Tesla Roadster 2026: October 1 reveal date, range and performance claims

© A. Krivonosov

The Tesla Roadster finally has something more concrete than another promise of “very soon”: October 1, 2026. Tesla published an official “Go for launch” teaser marked “10.01,” while a countdown to the same date appeared on the model’s page.

That is a notable shift after a series of missed timelines. As recently as August 10, the Roadster still had no specific date: Franz von Holzhausen would only say “very soon.” Before that, April 1, late April, May–June and August or a later point in 2026 had all been discussed.

The teaser itself reveals almost nothing. Four circular elements can be seen near the car, but Tesla has not explained what they are for. Linking them to SpaceX cold-gas thrusters is still only a hypothesis: sources cited by The Information have described a demonstration version with such a system, while the current official Roadster page does not list thrusters among its specifications.

Tesla’s official Roadster page still shows the familiar targets: about 1,000 km of range, 0–100 km/h in roughly 2.1 seconds and a top speed of more than 400 km/h. These are claimed project figures, not yet verified specifications for the new car that will be shown in October.

So on October 1, the most important thing will not be an eye-catching stunt with possible thrusters, but three questions: whether the Roadster’s basic design has changed since the 2017 prototype, whether the promised performance and range remain intact, and whether Tesla will finally name a date for series production.