Investing.com -- Tesla is targeting an unveiling of its long-delayed next-generation Roadster as early as this month, with a dramatic demonstration of SpaceX-developed cold gas thrusters at the rocket company’s testing site in McGregor, Texas, The Information reported, citing three people familiar with the matter.

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) rose 1.3% in pre-market trading following the report. The Roadster reveal is a rare positive narrative catalyst for a stock that has shed nearly a quarter of its value in 2026 while the Nasdaq has gained roughly 15% over the same period, according to The Information’s reporting. Shares of air-taxi companies Archer Aviation and Joby Aviation each declined about 2% in pre-market trading.

The version planned for the stunt, internally code-named with thruster package ’A71’, will be remotely operated with no driver inside, won’t be street legal, and could cost hundreds of thousands — or potentially millions — of dollars. Spectators will be positioned several hundred yards from the vehicle because of the potential for hearing damage from the high-pressure gas thrusters, The Information reported. Whether Tesla will broadcast the event live or release recorded footage has not been confirmed.

The demonstration caps nearly a decade of shifting ambitions. Tesla unveiled a Roadster prototype in November 2017, promising 0-60 mph in 1.9 seconds and a 2020 delivery target. The program has since missed at least eight internal deadlines, according to Electrek, with the flying capability enabled by an optional SpaceX cold-gas thruster package repeatedly proving unready for public showing. As recently as late April 2026, Electrek reported, Tesla and SpaceX showed Musk a prototype of the thruster package that still wasn’t ready, causing the reveal to slip from April to August.

Tesla VP of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy offered a rare public update, saying in comments quoted by Teslarati: "Roadster is definitely in development. We did talk about it last Sunday night. We are gearing up for a super cool demo. It’s going to be mind blowing. We showed Elon some cool demos last week of the tech we’ve been working on and he got a little excited." On August 12, Musk posted "You will get flying cars" on X in reply to a post lamenting that society got AI instead of flying cars, reigniting speculation about the Roadster’s thruster package, though he did not name Tesla or the Roadster explicitly.

Chief designer Franz von Holzhausen, speaking on Jay Leno’s Garage in footage reported by Electrek on August 10, said the Roadster is coming "very soon," repeating the phrase when pressed. Leno noted the car has been promised for just shy of 10 years.

Musk himself has acknowledged the difficulty ahead. He told some Tesla staffers in recent weeks that the demonstration will be hard to pull off and could go awry, though he reportedly said it would be entertaining regardless, The Information noted. Plans previewed to Musk as recently as a few months ago included the car racing onto a magnetized roller-coaster-like ramp, driving upside down, and hovering, elements that have since been scaled back, one person told The Information.

Tesla has internally discussed allowing superfans to purchase the track-only demonstration car, which will carry SpaceX branding, through a program modeled on Ferrari’s XX Programme, where owners drive race cars under supervision, The Information reported. No official delivery date exists for holders of standard Roadster reservations, who put down $250,000 deposits nearly a decade ago.

The Roadster’s reveal also underscores deepening integration between Tesla and SpaceX. On Tesla’s Q2 2026 earnings call on July 23, Musk acknowledged growing collaboration across AI and robotics while stopping short of confirming a merger, saying such an event would require "the appropriate process." The two companies are co-investing in Terafab, a Texas AI-chip facility that also involves Intel.

For Tesla’s stock, the Roadster remains more symbol than revenue driver.