Tesla Delays Roadster Reveal Again, Citing Storm Forecast in Texas

Tesla has pushed the reveal of its second-generation Roadster to October 15, blaming severe weather forecast for the original October 1 date in Waco, Texas.

"We've been tracking the weather closely with local meteorologists, but given the severe conditions predicted & because this event can only be held outdoors, we've made the difficult decision to reschedule," the company wrote in a post on X.

The outdoor requirement points to the stunt Tesla has planned. The company has been working to integrate cold gas thrusters from SpaceX that are supposed to make the Roadster fly in some capacity — a demonstration that presumably cannot happen inside a convention hall.

The delay is the latest in a string that stretches back years. Elon Musk has pushed the reveal for months in total. At one point he planned to hold it on April Fools' Day this year. Speaking at Tesla's annual meeting in 2025 — the same gathering where he was awarded a $1 trillion pay package — Musk said an April Fools' date would give him "some deniability" if the event slipped again.

"Like, I could say I was just kidding," he said at the time.

Eight years from concept to reveal

Tesla first showed the second-generation Roadster as a concept in 2017, at the same event where it debuted the Semi electric big rig. The car was meant to mark a milestone: the first supercar Tesla designed from the ground up. The original Roadster, which launched the company in the early 2010s, was largely based on the Lotus Elise.

At the 2017 unveiling, Tesla promised the new Roadster was only a few years away. It collected $50,000 deposits from prospective buyers of a car with an estimated base price around $200,000. Some customers paid $250,000 to reserve one of 1,000 "Founders Series" versions.

The project then languished. According to reports, Musk eventually tasked the Tesla team with a redesign and committed to the SpaceX thruster concept, which revived the program and set up the now-twice-delayed reveal.

Critics unmoved by flying-car promises

Even the prospect of a flying supercar has not silenced skeptics of Musk and Tesla. Last year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote on X that "7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait" for his own new Roadster. Musk claimed Altman had received a refund.

The production timeline remains vague. Musk himself has said he expects a year or more between the final reveal and the start of production — meaning deposit holders who have waited since 2017 could still face a long runway after October 15.