Tesla fans and reservation holders of the Roadster must be hoping that the long wait will be worth it. While the Model S Plaid was Tesla’s ultimate performance car, the Roadster will surpass it to become the brand’s flagship. Wondering how fast the Roadster might be? Tesla CEO and co-founder Elon Musk has an answer.
Will outperform the Model S Plaid
On February 28, 2024, Elon Musk revealed bold updates on the next-gen Tesla Roadster, tweeting, “Tonight, we radically increased the design goals.” He claimed, “There will never be another car like this, if you could even call it a car,” and highlighted a Tesla/SpaceX collaboration.
Musk teased, “I think it has a shot at being the most mind-blowing product demo of all time,” with its sub-one-second 0-60 mph time being the “least interesting part.”
“We have a few ideas for increasing torque & max rpm even further for the new Roadster,” Musk said in a post on X on June 13, 2021. “Definitely fun and exciting engineering ahead!” he added.
SpaceX Package
Musk has stated that Tesla will offer the all-new Roadster with the optional ‘SpaceX package,’ which includes cold-air thrusters around the car to improve top speed, braking, and cornering. Currently, a sub-one-second acceleration figure seems almost unbelievable.
At the July 2025 X Takeover, VP of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy admitted that this feature is one of the hardest parts of the program. He explained that rocket technology has a high fuel-to-weight ratio, but in a car, mass and a separate propulsion system complicate the equation.
Tesla and SpaceX engineers have been working to shift mass where it’s needed to make the system work as intended. We’re also expecting the car to feature ground effect without a fan to create the necessary downforce at high speeds.
While rocket thrusters raise safety questions, Musk earlier said that when used as advised, the Roadster will be safe and deliver an experience unmatched by any other street-legal car.
Futuristic Interior
The next-gen Roadster has a minimalist interior, which is typical of a Tesla. It features a sleek dashboard with carbon-fiber trim, a spaceship-themed steering yoke, and a curved, super-slim bridge-type center console that houses a large portrait touchscreen.
A hollowed section beneath the center console offers extra storage for larger items such as a grocery bag or handbag. The central armrest houses a cupholder.
At least one configuration of the Roadster will feature four seats, and though the rear seats may not be comfortable for adults, they are a rare feature in supercars.
The electric sports car has a removable glass roof storable in the trunk and is likely to come with Tesla’s new door mechanism that combines manual and electronic releases.
Unlike other car companies that have embraced Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Tesla has avoided offering integration for these platforms. Current Teslas are devoid of Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant as well.
Specifications & Features
Top Speed
The all-new Roadster sits on a dedicated EV platform and will maximize high performance and efficiency with mind-blowing figures: wheel torque of 7,376 lb.-ft. (10,000 Nm) and a top speed of over 250 mph (402 km/h).
The new Roadster is something special beyond a car
Elon Musk, via X, on September 16, 2025
In addition, it will feature an all-wheel-drive layout with torque vectoring (one electric motor at the front, two at the rear). At least in terms of acceleration (0-60 mph in <1 second), it should outperform combustion-engined supercars.
Battery, Charging & Range
We expect Tesla to deploy its new 4680 battery cell format in the all-new Roadster, in the high-performance application version. The company has named the new format after its dimensions: 80 mm in length and around 46 mm in diameter. The new tabless cell technology’s advantages include reduced battery pack size and cost/kWh.
The Roadster prototype features a 200 kWh battery that supports charging at 350 kW DC and offers a range of 620 miles (997 km) at highway speeds, which would be among the longest driving ranges for a production EV. We wonder how Tesla can fit such a large battery pack into a compact sports car.
Wireless Charging
The next-gen Tesla Roadster could be the brand’s first model to feature wireless charging. In an episode of Jay Leno’s Garage (via YouTube), Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen revealed that the company is developing wireless EV charging technology.
Customers will need only to park their Tesla over a wireless EV charging pad installed in their garage, and the car will automatically start charging, the design boss said.
Autonomous Driving
Tesla is expected to offer Full Self-Driving (FSD) as an optional feature in the next-gen Roadster. The company has discontinued basic Autopilot in new vehicles, so that’s not expected in the sports car. FSD gives the car the capability to identify stop signs and traffic lights and automatically slow down where required. It should also come enabled with automatic steering on city streets.
Price
Tesla initially priced the all-new Roadster at USD 200,000 in the base trim and USD 250,000 in the priority delivery (first 1,000 units) Founders Series trim. Although reservations remain open, Tesla has removed pricing information from its website.
In the U.S., customers need to place a deposit of USD 50,000, consisting of an initial USD 5,000 credit card payment and a USD 45,000 wire transfer due in 10 days. Perhaps Tesla removed prices because it can no longer promise the initially announced prices for new reservations. The company could announce a price hike closer to the launch, as it did with the Cybertruck.
Release Date
On the Jay Leno’s Garage episode that was released on August 10, 2026 (via YouTube), von Holzhausen said at the next-gen Roadster is coming “very soon.” He did not give a specific timeline for the debut or share any new details, though.
Just four days later, on August 14, 2026 The Information reported that Tesla plans to unveil and demonstrate the next-gen Roadster at the same event at SpaceX’s rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas, as early as August 2026.
The company will reportedly demonstrate the car’s levitation capability with no one inside the vehicle and spectators kept several hundred yards away from the demonstration area, safely away from the cold-air thrusters.
In July 2025, at the X Takeover, Moravy (via YouTube) said the team had spent years rethinking the car to make it “the last best driver’s car” before autonomous driving becomes the norm. He said it will be “more than a car,” noted Musk had seen new tech that left him excited, and described the event as “super cool” and “mind-blowing.”
Production
Tesla plans to manufacture the next-gen Roadster in Texas, Moravy revealed on the Ride The Lightning Podcast that took place on May 24, 2026. He did not reveal the start of production timeline, though.
At the 2025 annual shareholder meeting on November 6, Musk suggested that the production launch of the Roadster is set for sometime in the second half of 2027. He also said that the sports car will have a “very different” design compared to the concept shown in 2017.
Limited-run Model
On April 5, 2023, Tesla unveiled its Master Plan Part 3, a document that outlines its current and future models, not including the Roadster.
During the 2023 Investor Day on March 1, 2023, Tesla indicated in its presentation that the redesigned Roadster will not be a major sales contributor, as it was not pictured on its Global Electric Fleet slide.
The halo car will serve more as a brand-shaping product and innovation platform. ItIt will push the boundaries of performance, efficiency, and design, with things that wouldn’t normally be possible in mainstream models like the Model 3 or Model Y.
Hiring
In December 2025, Teslarati spotted Tesla listing three all-new Roadster-related jobs: a Technical Program Manager for Battery Manufacturing and a Manufacturing Engineer in Fremont, and a Manufacturing Vision Engineer in Palo Alto.
The roles focus on transitioning the Roadster’s design into factory execution, engineering the battery pack, and building production processes and equipment from concept to launch.
Trademark Applications
In February 2026, Tesla filed new trademark applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the Roadster, covering both a stylized “ROADSTER” wordmark and a different design logo of a sports car silhouette.
In April 2026, Tesla filed another trademark application with the USPTO, this time for a logo featuring a shield-like hexagonal shape. Inside, this emblem has a Roadster wordmark in the same font seen earlier, positioned at the top, and four vertical bars at the bottom.
Competitors
The next-gen Tesla Roadster will differ considerably from other sports cars, focusing not only on performance and driving dynamics but also on groundbreaking technologies. Still, it will face competition from models such as the Denza Z, Yangwang U9, and Maserati GranTurismo Folgore.
By the time Tesla puts the all-new Roadster on sale, the production version of the Audi Concept C and the next-gen Porsche 718 Cayman may also have joined its list of competitors. Customers could also cross-shop the next-gen Roadster against the Ferrari Luce, although the latter would be an indirect rival.
TopElectricSUV says
The next-generation Roadster will be as intense as a hardcore roller coaster, meaning it won’t be for the faint-hearted. In all likelihood, it will be far more extreme than what Tesla promised with Plaid at the convertible concept’s debut in 2017, with the team working on the project hinting at performance levels that momentarily lift the car off the ground!
New Tesla Roadster FAQs
What is the new Tesla Roadster’s release date?
The next-gen Roadster will likely debut by August 2026. Production is expected to begin in 2027.
What will be the new Tesla Roadster’s price?
The new Tesla Roadster will likely start at USD 200,000.
Which models are the Roadster 2’s competitors?
Polestar 6, BYD Yangwang U9, Ferrari Luce & Denza Z are indirect rivals.
An automobile engineer by training, I’ve analyzed the global car market since 2005, with a keen focus on EVs since 2008. My journey in online automotive publishing spans 17 years, during which I have reviewed cutting-edge automotive technologies and interviewed leading global CEOs and vehicle developers.
