Tesla delays Roadster demo two weeks to October 15, blames weather

Tesla has officially pushed its Roadster demo from October 1 to October 15, blaming “severe conditions” in the forecast for central Texas.

It’s the latest in a long line of delays for the next-gen Roadster, and this one moves the event back two full weeks for what Tesla describes as a weather problem.

Tesla moves the Roadster event to October 15

This morning, we reported that Tesla warned invitees the October 1 Roadster demo could be rescheduled due to weather. A few hours later, the company made it official in a post on X:

“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.”

Tesla says “additional details” will follow. October 15 is also a Thursday, exactly two weeks after the original date.

The event is expected to take place at SpaceX’s rocket test site in McGregor, Texas, near Waco. As we reported in August, the plan is to make the Roadster hover using a SpaceX-developed cold gas thruster package, with nobody in the car and spectators kept several hundred yards back.

The forecast clears within days

To be fair to Tesla, the weather on October 1 does look bad. Open-Meteo forecast data for McGregor, updated Monday afternoon, now calls for an 82% chance of precipitation on Thursday, with thunderstorms, gusts around 30 mph, and more than 4 inches of rain.

But it doesn’t last. Friday still shows an 81% chance of rain, but with less than half an inch and gusts dropping to about 21 mph. By Saturday, it’s down to 53% with 13 mph gusts. From Sunday onward, the forecast is mostly dry, with no measurable rain from October 5 through October 7.

In other words, the storm passes within two or three days. Tesla picked a date two weeks out.

Another Roadster delay

The Roadster has been delayed so many times that the list is hard to keep straight. Tesla unveiled the prototype in November 2017 with a promise of production in 2020. The “flying” demo was supposed to happen by the end of 2025, then on April 1, 2026, then late April, then “maybe in a month or so,” then August, then October 1.

Now it’s October 15. Production is still guided for “2027 or 2028.”

Electrek’s Take

We’re not buying that this is only about the weather.

If the storm on Thursday were the only issue, Tesla would have pushed the event by a day or two. The forecast is dry by the weekend. Sure, rescheduling an event with invited guests takes some logistics, and maybe the site needs time to dry out after 4 inches of rain. But two weeks is a long buffer for a storm that’s gone by Saturday.

We wouldn’t be surprised if Tesla is running into issues with the demo itself. This is a car that’s supposed to hover on SpaceX thrusters, operated remotely, in front of a crowd. Musk himself reportedly told staff it “will be hard to pull off and could go wrong.” A convenient storm buys time.

And honestly, that’s the frustrating part. Nobody who put down $50,000 or $250,000 for a Roadster asked for a hover stunt. We just want the Roadster Tesla unveiled nearly a decade ago: a fast electric sports car with a real price, real specs, and a real delivery date.

Will October 15 finally deliver that, or just another gimmick?

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