Tesla opens NZ Roadster reservations at $73,000, before the car is revealed

Tesla has opened New Zealand reservations for the next-generation Roadster, asking for $73,000 in deposits for a car it has not yet shown, priced or confirmed for right-hand drive.

The New Zealand terms require $7,000 by credit card, followed by a $66,000 wire transfer within 10 days, and the reservation is not final until the transfer is received. Tesla says the full deposit is refundable until a purchase agreement is signed. In the United States the equivalent is US$5,000 plus US$45,000, the same US$50,000 Tesla asked when it first took Roadster orders in 2017.

The reservations open ahead of the reveal event in Waco, Texas, on 1 October, which falls at 1.30pm on Friday 2 October in New Zealand. Tesla says pricing, specifications and production targets will be announced there.

Until then, reservation holders are committing to a car with no confirmed price. The 2017 figures of US$200,000 for the standard car and US$250,000 for the Founders Series have been removed from Tesla’s website, and its reservation terms state that any estimated purchase price is only an estimate, because Tesla is “still working on what options, features and hardware the vehicle will have”. No delivery date is given, and Tesla has not confirmed right-hand drive production or when New Zealand cars might arrive.

The car’s history is the context for the deposit. Tesla first took Roadster reservations in November 2017, promising production in 2020, and has not delivered a car in the nine years since. Electrek has reported that some original reservation holders struggled to get their deposits back. Elon Musk has said production will follow the demonstration by 12 to 18 months, which puts the first customer cars in late 2027 at the earliest.

Musk has spent months teasing an optional SpaceX package with cold-gas thrusters he says will let the car briefly leave the ground, and Tesla’s teaser image shows four thruster plumes at the rear. Tesla’s other headline product this year, the Cybercab, reaches Auckland on tour in 2027.