Tesla sets 1 October reveal date for Roadster first shown in 2017, now taking EUR 43,000 European deposits
Elon Musk has said the car does not enter production until 12 or 18 months after the unveiling. Since 2017 the only part of the Roadster a reservation holder has been able to use is the refund process.
The Product Desk
What happened
- Tesla posted "Go for launch" on X with a 10.01 graphic, its first firm date for the second-generation Roadster since the concept appeared in November 2017 with production promised for 2020.
- A European reservation costs EUR 43,000, taken as EUR 4,000 on a card and EUR 39,000 wired within ten days; the American ladder is $5,000 then $50,000, and the Founders Series took $250,000 up front.
- No customer anywhere has taken delivery of the car, and Tesla has never said how many reservations it holds in Europe or anywhere else.
- Marques Brownlee cancelled after eight years and initially lost $5,000 before Tesla returned it, describing a cancellation route that ended at a phone number and a voicemail box.
- Tesla's European registrations fell 17% in January while the region's battery electric market grew 14%.
Why it matters
- What it costs cost The delay is financed by the customer. EUR 43,000 has sat with Tesla earning the holder nothing, and 1 October does not release it.
- Who has to decide decision Holders finally have a date on which to decide: leave the money in place through another development cycle, or start a cancellation Tesla has not made self-serve.
- Who's exposed exposure If one European holder tests whether a reservation is a sales contract, Tesla's EU deposit book becomes a refund liability with case law attached; TNW reports no such case has been brought.
- What it limits constraint With the reservation count unpublished, nobody outside Tesla can use the deposit book as evidence that the revealed car has buyers, and Tesla cannot cite it either without opening the number up.
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Sam Altman paid a $50,000 reservation fee and said "7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait" [5]. Musk answered that Altman had already been given a refund [6].
Musk's own guidance is that production starts 12 or 18 months after the unveiling [14]. Counting forward from 1 October 2026, the first cars get built somewhere between October 2027 and April 2028 [13]. Tesla promised production for 2020 when it showed the concept [2], which puts delivery seven to eight years past the date on the original promise [15]. Beyond a teaser showing what look like taillamps and four circular shapes on the roof, Tesla has not described the car [10].
A paid reservation is the strongest demand signal a product team can get, and teams treat the deposit list as proof that the market wants the thing. Here that reading has a hole in it. The Information reported that the 2017 car was abandoned entirely for a new, unrevealed design [8], so the money was collected against a car nobody will receive. The American ladder adds up to $55,000 [16].
What the holders have actually done with the product is wait, and then, in at least two documented cases, ask for the money back [4][5]. The Information also reported two versions, a limited flying Roadster and a road-legal car, and Tesla has confirmed neither [7]. The flying one would be demonstrated remotely because of the noise and force of the thrusters [9].
The 31-point gap between Tesla's January registration decline in Europe and the growth in the region's battery electric market [21] is the commercial setting for this reveal. Lars Moravy, Tesla's engineering chief, has called the Roadster the "last, best driver's car" and the company's swan song [20].
If you take money before you can ship, that money stays a float until the customer can reverse the payment in the same place they made it, without reaching a person, and until the date you publish has a build slot behind it and not just an event. Tesla's cancellation route so far ends at a phone number and a voicemail box [4]. Its date is an event [22].
I would publish the exit as plainly as the entry, and I would expect the deposit book to shrink the week you do.
What to watch
- Whether a European holder becomes the first to test if a EUR 43,000 reservation counts as a sales contract under EU consumer law.
- Whether Tesla confirms The Information's two-version report on 1 October or shows a single road-legal car.
- Whether Tesla publishes a reservation count or an order date alongside the reveal.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence62
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+55
- Incentives58
- Confidence60
Perspective Coverage
3 publishers- Builder
- Builder 28%
- Operator
- Operator 38%
- Investor
- Investor 34%
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Tesla's second generation sports car was first announced in November 2017 and has been pushed back multiple times.
- [2]
The car appeared as a concept in 2017 and was promised for 2020; by 2021 the target had moved to 2022.
- [3]
The American version is $5,000 followed by $50,000, with the second payment due within ten days, and the Founders Series took $250,000 up front.
- [4]
Marques Brownlee cancelled after eight years and initially lost $5,000 before Tesla returned it, and he described a cancellation process that routed him to a phone number and a voicemail box.
- [5]
Sam Altman said that "7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait" after paying a $50,000 reservation fee.
- [6]
Musk insisted that Altman had gotten a refund.
- [7]
The Information reported last month that there will be two versions, a limited flying Roadster and a road-legal car; Tesla has confirmed neither.
- [8]
The Information recently reported that the 2017 version of the car had been completely abandoned for a new, yet-to-be-revealed design.
- [9]
The flying version would be demonstrated remotely, because of the noise and force of the thrusters.
- [10]
The teaser shows what look like taillamps and four circular shapes on the roof, which may be the SpaceX cold gas thrusters Tesla has talked about for years, and Tesla has said nothing else about the car.
- [11]
Nobody anywhere has taken delivery of a next-generation Roadster.
- [12]
A European reservation costs EUR 43,000: EUR 4,000 on a card and EUR 39,000 by wire within ten days of that.
- [13]
Adding Musk's 12-to-18-month production lag to a 1 October 2026 reveal puts the first builds between October 2027 and April 2028.
- [14]
Musk has previously acknowledged that even after the reveal, the Roadster will not go into production for another 12 or 18 months.
- [15]
An October 2027 to April 2028 production start is seven to eight years after the 2020 production date Tesla gave with the 2017 concept.
- [16]
The American reservation ladder totals $55,000 across its two payments.
- [17]
Tesla's European registrations fell 17% in January while the region's battery electric market grew 14%.
- [18]
Tesla has never said how many Roadster reservations it holds, in Europe or anywhere else.
- [19]
EU consumer law gives a buyer a route to terminate and reclaim payments when a trader fails to deliver, though whether a reservation counts as a sales contract has not been tested, and no such case has been reported.
- [20]
Lars Moravy, Tesla's engineering chief, has called the Roadster the "last, best driver's car" and the company's swan song.
- [21]
The spread between Tesla's 17% January registration decline in Europe and the region's 14% battery electric market growth is 31 percentage points.
- [22]
Tesla says it will reveal the next-generation Roadster on 1 October, the first firm date since it showed the car as a concept in 2017.
- [23]
In a post on X on Saturday, Tesla wrote "Go for launch" with a graphic showing a "10.01" date.
- [24]
TechCrunch's report on the 1 October unveiling is dated 12 September 2026.
Sources
3 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- engadget.comTesla's second-gen Roadster is finally getting a debut nearly a decade later
1 article · September 13, 2026
- techcrunch.comTesla says it will finally unveil the second generation Roadster on October 1
1 article · September 12, 2026
- thenextweb.comTesla sets 1 October for the next-generation Roadster reveal
1 article · September 13, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- Vehicle reservations and deposits
- Electric Vehicles