Tesla has reopened reservations for the next-generation Roadster, bringing the long-delayed electric supercar back into the spotlight less than two weeks before a scheduled October 1, 2026 unveiling in Waco, Texas. The reservation page is live again, and prospective buyers can now put money down to secure an approximate place in line for a car that Tesla first showed nearly nine years ago.

The timing is significant. Tesla is not simply refreshing an old product page. It is reopening the reservation funnel immediately before a formal reveal that is expected to clarify how much of the original 2017 Roadster concept survives into the latest production-intent version, what the vehicle will cost, when production could begin, and whether some of the more ambitious performance ideas discussed by Elon Musk will become real customer options.

According to reporting from Not a Tesla App, the current reservation process requires a $5,000 payment at the time of reservation followed by a $45,000 wire transfer within 10 days, bringing the total reservation payment to $50,000. Tesla's current Roadster reservation agreement says the reservation secures approximate priority for configuration and ordering, is not itself a vehicle purchase, and can be cancelled for a full refund until the customer enters into a Motor Vehicle Purchase Agreement.

That makes the reopened reservation book one of the clearest signals yet that Tesla is preparing to move the Roadster from years of promises and prototypes toward a more concrete commercial phase. It does not, however, mean deliveries are imminent. Tesla's own reservation terms still say the Roadster is under development and that the company cannot guarantee a delivery date.

What changed: Tesla is taking Roadster reservations again

Tesla's official Roadster page now includes a “Reserve Now” option, while a dedicated reservation page is again available for customers who want to join the queue. Not a Tesla App reported on September 19 that the company had reopened reservations ahead of the October 1 event.

The reported payment structure closely resembles the financial commitment Tesla required when it first opened reservations for the second-generation Roadster in 2017. A buyer pays $5,000 immediately and then must send another $45,000 by wire transfer within 10 days. The combined $50,000 is a reservation payment, not a final purchase price and not a completed vehicle order.

Tesla's own reservation agreement makes that distinction explicit. The agreement says the reservation gives the customer approximate priority to configure and order a Roadster later. When production approaches, Tesla says it will invite reservation holders to configure their vehicles and enter into an Order Agreement. A final Purchase Agreement comes later and will contain the final configuration, purchase price, taxes, duties, transport charges and other applicable fees.

The same agreement also says any estimated purchase price shown before configuration is only an estimate because Tesla is still working on options, features and hardware. In other words, the reopened reservation page allows customers to get in line, but it does not lock in a final sticker price.

The $50,000 reservation is refundable — for now

The size of the reservation payment is likely to draw attention because $50,000 is more than the full purchase price of many new vehicles. But Tesla's current terms give reservation holders an important exit option.

Until the customer enters into the Motor Vehicle Purchase Agreement, Tesla says the reservation may be cancelled through the customer's Tesla Account for any reason by either the customer or Tesla. In that case, the reservation payment is refunded. The agreement also says Tesla does not hold the reservation payment in escrow or a trust and does not pay interest on it.

That distinction matters for anyone considering a reservation before the October 1 reveal. The reservation can establish approximate priority, but it does not guarantee a specific delivery date, a specific final price, a specific configuration or even a specific production slot. Tesla reserves flexibility while the vehicle remains under development.

It also means the reopened reservation program should not be treated as proof that Roadster production is about to begin. It is evidence that Tesla is actively rebuilding the order pipeline around the car ahead of the reveal. The more important milestones will come after the event: final specifications, final pricing, configuration invitations, production tooling, regulatory approvals and actual customer deliveries.

October 1 is now the date to watch

Tesla has scheduled the next major Roadster presentation for October 1, 2026, in Waco, Texas. Not a Tesla App reported earlier this month that invitations had been sent to some existing reservation holders and that Tesla had placed a countdown on its Roadster website.

The event is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time, or 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time, according to the invitation details reported by the publication. The event's location is notable because Waco sits within Texas, where Tesla has built a growing manufacturing and engineering footprint anchored by Gigafactory Texas near Austin.

The biggest question is what Tesla will actually call the October event. It is often described as a reveal, but the original second-generation Roadster was already revealed in November 2017. The more useful way to think about October 1 is as a reintroduction of the Roadster in a substantially updated form.

The 2017 car was a concept tied to Tesla's technology and cost assumptions from almost a decade ago. Since then, Tesla's battery programs, drive units, vehicle electronics, manufacturing processes, software stack and design language have all evolved. The Roadster has also accumulated years of public comments from Musk suggesting that its engineering goals moved far beyond the original concept.

The Roadster has been delayed for years

The second-generation Roadster debuted in 2017 with an initial target of reaching customers around 2020. That timeline slipped repeatedly as Tesla focused on higher-volume programs and other launches.

During the intervening years, Model Y became the company's central volume product, Cybertruck went through its own long development cycle, Tesla expanded manufacturing in multiple regions, and the company shifted more attention toward autonomy, AI, robotics and energy. The Roadster remained on the roadmap, but it was never the product most critical to Tesla's near-term unit volume.

That history is important context for the reopened reservation page. A live reservation button is more meaningful than another general statement that the Roadster is coming, but buyers still have reason to separate a reservation milestone from a production milestone. Tesla's current legal terms do exactly that by stating that the vehicle remains under development and delivery timing is not guaranteed.

The October 1 presentation therefore carries more pressure than a typical concept reveal. Reservation holders who have waited for years will be looking for evidence that Tesla has moved beyond design studies and performance promises into a defined build plan.

What Tesla's website currently says about Roadster performance

Tesla's official Roadster page still advertises some of the headline specifications associated with the earlier concept. The U.S. site lists a 0-to-60 mph time of 1.9 seconds, a top speed above 250 mph and an estimated 620 miles of range. It also describes the car as an all-electric supercar designed around aerodynamic performance and efficiency, with seating for four and a removable glass roof.

Those numbers remain extraordinary even by 2026 standards, but they should be treated as current website claims rather than guaranteed final production specifications. Tesla's reservation agreement specifically warns that features and hardware are still being finalized and that final terms will come during configuration and purchase.

The October event may therefore do one of three things: reaffirm the old targets, revise them, or replace them with an entirely new performance framework for the updated Roadster. Given the amount of time that has passed since 2017, revised specifications would not be surprising.

There is also a broader competitive context. The electric-performance market has changed dramatically since the Roadster concept first appeared. Ultra-high-performance EVs now come from established automakers and specialized brands, and acceleration numbers that once seemed almost impossible are no longer unique talking points. Tesla may need the Roadster to demonstrate more than straight-line speed if it wants the car to function as a true halo product.

The SpaceX package remains the biggest unanswered question

The most unusual Roadster idea discussed publicly is the proposed SpaceX package. Musk has repeatedly suggested that Tesla could use cold-gas thrusters to dramatically improve acceleration and possibly other aspects of vehicle dynamics.

Not a Tesla App reported that the teaser associated with the upcoming event appears to emphasize this theme, and Musk has previously claimed that a thruster-equipped Roadster could achieve 0-to-60 mph acceleration in less than one second. He has also made comments about the car briefly “flying,” although exactly what that means in a production, regulatory and safety context remains unclear.

None of those statements should be read as a confirmed production specification today. Tesla's official Roadster page currently advertises the older 1.9-second 0-to-60 mph figure, while its reservation terms emphasize that hardware and options are still being developed.

The October 1 event should help separate three categories that have often blurred together during the Roadster's long development: what Tesla has demonstrated in prototypes, what Tesla intends to offer as an option, and what will actually be certified and sold to customers.

If a cold-gas thruster system is part of the final program, Tesla will also need to explain how it works in normal use, how it is replenished or serviced, what safety interlocks it requires, where it can legally operate and whether it changes the vehicle's road certification. Those details would matter far more to customers than a one-off demonstration run.

What happened to the old $200,000 Roadster price?

When Tesla introduced the second-generation Roadster in 2017, it promoted a base price around $200,000 and a $250,000 Founders Series version. Those figures became deeply associated with the project, but Tesla's current reservation agreement does not promise that pricing.

The contract states that an estimated purchase price, if provided, is only an estimate. It says Tesla cannot confirm the exact purchase price until the customer configures the vehicle because options, features and hardware are still being finalized.

That makes the October 1 event especially important for pricing. Nine years of inflation, supply-chain changes, new technology, revised vehicle architecture and potentially more exotic hardware could all affect the economics of the car. A vehicle with genuinely unusual propulsion or aerospace-derived systems would also be difficult to compare directly with the cost structure Tesla envisioned in 2017.

For now, the only firm number tied to a new reservation is the reported $50,000 reservation payment. The final vehicle price remains an open question.

Why reopen reservations before revealing the updated car?

From Tesla's perspective, reopening reservations before the event accomplishes several things at once.

First, it converts renewed Roadster attention into measurable customer intent. An email signup is useful, but a refundable five-figure reservation is a much stronger signal of interest.

Second, it gives the company a fresh queue of prospective buyers before final pricing and specifications are known. That can help Tesla understand the size and geographic distribution of the premium customer base interested in the car.

Third, it raises the stakes of the October event. Instead of watching only as spectators, new reservation holders will be watching as customers who have money temporarily committed to the program.

Finally, it allows Tesla to reconnect the Roadster with the direct-sales playbook it has used for years: reveal or tease a product, take reservations directly through its website, communicate with customers through Tesla Accounts, and move those customers into configuration as production approaches.

There is an important caveat. A reservation count is not the same thing as a sale count. Tesla's agreement allows cancellations and full refunds before the purchase agreement stage. Any future claim about Roadster “orders” should therefore distinguish between reservations, configured orders and completed purchases.

What buyers should understand before placing a reservation

For an enthusiast who wants early access, the reopened reservation page is straightforward. But the legal terms contain several details worth reading before sending $50,000.

• The reservation establishes approximate priority. It does not guarantee a specific VIN, delivery date or production slot.
• The reservation is not the final order. Tesla plans to invite customers to configure later and enter a separate Order Agreement.
• The final purchase price is not locked. Tesla says the price will be confirmed after configuration.
• The Roadster is still under development. Tesla explicitly says it cannot guarantee when the vehicle will actually be delivered.
• The reservation is refundable before the purchase-agreement stage. Tesla says either party may cancel before then and the reservation payment will be returned.
• The reservation payment is not held in escrow. Tesla says it does not hold the money separately in a trust or pay interest on it.
• The reservation is generally non-transferable. Tesla's terms say it cannot be transferred or assigned without prior written consent.

For someone comfortable with those terms, reserving before October 1 provides a place in the queue while preserving the ability to cancel after seeing the updated car. For someone who wants firm pricing, production timing or final specifications, waiting until after the reveal may provide more information with little uncertainty.

Why the Roadster still matters to Tesla

The Roadster is unlikely to become a high-volume Tesla vehicle, and that is not really its purpose. Halo cars exist to demonstrate engineering limits, shape brand perception and introduce ideas that may later influence broader products.

The original Tesla Roadster helped prove that an electric car could be desirable and genuinely quick at a time when battery-powered vehicles were widely associated with compromise. The second-generation Roadster has an opportunity to serve a different role: showing what Tesla can do at the extreme end of performance after years of building batteries, power electronics, motors, software and manufacturing systems at scale.

That is why the final technical package will matter more than sales volume. A Roadster that simply accelerates slightly faster than today's fastest EVs would be impressive but not transformational. A Roadster that introduces unusual propulsion, major advances in power density, new thermal systems, new vehicle controls or meaningful efficiency breakthroughs could have relevance beyond the car itself.

The challenge is that the expectations are unusually high because Tesla and Musk have spent years raising them. The October event will be judged not only against other sports cars, but also against Tesla's own long list of public promises.

What to watch on October 1

Several questions should determine whether the event represents a true production reset or another development preview.

Final design: Tesla's recent teaser imagery suggests the updated Roadster may be sharper and more angular than the rounded 2017 concept. The reveal should show whether that design is production-intent.

Final performance targets: Watch for confirmed 0-to-60 mph acceleration, quarter-mile performance, top speed, range and sustained track capability rather than only a short demonstration.

Battery architecture: Tesla has not publicly locked down the battery capacity and pack architecture for the production car. Energy density, cooling and peak power delivery will be central to the Roadster's performance story.

SpaceX package: The key question is not merely whether thrusters appear in a demonstration, but whether Tesla intends to sell them to customers and under what conditions.

Price: The old $200,000 and $250,000 figures are no longer reliable guides. A new base price and option structure would be one of the biggest announcements of the night.

Production schedule: Buyers will want a specific production start window and an explanation of where the car will be built. Previous reporting has pointed to Texas as the likely manufacturing home.

Reservation-holder priority: Tesla may explain how legacy reservations from 2017 and later interact with the newly reopened reservation queue.

Delivery readiness: The strongest evidence would be details on validation, certification, factory tooling and when customer configurations will open.

Reservation versus order: what the paperwork actually means

The terminology matters because the words “reservation,” “order” and “purchase” are often used interchangeably in online discussion even though Tesla's agreement treats them as different stages. A reservation is the earliest stage. It gives the customer approximate priority, but it does not obligate Tesla to deliver a vehicle on a certain date and it does not establish the final price.

The next step comes when Tesla invites a reservation holder to configure the Roadster. At that point, the customer would enter into an Order Agreement covering the selected vehicle and whatever options Tesla makes available. The final step is the Motor Vehicle Purchase Agreement before delivery. That document is where the final purchase price, taxes, duties, transport charges and other applicable fees are expected to be settled.

For buyers, that structure means the $50,000 commitment should be understood as money placed against a future opportunity to order, not as a locked-in deal for a car at the old 2017 price. It also explains why the refund language is important: a customer can reserve now, evaluate what Tesla shows on October 1, and still have a contractual path to cancel before the final purchase-agreement stage.

The bottom line

Tesla reopening Roadster reservations is a meaningful development because it turns years of intermittent Roadster promises back into an active customer transaction. Buyers can once again place a substantial refundable reservation and secure approximate priority ahead of a scheduled October 1, 2026 event in Waco.

But the Roadster is not yet a finished retail product. Tesla's own terms say the vehicle remains under development, the final purchase price is not confirmed and delivery timing is not guaranteed. The company's website still carries performance claims associated with the earlier concept, while the coming event is expected to reveal how the program has changed after almost nine years.

For now, the clearest facts are these: reservations are open, the reported commitment is $50,000, Tesla says that money is refundable before the purchase-agreement stage, and October 1 is the next major date on the calendar.

The real test begins after the lights come on in Waco. Tesla will need to show not just an extraordinary Roadster, but a credible path from demonstration to configuration, production and customer delivery.

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Sources: This report is based on Tesla's official Roadster page and current Roadster Reservation Agreement, along with September 2026 reporting from Not a Tesla App on the reopened reservation program and October 1 event. Specifications and event details may change as Tesla finalizes the vehicle.

Tesla Roadster official page
Tesla Roadster reservation page
Tesla Roadster Reservation Agreement
Not a Tesla App report