Tesla is scheduled to present its updated Roadster on Thursday, more than nine years after the electric sports car's next-generation prototype was first shown. The vehicle was introduced as a prototype in 2017 with a suggested price of $200,000, and Tesla at that time said deliveries would begin in 2020. The stated price has not been revised publicly and reservations remain priced at $50,000 each.
Chief Executive Elon Musk has minimized the Roadster's role in Tesla’s broader finances, calling it in 2023 a "small potato situation" that would not "move the needle in a major way financially." Still, the car carries symbolic importance for the automaker.
"Tesla does not currently have a halo car, or high-performance luxury vehicle designed to showcase an automaker’s best engineering and technology. The Roadster will be Tesla’s new halo car," Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein wrote in a note last month, reflecting expectations that the vehicle will serve as a showcase for Tesla technology rather than a revenue driver.
When first unveiled in 2017, Musk set out ambitious performance targets: a four-seat Roadster able to travel 620 miles (1,000 km) on a single charge. In 2024 he posted on X that the vehicle had been redesigned, and he has promoted extreme acceleration figures including a claimed 0 to 60 miles per hour (100 km per hour) time of under a second. Musk added that the acceleration claim was "least interesting part," and that the project had involved collaboration between Tesla and SpaceX.
Analysts anticipate Roadster volumes will remain small relative to Tesla's mass-market models. Goldstein projects roughly 2,000 Roadsters sold per year, compared with Tesla's roughly 1.6 million vehicles delivered last year.
The Roadster debut arrives as Tesla recalibrates its product and technology priorities. The company has placed renewed emphasis on artificial intelligence-led self-driving systems and robotics, moving beyond a primary focus on building vehicles for human drivers. This year, Tesla halted sales of its Model S and Model X to free manufacturing capacity for production of its Optimus humanoid robots. The company has also introduced Cybercab, a two-seater robotaxi offered without manual controls such as a steering wheel, pedals and mirrors.
The Roadster reveal is scheduled to begin at 8:55 p.m. EDT (0055 GMT) on Thursday at a SpaceX test site in McGregor, Texas.
Event details
- Prototype first shown in 2017 with delivery target originally set for 2020.
- Listed price at introduction was $200,000; reservations still cost $50,000 each.
- Musk described the vehicle in 2023 as a "small potato situation" financially; in 2024 he said it had been redesigned and highlighted sub-one-second 0-60 mph acceleration.
- Analyst projection: roughly 2,000 Roadsters per year versus about 1.6 million vehicles Tesla sold last year.
- Reveal location and time: SpaceX test site, McGregor, Texas, 8:55 p.m. EDT (0055 GMT) on Thursday.