Where Tesla’s going, you might not need roads — but you still need to read the terms and conditions.
Tesla’s thruster-powered, midair flip-kicking, flying supercar was a wow moment even by the standards of the company’s famously off-the-rails product unveilings.
But Tesla fans lining up to pay as much as $250,000 to reserve the new Roadster, which can do 0-60 mph in under a second thanks to a system of cold-gas thrusters, should probably take a close look at the fine print.
Tesla
The company’s T&Cs make it clear that the final price of the bleeding-edge EV — which comes in Performance, Thrust, and Rocket variants — has yet to be determined and state that there are no guarantees the Roadster will ever be delivered.
Meanwhile, it is unclear whether the two thruster-powered versions of the Roadster will actually be road-legal.
After combing through the Roadster’s reservation agreement and Musk’s comments at its unveiling, here’s what you should know before splashing out on Tesla’s most outlandish vehicle yet.
1. It’s not clear where you can actually drive it
As the dust cleared on the jaw-dropping Roadster showcase, one key question remained unanswered: where exactly will you be able to drive it?
At the event, Musk said the cold air thruster-powered flying Roadster would be an actual “car that someone can own,” not just a one-off concept demonstration.
But the Tesla CEO added that he was “not sure it’s necessarily legal in all jurisdictions,” and when an audience member asked if it would be street-legal, Musk was vague.
Tesla
“Depends on your street. But it’ll be a viable car,” the billionaire said.
The flying Rocket variant shown in the demo is invite-only. It’s listed on Tesla’s website with the caveat that it is “not approved for public road use.”
The gravity-defying stunts, flips, and barrel rolls shown off at Thursday’s unveiling were performed without a driver in the car for safety reasons, and Musk described the vehicle as “not necessarily a safety-optimized car.”
By contrast, Tesla describes the Performance variant — which costs $50,000 to reserve — as “road ready” with its fan-suction system providing “next-level performance on and off the track.” That suggests the goal is for the base version of the Roadster, at least, to be road-legal.
The limited-edition Thrust variant, meanwhile, is described as “race ready,” implying that this version might be exclusively for driving on race tracks. That would not be unusual for a high-end hypercar, with Ferrari, Pagani, and Bugatti all selling track-only supercars that don’t adhere to normal vehicle regulations.
2. It could cost more than you signed up for
Shelling out up to $250,000 for a Roadster reservation by no means guarantees that you will get one at that price.
According to the terms and conditions of Tesla’s Roadster reservation agreement, the fees for the Performance and Thrust variants are only an estimate, as the company is still “working on what options, features and hardware the vehicle will have.”
Tesla
The final purchase price will be confirmed closer to the start of production, the document said, with the (fully refundable) reservation payment going toward the actual cost of the car.
3. Delivery is not guaranteed
The T&Cs also advise reservation holders that the Roadster is still “under development” and Tesla “cannot guarantee when your vehicle will actually be delivered or if it will be delivered.”
This will likely bring back bad memories for Tesla fans who paid $50,000 to reserve the next-generation Roadster when it was first unveiled in 2017.
That version of the Roadster, a more conventional supercar that could still hit 0-60 mph in 1.9 seconds, languished in development for years and ultimately never entered production.
The delay caused some long-suffering reservation holders like Musk’s arch-rival, Sam Altman, and tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee, to cancel their orders in frustration after waiting nearly a decade for a car that never arrived.
Tesla fans will be hoping that history doesn’t repeat itself.
