Tesla: pre-orders for the Roadster are open, you can call your banker

This time, it’s safe (at least if you choose to take Elon Musk at his word): the production of the Tesla Roadster will begin next year in the brand new Gigafactory in Austin. The case seems so folded that the manufacturer has decided to open pre-orders for its future racing car. The only concern, which will undoubtedly be anecdotal for some buyers, but which still matters: no one knows the price of the Roadster.

Indeed, whether in France, the United States or China, the brand’s online configurator simply allows you to reserve your vehicle against the payment of a deposit. In France, you will first have to pay a sum of 4,000 euros, by credit card, before validating a second payment of 39,000 euros, by bank transfer, within 10 days of booking. The process is almost identical on the other side of the Atlantic, the amounts changing slightly (5000 then 45000 dollars). In China, on the other hand, Tesla requests a one-time payment of 332,000 yuan, or just over 48,000 euros. In other words, the deposit for a Roadster is equivalent to the price of a Model 3, a straw in short…

Roadster price = 44,000 euros + X

What is this down payment for? First of all, it should be noted that this amount is fully refundable when the buyer changes his mind. In fact, it still allows you to position yourself in order to obtain one of the very first models out of the factory and, consequently, to reduce your waiting time. So far, nothing very original, except that with most manufacturers, when customers make this first payment, they know precisely what they will have to pay at the time of purchase. For future owners of the Roadster, it will therefore be a surprise.

Admittedly, it will undoubtedly be the “ fastest vehicle in the world, boasting record acceleration, range and performance “, but all the same, the method is surprising. However, we bet that future Tesla customers will not go completely into the unknown. Indeed, when the vehicle was presented for the first time in 2017, Tesla mentioned a price of $250,000 for the “Founders Edition”, the premium model. But since then, water has flowed under the bridge, draining a “small” global pandemic as well as an “anecdotal” semiconductor crisis, two events, among others, which could add a few thousand euros to the bill.