Tesla Unveils Long-Delayed Roadster With SpaceX Thrusters, Stages “Flying” Demo in Texas
Tesla has finally shown off its next-generation Roadster, almost nine years after it first teased the electric sports car, and it picked a rocket test site to do it. At a livestreamed event at SpaceX’s facility in McGregor, near Waco, Texas, on the night of Thursday, October 15, CEO Elon Musk presented a two-seater fitted with high-pressure air thrusters and told the crowd that flying cars are now real.
A stunt-heavy debut
The demonstration was built for spectacle. A prototype climbed a multi-storey curved ramp, stayed attached while upside down with the help of a suction system underneath, then flipped off the end, rotated in the air and landed on its wheels. Later in the show, the same car used its jets to leap over a row of Tesla’s current vehicles, including the Model 3, Model Y, Cybertruck, Semi and Cybercab.
Nobody was inside the car during the aerial stunts. Musk said the decision was made so that no one would be killed if something went wrong, and he admitted on stage that success was not guaranteed.
Speed, range and price
Tesla’s on-stage timer showed the Roadster reaching 60 mph in 0.81 seconds. The company also quoted a top speed of more than 230 mph and a range of over 300 miles, which Fortune noted is less than half of the range Tesla promised when the car was first shown.
Musk said production will begin in 2028. No price was announced. Tesla reopened reservations in recent weeks, taking $50,000 deposits in the United States, Canada and China. According to reports on the reservation page, a “Thrust” version with acceleration thrusters requires a $250,000 deposit, while a single-seat “Rocket” version with a full flight system is invite-only. Tesla’s website notes that the flying model is not approved for use on public roads.
Nearly a decade of delays
The second-generation Roadster was first unveiled in November 2017 alongside the Tesla Semi, with deliveries promised for 2020. The launch event itself slipped too: it was first set for October 1 and then pushed to October 15 because of heavy rain at the site. The original Roadster, based on a Lotus Elise chassis, went on sale in 2008 and helped put Tesla on the map.
What it means for Tesla
Musk described the car as the product of a partnership between the world’s best car company and the world’s best rocket company, and said it would be the only manually driven car Tesla makes over the long term. Analysts, however, were focused less on car sales and more on the growing ties between Tesla and SpaceX. Musk himself has previously said the Roadster would not be a major contributor to revenue.
Whether the car can genuinely fly, rather than make short thruster-assisted hops, remains to be proven. For now, it is a halo product that shows off engineering ambition while Tesla’s mass-market vehicles carry the business.
Bhupendra Singh Chundawat is a seasoned technology journalist with over 22 years of experience in the media industry. He specializes in covering the global technology landscape, with a deep focus on manufacturing trends and the geopolitical impact on tech companies. Currently serving as the Editor at Udaipur Kiran, his insights are shaped by decades of hands-on reporting and editorial leadership in the fast-evolving world of technology.
