Tesla's rocket ship for the road locked in

It's on X, so it must be right… right?. Tesla's official account on the social media platform has made a post signalling October 1 this year as the launch date for the much-anticipated Tesla Roadster.. Sceptics might say they'll believe it when they see it because the triple-motor EV hypercar has been 'coming soon' for close to a decade..

Unveiled in concept form as a surprise addition to the brand's 'Semi truck' reveal in late 2017, the sleek 2+2 Roadster was positioned as the fastest production car ever, with a launch originally scheduled for 2020.. Claimed to sprint from 0-97km/h (0-60mph) in 1.9 seconds with a maximum velocity of 400km/h-plus and a range in excess of 1000km, the AWD machine generated huge interest with an initial run of 'Founder's Edition' models priced at US$250,000 (~A$350,000).. Those putting their hand up for a car from that first batch were asked to pay the full price to reserve their production slot..

Purchase of the standard Roadster at US$200,000 (~A$280,000) required a $50,000 deposit.. Less than six months later, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced news of a 'SpaceX Performance Pack' using 10 cold-air thrusters powered by a high-pressure air tank (replacing the rear seats) to achieve sub-1.0-second 0-60mph acceleration.. At the time, Musk said the car would provide "roller-coaster" intensity performance and briefly be able to "fly"..

With estimated delivery timing for the Roadster progressively slipping further into the future - to 2022 (thanks largely to COVID-19), then 2023, then 2024, then 2025 and most recently (no joke) April 1, 2026, this may be the time Tesla Roadster 2.0 rubber finally hits the road.. Musk has previously thanked what he referred to as "long-suffering" Roadster deposit holders during Telsa's Q3 2024 earnings call and in its Q4 2025 earnings update (released in January this year), Tesla noted the Roadster is in "the final stages of preparation" with Musk adding it would be showcased at a Roadster 2 demo event scheduled for April 1, with production to begin in 2027.. Needless to say, that didn't happen, with the joke seemingly still on those who stumped up a quarter of a million dollars for a Founder's Edition Roadster nine long years ago..

But documents lodged with the United States Patent &. Trademark office in February this year indicated Tesla's second-generation Roadster was getting ready for take-off with two 'Trademark/service mark' applications lodged by Tesla;. "a triangle design consisting of three flowing, curved lines" creating a simplified impression of the car's silhouette and "the word ROADSTER in stylized format"..

Then in late April, an additional filing added a badge-style polygon logo, again, specifically for the Roadster.  Will this much-hyped, over-promised and so far under-delivered 'new' hypercar hit Tesla showrooms before celebrating a 10th birthday?  We might know in just a few weeks but the top comment on Tesla's X post at the time of writing is telling with 'Scott' posting, "Perfect timing for my midlife crisis.".