Tesla will reveal the second-generation Roadster on October 1, moving the company from years of teasing to an official public unveiling. The automaker posted a message on X reading "Go for launch," accompanied by a graphic marked 10.01, a clear signal the car will be shown to the public on that date.
The graphic also appears to nod to an optional hardware package long tied to the Roadster, cold-gas thrusters developed at SpaceX. Those optional thrusters are described in Tesla commentary as a feature that could let the Roadster "fly in some way," a claim the company has promoted alongside other bold performance targets.
The second-generation model was originally announced in November 2017 and has been delayed repeatedly since then. The long lead time has drawn attention from customers who placed deposits, and it even sparked a public exchange last year between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Altman, who paid a $50,000 reservation fee, wrote that "7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait," and Musk replied that Altman had received a refund.
Industry reporting has further suggested the car on display will not be the 2017 design, but a new iteration that Tesla developed after abandoning the earlier concept. Musk has warned previously that the reveal will not start immediate manufacturing, saying the Roadster will not enter production for another 12 or 18 months after the public unveiling.
The October 1 event will give Tesla a chance to show the revised design and any optional SpaceX-linked hardware, while also setting a clearer timetable for reservation holders and the market. After the reveal, Tesla and prospective buyers should expect a lengthy wait before the first cars reach production lines, consistent with the company’s own production timeline guidance.
