Tesla Teases Next-Gen Roadster With Full-Width Light Bar Ahead of Reveal

Tesla surprised viewers at the end of its Semi Rollout event in Nevada on Thursday night with a brief glimpse of its upcoming next-generation Roadster, offering the first look at what appears to be a significant design change ahead of its planned reveal next week.

The teaser arrived as a "one more thing" moment after Tesla wrapped up its Semi presentation. Before the clip played, Tesla engineering executive Lars Moravy told the audience, "We can't have a Semi event without the Roadster."

Light bar design

The roughly nine-second video opens with the doors of a cargo trailer opening in darkness. A bright horizontal light bar then illuminates across the front of the vehicle, followed by flashes of Tesla and SpaceX branding before the glowing Roadster name appears on screen.

Tesla later shared the teaser on X from its official account with the caption "See you next week," which lines up with the company's planned next-generation Roadster reveal on October 1, 2026, in Waco, Texas.

The teaser provides another hint that Tesla is moving away from the original Roadster prototype design shown in 2017. That vehicle featured two separate curved headlights, while the new teaser appears to show a continuous front light bar stretching across the nose - a design element Tesla has introduced on vehicles including Cybertruck, Cybercab, Semi and the refreshed Model Y.

Reservations reopened

Tesla reopened Roadster reservations on September 18. Canadian customers are required to submit a $6,000 credit card payment listed as "Fully refundable," followed by a $58,000 wire transfer due within 10 days.

An upcoming temporary flight restriction over SpaceX's McGregor, Texas test site has drawn attention due to its proximity to the Waco reveal location, although the FAA notice does not mention Tesla or the Roadster.

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