Tesla demoed the all-new second-generation Roadster on October 15, 2026, at an event outside Waco, Texas, near SpaceX's McGregor test site. The event actually started exactly on time, and was at least somewhat rehearsed, but still had plenty of awkward moments. The car drove up an inverted ramp using fans and SpaceX-developed cold-gas thrusters, then casually kick-flipped over five other Tesla vehicles (including a Semi). That's the headline, and it was truly mind-blowing, but everything underneath it is messier, because the on-stage claims, the website footnotes and the attendee videos paint a far more obscure picture.
What Tesla confirmed on stage
Three trim levels, two of which will be mostly unobtainable
Performance is the road-legal one: two seats, active aero, a multi-mode suction system, and 0-60 mph in under 1.6 seconds - the most likely to make it to production on time (if at all). Thrust is race ready, also two seats, adds rear-mounted cold-gas thrusters, and is quoted at under 0.9 seconds to 60. Rocket is a single seat with perimeter thrusters and what Tesla calls a flight system, quoted at under 0.59 seconds, invitation only.
The footnotes on tesla.com/roadster, describe the headline specs as reflecting "our Thrust augment only" and available as an optional upgrade, and note that one feature is "available with the Rocket trim only, which is not available in all regions." TLDR; Performance is road ready, Thrust is race ready, Rocket is "air ready" and not approved for public roads (and totally uninsurable!).
Reservations, not sticker prices
Reservations opened at $50,000 for Performance and $250,000 for Thrust. Rocket has no public reservation flow at all. Payments are staged, with $5,000 up front and the balance via wire within ten days in both cases. Those are deposits - none of the options have an announced price.
Musk said the car gets built in "2028". He gave no price on stage, and the livestream itself did not state a production date. Worse, the reservation T&C's say “You understand that Roadster is still under development at the time you entered into this Agreement and so we cannot guarantee when your vehicle will actually be delivered or if it will be delivered.”
The thruster hardware
Lars Moravy, Tesla's VP of Engineering, put the demo car at 10 thrusters fed by 600 liters (159 gallons) of rechargeable compressed air. Moravy also gave the number that explains why any of this exists: tires alone top out around 1.26 g of grip. Sub-one-second 0-60 is not a tire problem Tesla solved. It is a tire limit Tesla went around, although no real explanations of how the air will be topped up - at 10,000psi, it's not something you'll be able to do with a quarter in the air machine at your local gas station!
Tesla quoted a flat 1.0-second 0-60 on stage and then played video of a run reading 0.81 seconds, which for now should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Aero and controls
Per Edmunds' coverage, Musk described active aerodynamics with separate high-downforce and low-drag modes, plus fans that can suck the car down at low speed. Tesla claims cornering forces above 2 g. Steering, braking and throttle are all by-wire.
What came out of the event itself
A lot of the interesting detail came from attendees rather than the stage. TeslaNorth's summaries of Out of Spec Reviews and DragTimes describe a cutaway car on site showing battery, motor and thruster hardware, with the interior characterized as feeling very early 'prototypy'. The steer-by-wire yoke reportedly carries buttons for DRS, turn signals and boost. The touchscreen offers active, balance, sport and custom modes, and track mode exposes acceleration, wing, downforce and suspension settings alongside a "booster ready" readout at 5,500 PSI.
The UI is unique to Roadster, a mostly black display with red and white graphics, a 3D wireframe charging screen with a charge-limit bar, and a bottom menu of Home, Vehicle, Listen, Climate and Navigate. Track mode shows a lap map, session lap times, brake and tire readouts, and a thruster gauge reading 5,500 PSI with "Boost Ready." Anyone that took a drive in the early pre-production Cybertruck's will be familiar with the mocked-up center screen UI; the Roadster graphics were a step above that, but still largely appeared nonfunctional.
Where the sources contradict each other
Range: 300 or 620 miles?
Several outlets, including The EV Report, put range above 300 miles, which Elon alluded to on stage. That is substantially less than the 620 miles quoted at the 2017 launch, and the truth is likely somewhere between those two numbers. But with weight being such an important dynamic in the new Roadster, it seems likely it'll lean closer to 300 miles.
When is a Roadster not a Roadster?
By definition, a roadster should have a removable roof. It's been confirmed in subsequent deep-dive videos done by Top Gear that it is a T-top. However, it's not obvious how they would accomplish that from the demos we saw, since the scissor doors, which appeared fairly fragile, incorporated part of the roof.
Top speed, and who gets it
Above 230 mph is the claimed figure, and likely applies to the Performance model. On stage, Elon set a goal of at least half of the speed of sound, which would be 383 mph, presumably reserved for the Rocket version.
| Spec | 2017 Roadster | 2026 Roadster |
|---|---|---|
| 0-60 mph | 1.9 sec | Under 1.6 / 0.9 / 0.59 sec by trim |
| Range | 620 miles | 300 miles+ |
| Top speed | Over 250 mph | Over 230 mph |
| Seating | 2+2 | 2 seats (1 in Rocket) |
| Price | $200,000 base | Unannounced; $50k or $250k deposit |
| Production | 2020 | 2028(ish) |
2017 versus 2026
It's worth laying the two sets of numbers side by side, because almost every one moved, not always in a good way. The 1.9-second 0-60 became under 1.6, 0.9 or 0.59 seconds depending on trim. The 620-mile range halved to around 300. Over 250 mph became over 230. The 2+2 cabin became two seats, or one in Rocket. A $200,000 base price became an unannounced price with a $50,000 or $250,000 deposit. And 2020 production became 2028.
What we saw of the cabin
Two seats, a yoke-style wheel positioned to the left of a large horizontally oriented screen, white seats, and a minimalist layout with controls pushed into the touchscreen. No confirmed screen size, no trim materials, no word on whether there is a frunk, no charge port location. The seats are, however, heated.
Our Take
The demos were genuinely mind-blowing. Nobody has ever seen anything like that in a production vehicle, but that's also where the question marks lie. How much of what we saw will actually make it to the production vehicle? Realistically, the ability to fly, or at least jump a Roadster, will be a cool party trick reserved strictly for private land and would likely carry a price tag of close to $500,000. Which makes sense, since the vehicle would be uninsurable, so this is strictly billiard territory.
If we assume the Performance model will make it to market, then even the price of that is unknown. The specs are unknown. Everything about the demo seemed targeted towards clicks and media coverage rather than facts that we can use and plan around. The styling is obviously a substantial change from the 2017 model. Given the price is likely now even more unattainable for most people, we would love for Tesla to bring the 2017 model to life as well (essentially a Model 3 Performance in a 2017 Roadster shell). For $80,000, it would sell like crazy. All the messaging from Elon, Franz, and Lars was that this will be the last drivable Tesla they design and produce, which seems like a huge missed opportunity. The world certainly wants autonomous driving capability, but sometimes we also want to be able to drive the car ourselves.
