Tesla Unveils SpaceX-Thruster Roadster, Targets 2028 Production as Shares Jump

Tesla finally showed the redesigned Roadster it has promised since 2017, and the car spent part of its debut in the air, powered by thrusters developed with SpaceX.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) unveiled the redesigned second-generation Roadster on Thursday evening, October 15, 2026, at a SpaceX facility in McGregor, Texas, in an event that had been delayed about two weeks from October 1. The two-seater was developed with SpaceX and uses cold-gas thrusters fed by compressed air. Tesla vehicle engineering chief Lars Moravy said the car can accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in less than one second in its thruster-equipped trims and reach a top speed of more than 230 miles per hour -- figures Tesla stated at its own event that have not been independently tested.

A demonstration that left the ground

The demonstration was closer to a rocket test than a track lap. The Roadster drove upside down on a ramp using a suction system, turned in the air and landed on its thrusters, and was shown leaping over other Tesla vehicles while twisting in the air. Moravy said the system uses 10 thrusters connected to 600 liters of compressed air, and the air tank can be recharged. Whether features like these could ever be used legally on public roads was not immediately clear, and Tesla did not settle that question at the event. The spectacle is the point of the car, but it is also the part of the program furthest from a certified production vehicle.

Three trims, one of them invite-only

Tesla will offer the Roadster in three trims. Performance, described as road ready, seats two, has active aerodynamics and a multi-mode suction system. Thrust, described as race ready, also seats two and adds rear cold-gas thrusters for the sub-one-second acceleration Tesla claims. Rocket, described as air ready, seats one and carries 10 thrusters positioned around the car. Tesla says all three trims will have 300 miles of range and be capable of speeds exceeding 230 miles per hour. At Tesla's own event, a 0.81-second acceleration run was claimed in secondary coverage of the demonstration; TickerGrove treats that as a company event claim, not a tested result.

Reservations open, final prices still missing

Tesla's website showed the company taking reservations on Thursday: $50,000 to reserve the Performance and $250,000 for the Thrust, with the Rocket trim billed as invite only. Those are reservation amounts, not purchase prices. Tesla executives did not announce a final price at the event, nearly nine years after the 2017 concept was quoted with a $200,000 base price. Until a configured price exists, reservation totals say more about demand for a place in line than about what the car will cost or earn.

A 2028 target after every earlier target missed

Chief Executive Elon Musk said Tesla will build the car in 2028: "We enter production in 2028" was the commitment as reported from the event. That is a company target, not a confirmed schedule. Tesla first revealed the second-generation Roadster in 2017 and said at the time that deliveries would begin in 2020; every production target since has been missed, and the reveal itself slipped two weeks. Musk has previously said the Roadster is unlikely to contribute substantially to Tesla financially, which frames what the car is for: a halo product and a technology signal, not a volume or revenue story.

The market bought the signal, for now

Investors reacted to the signal rather than to any near-term revenue. Tesla shares rose 4.6% to $379 in premarket trading on Friday, October 16, after the unveiling, following a weaker stretch that had left the stock down 19.4% year to date at the prior close. The move prices enthusiasm for the engineering demonstration and the SpaceX collaboration ahead of any production evidence. It does not price Roadster deliveries, because on Tesla's own target there are none before 2028.

What to watch next

The nearest test is not the Roadster at all: Tesla is scheduled to report third-quarter 2026 results on October 21, where investors will hear whether management gives the 2028 target any corroborating detail on production specification, capacity or timing. Beyond earnings, the open questions are regulatory and commercial: whether thruster and airborne features could ever be approved for public roads, what the final purchase prices will be, and what the production specification actually is. None of those was answered on Thursday night. What Tesla proved was that the demonstration car can do the tricks. What it has not yet proved, after nine years, is that it can build and deliver the car.