Tesla’s next-generation Roadster is now open for reservations in the UAE, but getting in line costs a lot. The cheapest version requires about $57,000 upfront, and the company still won’t say when anyone will receive a car.
Reservations are made through Tesla’s UAE website and cover two versions. The Performance model, which Tesla describes as road-ready, starts with a refundable payment of AED 20,000 ($5,445), followed by AED 190,000 ($51,735) within 10 days. The Thrust version follows the same structure, but the second payment rises to roughly AED 1.02 million ($272,000). Tesla says the Thrust, which uses rear-mounted thrusters, can reach 100km/h in one second.
There is also a third version, the Rocket. It is a single-seater that Tesla says combines the other variants with a “full flight system.” Cold-gas thrusters placed around the body would let it accelerate upwards and forwards and rotate sideways in the air. Tesla states on its website that the car can fly. Ordinary buyers can’t reserve one, because the Rocket is invite-only.
These payments are reservations, not purchase prices. Tesla says the Roadster is still in development, and final pricing won’t be set until engineers settle its configurations. The reservation agreement states that no delivery date is offered, implied or guaranteed, and that Tesla accepts no liability for delays. Only the first payment is clearly described as refundable. Buyers should check the terms on the much larger second payment carefully before sending it.
That warning matters because of history. Tesla unveiled the second-generation Roadster in 2017, took reservation deposits of up to $250,000, and promised deliveries in 2020. That car never reached customers. The revived Roadster, shown at a demonstration in Texas, now has a production start of 2028, and Elon Musk has given no delivery timeline beyond that.
The timing is strategic. Tesla has spent several difficult years with slowing sales and growing competition from Chinese and legacy automakers, and both have hurt its profits. A spectacular halo car rebuilds excitement in a way a mid-cycle Model Y update can’t. Collecting large deposits years before production also gives Tesla interest-free cash from its most loyal customers.
For UAE buyers, the bigger questions go beyond price. No regulator has said how a thruster-equipped road car, let alone one that flies, would be certified for Dubai streets. Until Tesla commits to a delivery date and a final specification, the Roadster remains an expensive promise.
