Tesla has moved its second-generation Roadster demonstration from October 1 to October 15, blaming severe weather for an event it says can only be held outdoors. The company announced the change on X on September 28, and the countdown on Tesla’s Roadster page now runs to the new date.
This time the forecast backs Tesla up. The National Weather Service has a flood watch in effect for the McGregor, Texas, area until 7 a.m. on October 2, and its forecast for October 1 calls for a 90% chance of thunderstorms with 2 to 3 inches of rain.
The car itself is another matter. Tesla first showed the Roadster in 2017 and promised production in 2020. No customer has received one.
Tesla Plans an Outdoor Hover Demo Next to a SpaceX Test Site
Tesla’s post on X said it tracked the weather “with local meteorologists” and named October 15 as the new date, but no venue. Invitations for October 1 put the event near Waco, Texas, beside SpaceX’s McGregor rocket test site. Tesla has not said what the demo will show.
According to Electrek, the plan is for the Roadster to hover using a SpaceX cold gas thruster package, with nobody inside and spectators kept several hundred yards back. Musk has talked about that thruster option since 2018. Tesla has not confirmed any of it.
October 15 Is at Least the Fifth Date Since November 2025
Musk first put the demo on April 1, 2026, at Tesla’s November 2025 shareholder meeting. Since then it has moved to late April, to roughly a month after the April 22 earnings call, to October 1 and now to October 15.
EVXL counted October 1 as at least the fourth date when Tesla announced it.
Before that, in July 2025, Musk promised the most epic demo ever by the end of that year. It never happened.
The 2017 Numbers Are Still the Only Roadster Specs
Tesla’s 2017 claims are still the only official numbers: 0 to 60 mph in 1.9 seconds, a top speed above 250 mph (402 km/h) and up to 620 miles (998 kilometers) of range, for $200,000. No production car has been tested against them.
Musk has since said the production car will be very different and that the acceleration target is now under one second. Tesla has not published new specifications.
Reservations Still Cost $50,000 Up Front
Tesla’s Roadster reservation page still asks for a $5,000 card payment plus a $45,000 wire transfer due within 10 days, and says a reservation is not final until the wire arrives. Founders Series buyers paid $250,000 each in 2017, for a run capped at 1,000 cars.
Musk has put production at 2027 or 2028, at Giga Texas. Tesla has still not given those buyers a delivery date.
EVXL’s Take
I don’t think the weather is the problem this time. A flood watch and 2 to 3 inches of rain is a real reason to move an outdoor demo, especially one where a car is supposed to float on thrusters in front of a crowd.
The problem is everything around it. This is at least the fifth date in less than a year, for a car people put $50,000 down on in 2017. A two-week delay is a small thing. Nine years of them is not. On October 15, the thing to listen for isn’t how high the Roadster hovers. It’s whether Tesla finally says when people can actually buy one.
Sources: Tesla on X, Tesla Roadster reservation page, National Weather Service, Fort Worth, Electrek
EVXL uses automated tools to support research and source retrieval. All reporting is by Damien Kesteloo, edited by Haye Kesteloo.
