Tesla’s reservation agreement for its next-generation Roadster says the company cannot guarantee when the car will be delivered, or whether it will be delivered at all. The language appears in the terms customers see when placing a reservation on Tesla’s website, which the automaker opened up after re-revealing the Roadster on Thursday night, Oct. 15.
“You understand that Roadster is still under development at the time you entered into this Agreement and so we cannot guarantee when your vehicle will actually be delivered or if it will be delivered,” the agreement states, as InsideEVs reported on Oct. 16. The Drive picked up the story the next day.
Customers can be asked to put down as much as $250,000, according to InsideEVs, yet the agreement says that money buys a reservation, not an order. It secures only an “approximate” place in line if and when the car reaches production, rather than a confirmed build slot.
The price isn’t settled either. “The estimated Purchase Price of the vehicle, if provided, is only an estimate. We are still working on what options, features and hardware the vehicle will have and so cannot confirm the exact price just yet,” the agreement says. Tesla will confirm the final price once a customer configures the car, and anything shown during the presentation could change before launch.
Tesla estimates production will start in 2028. The Drive pointed out that the previous version of the Roadster, unveiled nearly 10 years ago with deposits of up to $250,000 for the top Founders Series, never reached production. CEO Elon Musk is now promising zero to 60 mph in 0.81 seconds and built-in rocket thrusters.
Reservations are fully refundable if the customer changes their mind or if Tesla can’t deliver the car, and they cannot be transferred. Unlike the agreements for the Cybertruck Foundation Series and Model S Signature Edition, the Roadster terms don’t include a no-resale clause.