Some customers have waited nearly a decade after paying $50,000 or more
Tesla is scheduled to debut its long-delayed Roadster supercar on Oct. 15 in Waco, Texas, nearly nine years after the vehicle was first unveiled in November 2017. The company has accepted deposits of $50,000 or more for Roadster reservations off and on since the car’s introduction, with some customers making $250,000 deposits for limited Founders Series editions.
The new Roadster, a sequel to Tesla’s first car, was originally shown to the public in November 2017, with production originally targeted to begin in 2020. That target was missed. The vehicle’s final price has not been announced.
“It need not fly, but it had better be the fastest car on earth.” That is Todd Haushalter’s hope for the long-delayed supercar, which will be revealed next week in Waco, Texas.
“I expect it to be the most impressive thing ever on wheels by a reasonably large factor,” Haushalter said. That anticipation has been building for nearly a decade since he paid a $250,000 deposit to get in line to buy one.
Haushalter, an online-gaming executive in Las Vegas, made his own bet on the car a few weeks after the original launch. His $250,000 deposit guaranteed him one of 1,000 Founders Series Roadsters, according to documentation he provided to The Wall Street Journal.
Haushalter grew more anxious about whether he would ever receive the continually delayed car. He wrote to Tesla’s board, he said, and got no response. On a 2024 call with investors, Musk thanked the “long-suffering deposit holders” for their patience.
Then, on Sept. 12, Haushalter received his first communication about the vehicle since he sent the money: an invitation to a “Ready for launch” event. The gathering was originally set for Oct. 1, but was rescheduled because of thunderstorms.
Tesla is now moving forward with what is likely to be its most expensive model in company history even as its core auto business has taken a back seat. Musk has said the new Roadster will be the final human-driven vehicle Tesla ever produces because the company’s future lies in autonomy, artificial intelligence and robotics. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
Bringing an ultracostly, niche vehicle to market could improve the company’s cash flow while longer-term bets, like humanoid robotics, might take time to pay off, said Jon McNeill, a former Tesla president. “I think Ferrari proves the point that you can make a lot of money in the automotive business at low volumes, at a high price point,” McNeill said.
In 2017, Musk said the car would be able to go from zero to 60 miles an hour in 1.9 seconds, top 250 miles an hour and drive up to 620 miles on a full charge. He raised the bar in 2024 by saying the Roadster would hit 60 mph from zero in less than one second. “And that is the least interesting part,” he said.
By comparison, Formula One race cars go 0-60 in about 2.5 seconds. Some production cars, including Tesla’s performance Model S sedan, can do it under two seconds. Sam Abuelsamid, an engineer and longtime industry analyst, said attempts to exceed those speeds should only be done in highly controlled environments with professional drivers and fire-suppression gear. “This is not something I would recommend to any normal human being,” Abuelsamid said.
Beyond any ground speeds, Musk has suggested the Roadster might hover or fly by using technology from his rocket company SpaceX. In 2018, he said an optional SpaceX package would include 10 small rocket thrusters that would improve acceleration, braking and cornering. “Maybe they will even allow a Tesla to fly,” he added. McNeill, who left the company in 2018, said engineers were working even then to incorporate SpaceX thrusters into the car.
In 2019, Musk retweeted a fictional image of a vehicle hovering a few feet off the ground, saying the Roadster “will actually do something like this.” On Sept. 29, the U.S. patent office published a Tesla patent for a series of ducted fans that improve stability during braking and increase speed around corners. The electric fan system increases downforce and reduces drag, according to the patent, for which Tesla applied in 2024.
Phil Trubey, a tech entrepreneur and investor in San Diego who also put down $250,000 for a Founders Series Roadster, said he is less concerned about top speed. His high-performance Tesla Model S already gives him more than he can handle, he said. “If you punch that thing, it literally gives me nausea,” Trubey said. “So, I cannot even imagine what a Roadster would do to me.” He and his son are headed to Texas on Oct. 15.
Not every Roadster customer has been able to stomach the delays. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, said last year that he had tried to cancel his reservation after putting down a $50,000 deposit in 2018. Altman noted that 7½ years “has felt like a long time to wait.” In a public spat on X, Musk said Altman’s money had been refunded.
Jerry Heasley, a Texas car collector and freelance automotive journalist, convinced Tesla in 2025 to refund the $50,000 deposit he had made in 2017 for a garden-variety Roadster, according to documents viewed by the Journal. As the years went by, Heasley said he was worried he might never see the car. “I want it really bad now, you can tell,” Heasley said. “Maybe I should have hung in there.”