The new Tesla Roadster, and what a reservation is

The short version

Tesla’s own reservation site, tesla.com/en_US/roadster/reserve, returned Access Denied to this check on Nov 2, 2026. The dollar figures below are what newsrooms wrote that the page showed after the unveil. They are labeled reported. They are not a reading of Tesla’s page from today.

• Reuters, in a story dated Oct 15, 2026, said the reservation page showed a $50,000 deposit for Performance and a $250,000 deposit for Thrust, and that Rocket is invite only. reported
• Engadget, the same night, described a split: $5,000 at reservation and $45,000 within 10 days for the base car, and an additional $245,000 within 10 days for Thrust. reported
• A two-page document headed “Roadster Reservation Agreement (US v.20261015)” and “Tesla, Inc.” says the payment is not an order, the price is not final, and delivery is not guaranteed. A full refund of the reservation payment is written into that document until Tesla invites you to configure the car. This check read a PDF copy hosted by The Drive, because tesla.com would not open. reported
• The Petersen Automotive Museum’s vehicle page, read Nov 2, lists a 2028 Tesla Roadster Thrust Prototype as off display. It does not, on the page this check read, state a four-day run from Oct 24 to Oct 27. listing

What you would put down

Reuters, published on Investing.com with an Oct 15, 2026 dateline and an Oct 16 update, wrote:

Tesla’s reservation page for the Roadster after Thursday’s event showed a “Performance” version of the vehicle requiring a $50,000 deposit and a “Thrust” version with “acceleration thrusters” requiring a $250,000 deposit. A “Rocket” variant, which Tesla says is “invite only,” is described as a single-seat model with a “full flight system.” Reuters via Investing.com reported

The same story says executives did not specify any target prices at Thursday’s event, and that Tesla had quoted a $200,000 base price nearly a decade earlier. A deposit is not that old sticker, and it is not a new one. reported

TechCrunch, timestamped 6:17 PM PDT on Oct 15, 2026, wrote that Tesla’s website was charging $50,000 just to reserve the Performance, and $250,000 for Thrust and that The Rocket trim is billed as “invite only.” It also wrote that Performance is “road ready” and seats two, Thrust is “race ready” and seats two, and Rocket is “air ready” and seats one. TechCrunch reported

The $5,000 plus $45,000 split is one outlet. Engadget, timestamped Oct 15, 2026, wrote that people can now reserve a unit for $5,000, with $45,000 to follow within the next 10 days for the base vehicle and that Thrust buyers are expected to pay an additional $245,000 within 10 days of reservation. Engadget reported

Those two ways of stating the money can describe the same totals: 5,000 plus 45,000 is 50,000, and 5,000 plus 245,000 is 250,000. This page does not treat that arithmetic as Tesla’s current checkout. Open the reservation page yourself before you pay anything. If the numbers there differ, the page in your browser wins.

There is still no price

Electrek, Oct 15, 2026: Tesla didn’t give a price for any of the three versions. The same story says of the first payment: It’s $5,000 due today, which Tesla calls fully refundable. Electrek reported

TeslaNorth, in a guide marked updated Oct 16, 2026: Tesla has opened reservations for the Roadster, but it has not announced final selling prices for the new models. TeslaNorth reported

So the deposit is the only number on the table. It is not the price, and the agreement below says the price will be confirmed only once you configure the car.

What the agreement actually commits you to

The Drive hosts a two-page PDF titled Roadster Reservation Agreement, marked “US v.20261015” and “Tesla, Inc.” This check downloaded that file on Nov 2, 2026, from The Drive’s copy. The filename on that host misspells “Reservation.” Tesla’s own terms URL did not open from here (Access Denied), so this is a republished copy, not a click-through confirmed on tesla.com today. reported

The document’s opening line: You have now secured the approximate priority for configuring and ordering your Tesla Roadster, once available.

On when it starts: Your Reservation is effective when 1) you place your reservation and 2) we receive your full Reservation Payment, which includes the payment due within 10 days of when you placed your reservation. The PDF does not state a dollar amount for that payment.

On price: The estimated Purchase Price of the vehicle, if provided, is only an estimate. And: we cannot confirm the exact price just yet. Your Purchase Price will ultimately be confirmed once you’ve configured your vehicle.

On what you have bought: While this Reservation secures your approximate priority, it does not constitute the purchase or order of a vehicle. Later, if you go ahead, your Reservation Payment will be applied towards the Purchase Price of the vehicle. Taxes, duties, transport, delivery charges, and other fees are named as things a later purchase agreement would add. They are not priced here.

On delivery: we cannot guarantee when your vehicle will actually be delivered or if it will be delivered.

On getting the money back: Until you complete your configuration of your vehicle after we invite you to do so, your Reservation may be cancelled at any time through your Tesla Account and for any reason, by either you or us, in which case you will receive a full refund of your Reservation Payment. The refund goes to the original form of payment. If that account is closed, Tesla will issue the refund via check in the name of the Reservation holder only.

The payment is not set aside. we will not hold your Reservation Payment separately or in an escrow or trust fund or pay any interest on your Reservation Payment. And: Your Reservation is not transferable or assignable to another party without our prior written consent.

If something goes wrong under this agreement, Your sole and exclusive remedy under this Agreement will be limited to reimbursement of your Reservation Payment.

There is also an arbitration clause. Disputes go to a single arbitrator under American Arbitration Association consumer rules, not a judge or jury, unless you opt out. The document says you may opt out within 30 days after signing by sending a letter to Tesla, Inc., P.O. Box 15430, Fremont, CA 94539-7970, with your name, reservation or order number, and a statement that you intend to opt out. That is a company mailbox printed in the agreement, not a home address. Read section 10 yourself before you rely on this summary. reported

In plain terms: the money in the reported totals is a refundable place in line until Tesla invites you to configure, it is not held in escrow, it does not set the car’s price, and it does not oblige Tesla to build you one. After you configure, the document’s refund sentence no longer applies. This page is not legal advice.

When they say it will be built

Reuters: Tesla said it would start production in 2028. reported

TechCrunch: Musk said Tesla will finally build the long-delayed vehicle in 2028, but didn’t name a price. reported

Engadget: Musk said the new Roadster will go into production in 2028. reported

The Petersen page lists the car’s year as 2028 and calls it a Thrust prototype. That is the museum’s label for the object, not a delivery date for a customer car. Petersen vehicle page listing

The agreement, quoted above, still says Tesla cannot guarantee when a reserved car will be delivered, or if it will be delivered. A production year in a news story does not override that sentence.

The Petersen, and a date that does not match

The museum’s page for the car, fetched Nov 2, 2026, is titled “2028 Tesla Roadster Thrust Prototype.” Beside the Tesla name it shows “Off Display” and “Oct 24, 2026,” and the body begins “No Longer On Display.” The location line reads “Location: Lobby.” The street address in the page data is 6060 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036. listing

The same page says: On October 14, 2026, Tesla captivated a global audience with the unveiling of Roadster in McGregor, Texas. It says Tesla described the car as its last best driver’s car, and that At the unveiling, Roadster Thrust achieved a sub-1-second 0-60 mph acceleration time. On the Rocket trim it says cold-gas thrusters allow it to “fly.” listing

Reuters dates the unveil to Thursday, Oct 15, 2026, at a SpaceX test site in McGregor, Texas. TechCrunch dates its story Oct 15 and places the event outside Waco, Texas. McGregor and Waco are not the same sentence. October 14 and October 15 are not the same day. This page does not pick a winner. reported

The four-day run is in the news, not on the museum page. RACER, Oct 22, 2026: The Roadster will be on display from Saturday, Oct. 24, through Tuesday, Oct. 27. RACER calls it the same vehicle Tesla brought onstage during its Oct. 15 unveiling. RACER reported

AutoGuide, Oct 23, 2026: The car goes on display in the museum’s main lobby from Saturday, October 24th through Tuesday, October 27th. It calls the stop a limited four-day appearance. AutoGuide reported

The museum’s own page says the car is off display and prints Oct 24, 2026 next to that status. Either way, that window is closed. No other Los Angeles showing turned up in this check. Check Petersen before a trip. Hours are not copied here, because this check did not read a current hours table.

Reuters attributes these performance lines to Tesla vehicle engineering chief Lars Moravy: the car can accelerate from zero to 60 mph (97 kph) in less than one second and can hit a top speed of over 230 mph (370 kph), and can also travel over 300 miles (480 km) on a single charge. TechCrunch says all three trims have 300 miles of range and speeds exceeding 230 mph. Those are reported accounts of what was said at the event, not a spec sheet from Tesla opened on Nov 2. reported

The last time, it was unveiled in Hawthorne

The earlier Roadster, the one in the photo above, was first shown in November 2017 at the same event as the Tesla Semi, in Hawthorne.

GeekWire, Nov 2017: Tonight’s unveiling at Tesla’s design studio in Hawthorne, Calif. GeekWire reported

NPR, published by KQED on Nov 17, 2017: Musk welcomed the Roadster to cheers from those attending the event at the Hawthorne Municipal Airport near Los Angeles. KQED reported

What was promised that night, as Fortune reported it on Nov 17, 2017: 0 to 60 miles per hour in 1.9 seconds, 620 miles on a single charge, a base price of $200,000, a founder’s series for $250,000, and a car that won’t be available until 2020. GeekWire put the deposit at $50,000 and wrote that it was scheduled to go into production in 2020. Fortune reported

KQED described the 2017 deposit the same way Engadget describes this one: a smaller first payment, with a total of at least $50,000 due within 10 days. reported

2020 came and went. The new production year is 2028. That gap is the best reason to read the agreement before you pay. Tesla’s own 2017 announcement could not be found on tesla.com or ir.tesla.com in this check, so this section rests on news reports.

Hawthorne, without stretching it

The October unveil, in the sources above, was in Texas. The local connection is older, and the sources do not all say the same thing about where SpaceX is based now.

Wikipedia’s Hawthorne Municipal Airport page says: SpaceX and its spinoff The Boring Company originally were headquartered at the southeast end of the airport, and continue to have operations there. The next sentence says: The Tesla Design Studio is located at the airport as well. That page’s footnote for those sentences is a “Hawthorne Airport FAQ” PDF. This check did not open that PDF, so the sentences are Wikipedia’s, not the city’s FAQ in hand. Wikipedia, Hawthorne Municipal Airport reported

Wikipedia’s SpaceX page, revision timestamp 2026-11-01, says the company is headquartered at the Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Wikipedia, SpaceX reported

Those two pages can both be true if operations remain at the Hawthorne airport and the headquarters is in Texas. This guide does not resolve that. It also does not claim the 2026 Roadster was designed on that airport. Tesla’s Feb 10, 2012 press release is datelined Hawthorne and describes a Model X unveil at its Los Angeles design studio. That is a 2012 document about a different car. Tesla Investor Relations, Feb 10, 2012 reported

If you already drive an EV around here

The Roadster is not a car you can charge this month. The public chargers below are, if the station record is still right. They come from the U.S. Department of Energy Alternative Fuels Data Center station dataset, read Nov 2, 2026, for public electric stations near 33.9192, -118.4165, the point this site uses for El Segundo. The locator’s own note is that it shows available, publicly accessible stations by default. A record is not a promise the stall is free, working, or open to your car. No home addresses are included. AFDC station locator Dataset documentation listing

One query with a 4-mile radius returned 202 public electric station locations. These are a few of the nearer records, quoted from the fields named.

Station pages in the locator use the id, for example the Holly Street record is the station numbered 159939. Confirm the plug and the price in the network’s own app. AFDC prices were not copied here.

What this check could not verify

• The live U.S. reservation page on tesla.com. The server answered Access Denied. Do not treat the reported $5,000, $45,000, $50,000, or $250,000 figures as a receipt.
• A Tesla press photograph of the October 2026 car, under a license this site can republish.
• A Petersen sentence that the lobby display ran Oct 24 through Oct 27. RACER and AutoGuide report those dates; the museum page says off display and prints Oct 24, 2026.
• Tesla’s own announcement of the 2017 unveil. The 2017 section rests on GeekWire, KQED and Fortune.
• Which date the 2026 unveil happened. The Petersen says Oct 14; Reuters, TechCrunch, Engadget and Electrek say Oct 15.
• Whether the agreement PDF on The Drive is byte-for-byte the file Tesla’s checkout asks you to accept today.
• That any charger above is free or working at the moment you arrive.
• A current Tesla page stating that the design studio is still at Hawthorne Municipal Airport. The Wikipedia sentence is labeled reported, and its footnote PDF was not opened.

elsegundo.xyz · Sunday Morning Edition, Oct 25 · Waymo around El Segundo · Site updates

Drafted by Grok 4.7 from the pages linked above. Checked by Grok 4.7, then checked and extended by Claude on Nov 2, 2026. Approved by Michael Hoydich, Nov 2, 2026.