Earlier, I had a good chuckle at the further delayed reveal of the second-generation Tesla Roadster. Despite nearly 10 years of constant delays and no clue what the Roadster will even be, people are still willing to give Elon Musk $50,000.
Since its announcement in 2017, we haven’t really learned much about the Tesla Roadster. About 10 years ago, Musk said the Roadster would seat four people, accelerate from 0-60 miles per hour in under two seconds, and have a range of 620 miles. We also heard it could have four electric motors. Oh, and it may fly a bit.
Based on Tesla’s track record, none of these will be the reality. But we won’t find out any updated information until October 15th. Even then, it may be another smoke-and-mirrors performance from Tesla rather than a true demonstration.
However, we have finally learned of a concrete plan from Tesla, in the form of a patent. Of course, patents have also regularly never come true. But at least Tesla was doing more than making up stuff on X.
The dramatic wing patent
Patent application US 2026/0285418 A1 is called “Deployable and Active Rear Wing Assembly with Safety Features.” It was initially filed in March 2025, followed by a continuation in August 2025. It was published by the USPTO on September 24th, 2026.
The patent, first discovered by Car and Driver, focuses on a dramatically large rear wing, but also gives us an illustrated glimpse at the Roadster’s possible design.
In the patent, Tesla states that the deployable spoiler can produce zero downforce in drag reduction system (DRS) mode and up to 1,543 pounds of downforce in its most intense setting while driving over 100 miles per hour.
Like most things with Tesla, this is an incredible claim. And like most things with Tesla, we’re still not sure if it’s true. If true, however, this would mean the Tesla Roadster’s rear wing would generate downforce similar to that of the Mercedes-AMG ONE or the Koenigsegg Jesko Attack.
This coincides with Musk’s wild performance claims leading up to the alleged reveal later this month. The top speed is said to be around 250 miles per hour, and the 0-60 would apparently be 1.9 seconds. This is reduced to under one second when using SpaceX’s cold-gas rocket thrusters. If these stats are true, it definitely needs that downforce.
On top of the insane wing and performance hints in the patent, we also see an illustration of the Roadster that looks much more angular and aggressive than the original. It has a curvy fastback design and not a removable roof as previously stated nearly 10 years ago. It also has just two doors, although it’s unclear how many seats.
To be honest, it’s not even clear if this is about the Tesla Roadster. The patent never really specifies.
But what else could it really be?
