Tesla appears to be preparing to finally unveil the next generation of its Roadster, nearly nine years after the electric sports car was first announced. The company posted a short teaser on X on Saturday featuring the words “Go for launch” alongside a graphic displaying “10.01,” strongly pointing to October 1 as the date for the long-awaited reveal.
The teaser has renewed interest in the Roadster, which has become one of Tesla’s most delayed projects. The second-generation model was originally announced in November 2017, with Tesla promising a high-performance electric sports car capable of delivering performance far beyond the company’s existing lineup.
Since then, however, the Roadster has repeatedly been delayed. Tesla has continued developing other vehicles while the sports car remained largely out of sight, leaving customers and fans waiting for more information about when the project would actually reach production.
The latest teaser suggests Tesla may finally be ready to show the public what it has been working on. The graphic accompanying the announcement also appears to contain a reference to the car’s previously promised cold gas thrusters, a highly unusual feature associated with the Roadster since its original announcement.
The thrusters are being developed through SpaceX, Elon Musk’s aerospace company, and have been presented as an optional system for the Roadster. Musk has previously suggested that the technology could give the vehicle the ability to perform unusual movements, including a form of flight or hovering. Exactly how the system would work in a production vehicle remains unclear, and Tesla has yet to provide full details.
The project has also become part of Tesla’s longer history of ambitious promises that have taken years to reach the market. The original Roadster announcement generated significant attention because Tesla presented the car as a major leap forward in electric performance. However, nearly a decade later, the vehicle has still not entered production.
The delays even led to public criticism from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Last year, Altman and Musk became involved in a social media dispute over the Roadster after Altman referenced his own reservation for the vehicle. Altman said that “7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait” after paying a $50,000 reservation fee, while Musk responded by insisting that Altman had received a refund.
More recently, The Information reported that Tesla had abandoned the Roadster design originally shown in 2017 and was working on a completely new version. The report suggested that the replacement design had not yet been publicly revealed but could be introduced soon.
If that report is accurate, the October 1 event could therefore be more than a standard product update. Tesla may be preparing to reveal a Roadster that looks significantly different from the vehicle first shown nearly a decade ago.
The company has not yet provided full specifications for the new model, leaving important details unknown. It is still unclear what the final production design will look like, how much the vehicle will cost, how much performance it will deliver or exactly which features from the original concept will make it into production.
Even if Tesla officially unveils the car on October 1, customers may still have to wait before they can actually drive one. Musk has previously acknowledged that production would not begin immediately after the major reveal and has suggested that the Roadster could take another 12 to 18 months to enter production.
For now, Tesla’s “Go for launch” message and the “10.01” graphic are the clearest indications yet that the company is preparing to bring the Roadster back into the spotlight. After years of delays, a reported redesign and growing expectations surrounding its performance, October 1 could finally reveal what Tesla has been developing behind the scenes.
