Tesla sets October 1 for a Roadster reveal, not a delivery date
Tesla on Saturday, September 12, 2026 posted a countdown to an October 1 Roadster reveal, with no production date. Shares last closed Friday at $365.44.
Tesla on Saturday put October 1 on the second-generation Roadster, the sports car it unveiled as a prototype on November 16, 2017, and still did not say when it will build or deliver one. The company posted “Go for launch” over an image stamped “10.01,” and its Roadster page began running a live countdown to the same Thursday. It also sent reservation holders invitations to an event in Waco, Texas, at 8:30 p.m. Eastern that night. None of it named a production start, a delivery window, or a price.
When the prototype appeared in 2017, Tesla advertised a $200,000 base price, a $250,000 Founders Series that required the full amount upfront for the first 1,000 cars, and a $50,000 reservation deposit, and it said the car would be available in 2020. Elon Musk has moved that production target repeatedly. At Tesla’s November 2025 shareholder meeting he put the start of production in 2027 or 2028. The company’s reservation agreement is blunter than the teaser: a deposit “does not constitute the purchase or order of a vehicle,” the listed price if any is “only an estimate,” and Tesla “cannot guarantee when your vehicle will actually be delivered.” Either side can cancel before a purchase agreement for a full refund. Tesla has never disclosed how many of those deposits remain, and the $1.94 billion of customer deposits on its June 30 balance sheet does not break the Roadster out.
The cars Tesla is actually shipping are elsewhere. In the second quarter it delivered 480,126 vehicles, 467,762 of them Model 3 and Model Y; the “other models” line was 12,364. Automotive revenue was $20.5 billion of $28.2 billion in total revenue, up 23% and 26% from a year earlier. The delivery release did not carry a Roadster line.
No U.S. equity session has traded since the countdown appeared. Tesla is 17.8% of State Street’s consumer discretionary sector fund XLY and the largest holding in ARK’s actively managed innovation fund ARKK, so a Roadster repricing arrives through those two before anything else.
Tesla is 17.8% of the consumer discretionary ETF
- 25%
- 18%
- 5.3%
- 4.1%
- 3.5%
- 3.4%
- 3.0%
- 2.9%
October 1 is now a date on Tesla’s own page. Production, deliveries, and price are not.
Frequently asked
What did Tesla actually announce?
A countdown to an October 1 Roadster reveal event in Waco, Texas, with invitations sent to reservation holders.
Did Tesla say when the Roadster will be built or delivered?
No: the teaser named no production start, delivery window, or price, and Musk most recently put production in 2027 or 2028.
What do Roadster reservation holders actually hold?
A deposit that Tesla's own agreement says is not a purchase or order, with prices called estimates and no guaranteed delivery date, refundable by either side.
Which ETFs feel a Roadster repricing first?
State Street's consumer discretionary fund, where Tesla is 17.8% of assets, and ARK's actively managed innovation fund, where it is the largest holding.