Written by Admin Alex · Fact-Checked by M.Ali · Info Verified September 2026
We review and update this article regularly as new information becomes available.
TL;DR: Tesla posted “Go for launch” alongside a “10.01” graphic, confirming an October 1, 2026 event to unveil the long-delayed second generation Roadster. The car was first announced back in 2017 with a 2020 production target that came and went years ago. Even after the October reveal, Tesla says actual production is still 12 to 18 months out.
Sam Altman put down $50,000 for a Tesla Roadster in November 2017. He was running Y Combinator at the time. GPT had not been invented yet, or at least not the version anyone had heard of. That is how long ago this reservation was made, and Altman, now the CEO of OpenAI and a man who does not lack for things to do, has been waiting ever since.
“7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait,” Altman said publicly, which is either an incredible understatement or a very expensive joke, depending on your mood. Musk pushed back on the complaint, saying Altman had already gotten a refund. Neither man has offered receipts. The internet, naturally, found this hilarious.
A Date, At Last
Tesla’s contribution to this saga this week was a two-word teaser: “Go for launch,” paired with a stylized “10.01” graphic. Translation: the second generation Roadster gets an unveiling event on October 1, 2026. Not a shipping date. Not a delivery date. An unveiling date, for a car that has been unveiled once already.
That first reveal happened in November 2017, when Musk rolled a prototype Roadster out from inside a Semi truck trailer at a splashy event and promised production by 2020. It is now 2026. Tesla has missed that target, and pretty much every informal one that followed it, so many times that “next year” became something of a standing joke among people who track the company closely.
The Car Itself Has Changed
Here is a detail that gets lost in the memes about the delay: the car coming out on October 1 reportedly is not the car from 2017. The original design has apparently been scrapped entirely in favor of something new. Tesla has not detailed what that means for the shape, the interior, or anything else. No pricing has been released. No spec sheet exists yet, at least not one Tesla has made public.
So whatever gets revealed next month will be closer to a from-scratch product than a shipping version of the prototype people saw nine years ago. Given how long the development window has been, that is arguably the more interesting story than the date itself.
The Thrusters, Allegedly
The rumor that refuses to die involves SpaceX. Musk has previously floated the idea of optional cold gas thrusters built with SpaceX’s help, the kind of system that could theoretically let the Roadster do a brief hop or a tight maneuver well beyond what tires and a suspension normally allow. It is a wild idea, and Musk has talked it up before in the kind of offhand way that generates headlines without ever becoming a commitment.
None of that is confirmed for the October 1 event. It is worth repeating that plainly: Tesla has not said thrusters are part of this reveal, and treating the rumor as settled fact would be getting ahead of the actual announcement. It might show up. It might not. It might show up in a video and never in a shipping vehicle, the way plenty of Tesla demo features have gone before.
Reveal Now, Wait Some More
Even in the rosiest scenario, buying one of these on October 1 is not on the table. Musk has said production will not start for another 12 to 18 months after the reveal. Add that to the calendar and the realistic delivery window lands somewhere in late 2027 or 2028, assuming nothing slips again, which is a fairly large assumption given the car’s history.
For Altman and the other early depositors, that means the wait clock keeps running. Seven and a half years become eight, then nine. Reservation holders have effectively become long-term investors in Tesla’s timeline discipline, whether they signed up for that or not.
Bottom Line
Tesla setting an actual date is real progress after years of vague promises, and the design reportedly being all-new suggests this is not just dusting off an old prototype for a photo op. But nothing here changes the core pattern. A reveal date is not a ship date, the thrusters are a rumor until Tesla says otherwise, and anyone counting on driving this car before 2028 should plan accordingly. Altman’s complaint might be the most relatable part of the whole story.
