Tesla Sets 7:55 P.M. Central Roadster Livestream for Thursday

Tesla has finally put an exact viewing time on the next-generation Roadster event.

The company says it will stream the show live Thursday, October 15, at 7:55 p.m. Central.

That confirmation turns a long-running promise into a real appointment. It does not answer the bigger questions yet: what Tesla will demonstrate, what the finished car will cost, when production begins and when reservation holders can expect deliveries.

Tesla posted the time with a new Roadster event graphic early Wednesday:

Roadster event streaming live this Thursday at 7:55pm CST pic.twitter.com/AbsmpVucui

— Tesla (@Tesla) October 14, 2026

The stream should begin at 8:55 p.m. Eastern and 5:55 p.m. Pacific. Tesla’s announcement points viewers to X, where the company’s account is expected to carry the broadcast.

The timing is unusually specific—five minutes before the hour—and the stakes are high. Tesla first showed the second-generation Roadster prototype in November 2017 and originally targeted production for 2020.

Nine years later, the company is preparing another reveal while customers are still waiting for a production car.

Tesla still advertises the Roadster with a 1.9-second sprint from zero to 60 mph, a top speed above 250 mph and 620 miles of range. The product page also describes four seats and a lightweight removable glass roof that stores in the trunk.

Those are extraordinary numbers, but they remain Tesla’s published targets rather than final 2026 production specifications. The page does not list a final battery capacity, charging rate, purchase price or firm customer-delivery date.

Thursday’s event needs to close that gap. A spectacular demonstration will draw attention, but buyers need to know which performance claims belong to the car Tesla intends to build and which belong to an optional SpaceX-inspired package or a one-off prototype.

The event was supposed to happen October 1. Tesla moved it two weeks after consulting local meteorologists and deciding the predicted severe weather was incompatible with a presentation that could only be staged outdoors.

The company’s original postponement notice made the outdoor requirement explicit:

Roadster event update

We've been tracking the weather closely with local meteorologists, but given the severe conditions predicted & because this event can only be held outdoors, we've made the difficult decision to reschedule.

New date is October 15. Additional details to…

— Tesla (@Tesla) September 28, 2026

An outdoor-only show naturally raises expectations for a dynamic demonstration rather than a vehicle sitting under stage lights.

Elon Musk has spent years discussing a Roadster package developed with SpaceX technology, including cold-gas thrusters and acceleration far beyond an ordinary sports car. Tesla has not published a final production configuration for that system, so Thursday should separate engineering reality from years of hints.

Teslarati reports that the event is being held in Waco, Texas, and notes that Tesla had not confirmed a public broadcast until this week’s announcement. The report also traces the Roadster back to the 2017 prototype and says the current event is expected to address specifications, pricing and production targets.

The Waco setting puts the event within reach of SpaceX’s McGregor rocket-development operation. The location alone tells us nothing about the demonstration.

Combined with the outdoor-only format, it explains the intense speculation about thrusters.

The report says reservations reopened with a $5,000 card payment followed by a $45,000 wire payment. That is a serious amount of money to place behind a car whose final price and delivery schedule remain unsettled.

Tesla Roadster Reservation Agreement makes the limits clear. A reservation secures an approximate place in line; it is not an order or purchase agreement, and Tesla says the final price will be confirmed only when the customer is invited to configure the vehicle.

The terms also say Tesla is still working on the Roadster’s options, features and hardware. That language gives the company room to change the package, but it also makes Thursday’s production detail more important than another round of broad promises.

Reservation holders need answers on the base car, any SpaceX package, refundability, configuration timing and whether earlier deposits keep their original priority.

The event also lands six days before Tesla discusses its latest quarter with investors.

Tesla Investor Relations says the company will publish third-quarter financial results after the market closes Wednesday, October 21, followed by a live question-and-answer webcast at 4:30 p.m. Central.

Tesla reported 486,532 vehicle deliveries and 13.7 GWh of energy-storage deployments for the quarter. Any Roadster production timetable announced Thursday will become part of the company’s forward-looking story before management faces investor questions the following week.

The Roadster does not need to become Tesla’s highest-volume product to matter. It is supposed to be the company’s performance flagship—the car that shows what an electric drivetrain can do when practicality is no longer the first constraint.

That is why Thursday’s event carries more weight than a normal concept reveal. Tesla has already shown a beautiful prototype and already published astonishing targets.

Now it has to show the car it can build, name the terms under which customers can buy it and put a believable date on production.

The livestream starts Thursday at 7:55 p.m. Central. After nine years, the real headline will be whether Tesla leaves viewers with a finished Roadster program instead of another promise.