Tesla Roadster Unveil Recap: Trims, Performance, Reservations and Timeline

A recap of the new Tesla Roadster unveiled on October 15, 2026 (local time), nine years after it was first announced. Covers the Performance, Thrust and Rocket trims, the cold-gas thrusters and kickflip demo, the reservation deposit and the 2028 production target.

The second-generation Tesla Roadster, first teased in November 2017 and delayed for almost nine years, has finally been unveiled. The event was originally scheduled for October 1 but was pushed back two weeks because of bad weather, and it was streamed live on the evening of October 15 US time (the morning of October 16 in Korea)¹². The flying and flipping demos got more attention than the acceleration figures, so I put together a summary of the announcement and the trim details Tesla released afterward, based on news reports.

Tesla Roadster unveil event overview

• When: Evening of October 15, 2026 (local time), streamed live online
• Where: SpaceX rocket test facility in McGregor, Texas²³
• What: Musk introduced the car as a collaboration between Tesla and SpaceX²
• Delays: The reveal had been scheduled for April, August and October 1 before it finally happened¹

The main video Tesla released is titled "The Last Best Driver's Car". In the presentation Musk also described the new Roadster as "Tesla's last manual driver's car", built to maximize the joy of driving³. The core message is that a company pushing hard on self-driving has made a car you drive yourself.

Design and interior

The design has changed a lot compared with the 2017 prototype. Tesla says it draws on the design lineage of the S3XY lineup, Cybertruck, Cybercab and Optimus, as well as military aircraft such as the SR-71 and F-35¹.

• Exterior: Hidden headlights, a taillight running the full width of the car, flush-mounted aero and "Ano White" paint
• Interior: A steer-by-wire yoke, a center touchscreen plus two small driver displays, and a fixed seat with manual controls to save weight
• Materials: Magnesium, titanium and carbon fiber throughout the body

Roadster trims and performance: Performance, Thrust and Rocket

Tesla revealed three trims in a post on X (formerly Twitter) right after the event¹.

Trim	Purpose	Seats	0–60 mph	Features	Availability
Performance	Road car	2	Under 1.6 s	Active aero, multi-mode suction system	Reservation
Thrust	Race car	2	Under 0.9 s	Rear cold-gas thrusters	Limited release
Rocket	Flight demo	1	Under 0.59 s	Perimeter thrusters (lift and rotation), top speed over 230 mph	Invite only, not road legal

Tesla quoted a range of over 300 miles (about 480 km) for all trims and did not disclose the battery capacity¹.

During the event, a run combining compressed air and the electric motors was said to reach 0–60 mph (about 97 km/h) in 0.81 seconds²³. Musk said the top speed would reach Mach 0.5 (half the speed of sound), and that he would push acceleration "to the limit before your retinas detach"²³. These figures use a different basis from the official trim table, so the production specs will need to be confirmed again when production starts in 2028.

Cold-gas thrusters and suction fans

The most unusual part of this Roadster is the propulsion technology borrowed from SpaceX.

• Cold-gas thrusters: Instead of combustion, they release compressed gas, the same approach SpaceX uses for rocket attitude control. Two carbon-fiber overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) hold about 600 L of air, released through 10 nozzles³. Carrying more gas means longer flight time, and Tesla claims the thrusters produce four to five times the force the tires can handle¹. The car carries about 260 kg of air and can refill it with an onboard compressor².
• Suction fan system: Fans under the body generate up to 2 G of downforce and can switch between a high-downforce mode and a low-drag mode³. Tesla says the suction can hold the car upside down while stationary and even let it drive on vertical surfaces¹².
• Track Mode: The car lowers itself and deploys wings driven by Optimus actuators, which Tesla says produce downforce "approaching F1 levels"¹.

Flight and kickflip demo videos

The highlight of the event was the demos. Note that the demo car was remotely controlled with no one on board².

Ramp jump: launching upside down and landing on its wheels

The Roadster drove up a gentle ramp at a steady speed, then launched off it completely upside down. In the air it used its thrusters to right itself and landed on all four wheels².

Kickflip: a short flight over a Semi truck

This is the scene in the main image. The Roadster jumped over parked cars and a large truck (a Semi), spinning in the air like a skateboard kickflip. Tesla calls this kind of brief lift-off "short-burst flight"¹².

Price, reservation deposit and release timeline

• Price: No price was announced for any trim¹. When it was announced in 2017, the base model was $200,000².
• Reservations: Reservations have reopened. You pay $5,000 immediately, and the reservation is canceled unless you wire an additional $45,000 within 10 days. The $50,000 total is the same as the 2017 deposit¹⁴.
• Production: Musk said production would start in "2028"¹². No specific delivery schedule was given.

What changed from the 2017 promises

For people who put down deposits in 2017, some of this is disappointing¹.

Item	2017 announcement	2026 announcement
Range	620 miles (about 1,000 km)	Over 300 miles
Top speed	Over 250 mph	Over 230 mph (Rocket)
Seating	2+2, four seats	Two seats at most
0–60 mph	1.9 s	Under 1.6 s (Performance)
Production target	2020	2028

It is also worth noting that the headline flight and kickflip features belong to trims that are invite-only or not road legal (Thrust and Rocket). The trim regular customers can reserve is the Performance¹.

Summary

For a nine-year wait, range and seating actually went down, but actually showing a "car that takes off" using SpaceX technology made it a genuinely impressive announcement. With no price yet and production not until 2028, we will have to wait and see what specs customers actually receive. I will update this post when pricing or delivery dates are announced.

References

Footnotes

1. https://electrek.co/2026/10/15/tesla-unveils-cyberfied-new-roadster-kickflip/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴

2. https://kr.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/article-2129192 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²

3. https://www.asiae.co.kr/article/2026101611043600463 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

4. https://www.g-enews.com/article/Global-Biz/2026/10/2026101607313680682bd56fbc3c_1 ↩