Tesla Unveils Thruster-Equipped Next-Generation Roadster at SpaceX Site, Targets 2028 Production With No Price Set

Tesla unveiled a redesigned version of its next-generation Roadster on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, staging the reveal at a SpaceX test site in McGregor, Texas, and saying production would begin in 2028, according to Reuters and CNBC. The car, built with SpaceX-derived thruster and pressure-vessel technology, performed in-air flips and jumps during the demonstration, but Tesla did not disclose a retail price for any version, and the vehicle's street-legal status remains unresolved.

A SpaceX-style show, more than a decade in the making

The event was livestreamed from the McGregor test site starting at 7:55 p.m. local time, with Reuters describing "dramatic music, smoke, mechanical hissing sounds and a launch countdown" typical of a Musk product reveal. In the demonstration, a white two-seater drove upside down on a ramp using a suction system, flipped in mid-air and landed using built-in thrusters, later jumping over a truck and other vehicles while twisting in the air, according to Reuters and CNBC.

Musk told the crowd the car was "the culmination of incredible work by Tesla and SpaceX engineers working closely together to make something that you haven't seen in any movie," per Reuters. CNBC reported that the prototype uses an array of SpaceX-developed technologies, including thrusters, carbon overlay pressure vessels and diffusers, and powerful fans, combined with a steer-by-wire system and steering yoke designed to keep the car as light as possible.

Three configurations, no confirmed retail price

Tesla's post-event reservation page listed three tiers, per Reuters: a "Performance" version requiring a $50,000 deposit, a "Thrust" version with "acceleration thrusters" requiring a $250,000 deposit, and an invite-only, single-seat "Rocket" variant described as having a "full flight system." Tesla had reopened reservations in recent weeks, accepting the $50,000 deposits from prospective buyers in the United States, Canada and China, CNBC reported.

By our calculation, the $50,000 Performance deposit is $200,000, or 80%, below the $250,000 Thrust deposit (50,000 minus 250,000, divided by 250,000). Those figures are deposit amounts rather than final prices. Musk and other executives did not specify target prices at the event, though Reuters noted Tesla had quoted a base price of $200,000 for the vehicle nearly a decade ago. CNBC reported that the company also declined to disclose full specifications for the other performance variants.

Street-legal status and the Rocket variant left unclear

Whether the new Roadster will be street-legal was not settled at the reveal. CNBC reported that Musk said on stage, "This is not necessarily a safety-optimized car." Tesla's own reservation language describes the single-seat Rocket configuration as "invite only," but neither Reuters nor CNBC reported a specific regulatory classification, exemption, or set of operating rules under which that variant would be sold or used. CNBC also reported that the Roadster will omit Tesla's "FSD" automated driving system, with Musk saying it will be the last vehicle the company produces intended to be controlled by a human driver.

A long history of missed deadlines

Tesla began taking $50,000 deposits for the revamped Roadster in 2017, when it first showed a prototype and said deliveries would begin in 2020, according to CNBC and Reuters. The company has missed every targeted delivery date since. CNBC reported that as recently as last October, Musk was hyping a Roadster demo he hoped would happen before the end of 2025, which also did not take place. Not every early reservation holder waited it out: OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman mocked Musk on social media last year over the delays, posting screenshots of his reservation and refund requests and writing "7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait," per CNBC, before receiving his refund. Others stayed in; Other World Computing CEO Lawrence O'Connor told CNBC he reserved a Founder's Edition in November 2017, calling it an "interest-free loan" of $250,000, and described what he saw at Thursday's event as "off the charts."

Tesla's original Roadster, engineered under founding CEO Martin Eberhard on a Lotus Elise chassis, was first delivered in 2008 and sold for roughly $100,000 in small volumes until 2012, according to CNBC and Reuters.

Limited financial impact expected, analysts say

CNBC reported that the next-generation Roadster is expected to be a high-end, low-volume model unlikely to have a material financial impact on Tesla, noting that Musk himself called it a "small potato situation" in 2023 that would not "move the needle in a major way financially," per Reuters. Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein wrote last month that Tesla lacks a halo car and that "the Roadster will be Tesla's new halo car," Reuters reported.

Other analysts were more skeptical of its commercial purpose. Gene Munster, managing partner at Tesla investor Deepwater Asset Management, said on social platform X that the reveal was "an engineering flex with no commercial value beyond embarrassing traditional car makers," and that it was "the latest example of why Elon can't wait to bring Tesla and SpaceX together," according to Reuters. Josh Gilbert, lead analyst for Asia-Pacific at trading platform eToro, told Reuters that Tesla's third-quarter results, due Oct. 21, will matter more to investors than the reveal, saying "the margin and cash flow numbers will carry far more weight with investors than anything they saw at the reveal." Reuters also reported that sales of Tesla's aging EV lineup have declined over the past two years, though high gas prices helped boost third-quarter deliveries.

Merger speculation in the background

The event fed renewed speculation about a possible Tesla-SpaceX combination, a topic that has circulated since SpaceX went public in June 2026, CNBC reported. SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell told CNBC ahead of the IPO that a merger "might make Elon's life a little easier," and Barclays analyst Dan Levy predicted in a note this week that such a transaction could happen before the end of 2026, per CNBC. Reuters reported that some observers saw the Tesla-SpaceX collaboration on the Roadster as Musk building interest in a merger of the two companies he controls. CNBC noted that SpaceX is currently valued at about $2 trillion, while Tesla's market capitalization stands at $1.4 trillion, making them two of just 12 U.S. companies worth at least $1 trillion. Beyond the shared engineering work on thrusters and related hardware shown at the event, neither Reuters nor CNBC reported a specific licensing agreement, supply contract, or cost-allocation arrangement formally linking the two companies on this technology.

The reveal also arrived as Tesla pushes further into robotics and autonomy. Reuters reported that the company stopped selling Model S and X vehicles this year to make room for production of its Optimus humanoid robots, and separately launched the Cybercab robotaxi, which comes without a steering wheel, pedals or mirrors.

Bottom Line

Tesla has shown a flashy, thruster-equipped Roadster prototype and reopened deposit-taking, but key commercial details remain unresolved: no retail price has been confirmed for any configuration, the vehicle's street-legal status is unclear, and the company has a long record of missing Roadster delivery targets dating back to 2017. Based on the reporting from Reuters and CNBC, the car looks unlikely to move Tesla's core financial results — CNBC described it as a high-end, low-volume model, and Musk himself called it a "small potato situation" in 2023 — with Morningstar framing it instead as a halo product and Deepwater's Gene Munster reading it as a signal of Musk's interest in eventually combining Tesla with SpaceX. Investors will get a clearer read on the company's underlying business when Tesla reports third-quarter results on Oct. 21.