Tesla Roadster reservations: $50,000 deposit, price and delivery date
Tesla has reopened Roadster reservations in the US with a $50,000 deposit. The final price and delivery date are still not confirmed.
Tesla has reopened reservations for the next-generation Roadster less than two weeks before a new presentation scheduled for October 1. In the US, a place in the queue requires a $50,000 deposit. The final price of the electric sports car and its delivery date are still unknown.
The current reservation process consists of two payments: first $5000 by bank card, then another $45,000 by bank transfer within 10 days. Not a Tesla App and TeslaNorth both point to this structure in the current reservation form. After the second payment, the total deposit reaches $50,000.
Tesla's official agreement contains a more important clarification for buyers. A reservation only provides an approximate priority for later configuring and ordering the car and does not itself constitute a purchase or order. The company says it cannot yet confirm the exact price because the Roadster's options, features and hardware are still being developed. The vehicle also remains in development, and Tesla does not guarantee an actual delivery date.
The reservation can be cancelled for a full refund before a final purchase agreement is signed. Tesla also states that it will not hold the deposit separately in an escrow or trust account and will not pay interest on it. The arrangement is unusual: a buyer ties up $50,000 for a place in line for a car whose final price and production schedule remain unknown.
The Roadster page still lists the project's previous targets: 0–100 km/h in about 2.1 seconds, a top speed above 400 km/h and roughly 1000 km of range. Tesla has published these figures since the early version of the project, so they will need to be checked again after the October presentation.
The second-generation Roadster was first shown in November 2017, and series production was originally planned for 2020. The car still has not reached customers, although reservations with large deposits were already being accepted back then. The return of the reservation form therefore marks another stage in the project, not confirmation that deliveries are about to begin.
For a prospective customer, the two most important figures Tesla still has not provided are the final price and a realistic start date for deliveries. Until those appear, $50,000 buys only a place in the queue, not a car with a fixed price and delivery date.