.
The demo itself slid repeatedly. Electrek’s timeline runs from end of 2025 to April 2026 and on through summer. The show was then set for Oct. 1, but Tesla postponed it for severe weather and high winds. It said the show “can only be held outdoors.” Then came Oct. 15. Our coverage of the reservations reopening before the October 1 date tracked that slide in real time.
It’s also an odd moment for a six-figure toy. U.S. EV sales have slowed, and Tesla has spent the Roadster years on higher-volume cars, the Cybertruck, autonomy and robotics. Meanwhile, even its Semi has struggled to cash in on high diesel prices.
What Comes Next for Tesla’s Roadster
Tesla said more details would follow the event, and it has posted more on X since. Official pricing is the big missing piece. Musk also teased an attempt at Evel Knievel’s Snake River Canyon jump, with no date given.
I’ll be watching for Tesla’s official spec page, any safety or regulatory response to a car with air thrusters, and how TSLA stock opens Friday.
For now, the Roadster is real, it flies and you can reserve one. As for what it costs and when it ships, Tesla says wait for 2028.
So the question is simple: would you hand over $50,000 for a number you can’t see?
