Flying cars- we've seen them in cartoons, TV shows, and movies, and for decades, they have been the stuff of dreams for generations. Sure, some attempts have tried to make cars transform into something that resembles a plane, but earlier tonight, Tesla moved that idea a little closer to reality with a form that still resembles a supercar. In our preview ahead of the originally planned October 1 reveal, we noted that Musk had teased radically higher design goals and a SpaceX connection. Tonight, Tesla finally showed what that meant.
Nearly nine years after Tesla first showed its second-generation Roadster, the car has finally returned, and this time its headline act goes far beyond acceleration. At SpaceX’s rocket development and test facility in McGregor, Texas, Tesla demonstrated a Roadster capable of lifting itself off the ground, hovering and performing controlled aerial maneuvers using compressed-air thrusters.
On Stage were Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Vice President of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy, and Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen. Musk said he wanted an audience present partly to prove the demonstration was real and not AI, describing the Roadster as what happens when the “world’s best car company” works with the “world’s best rocket company.” He also warned that success was not guaranteed, although excitement was. Spectators were positioned at a safe distance, but, as he put it, “excitement is 100% guaranteed.”
At its core is a SpaceX-derived propulsion system featuring two composite overwrapped pressure vessels containing a combined 600 liters of ultra-high-pressure air. Tesla says the system carries roughly 250 kilograms of air and feeds 10 nozzles positioned around the car. No special propellant is required, with an onboard system capable of repressurizing the tanks. The rear thrusters alone produce more than 80 kN of thrust, while an onboard system can repressurize the tanks without requiring any special propellant.
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The thrusters provide altitude control, effectively allowing the Roadster to behave like a reusable rocket in miniature. Tesla demonstrated the car hovering tens of feet above the ground before performing what it calls a “kick flip,” which was also performed over Tesla’s entire current lineup. On-screen telemetry showed the car reaching 68 feet and 170 degrees of pitch.
There is equally serious engineering underneath. A fan-assisted suction system can generate up to 2 g of vertical load. At lower speeds, it sucks the car toward the pavement, while at higher speeds front and rear sections open to increase airflow beneath it. The enormous active rear wing features variable pitch and automatically balances low drag against downforce. Switching on the fans produces a sound not unlike a jet engine. Tesla even did a live demonstration the Roadster hitting 60 mph in 0.81 seconds, where as top speed is a claimed 230 mph.
Visually, it is significantly different from the smooth 2017 prototype we covered previously. The new Roadster adopts a low-slung, wedge-shaped profile with strong 1980s cyberpunk influences, butterfly doors, razor-thin full-width light bars front and rear, an enormous deployable wing and four prominent thruster outlets positioned above an aggressive diffuser. The result looks closer to a science-fiction movie car made functional than a conventional EV, appropriate given Musk’s long-running claim that the Roadster should outdo fictional James Bond cars.
Tesla has also taken the aerospace theme unusually far. Ano White paint takes inspiration from coatings designed to protect spacecraft against ultraviolet exposure, cryogenic conditions, corrosion, and electrostatic buildup. The Gold Glazed glass is intended to mimic the copper-toned coating used on spacesuit visors, complemented by titanium accents.
Inside, the yoke is designed specifically around steer-by-wire, while a central touchscreen is supplemented by two smaller displays positioned further forward. Tesla says the fixed seating position, simplified manual controls, and extensive use of magnesium, titanium, and carbon fiber help reduce mass and sharpen the Roadster’s responses. Microsuede seat bolsters provide additional grip. That fixed-seat detail is particularly interesting because it reinforces how far Tesla is prioritizing weight and vehicle control over the conventional luxury-car approach.
Tesla is offering the Roadster in three increasingly extreme configurations. The road-ready Performance seats two and combines active aerodynamics with a multi-mode suction system. The limited-release Thrust version adds rear-mounted cold-gas thrusters and promises a 0-60 mph time of under one second. At the top sits the invite-only, single-seat Rocket, which positions thrusters around the car’s perimeter to provide forward and upward acceleration, along with lateral and rotational control. The Rocket is not approved for public-road use.
Tesla has not yet detailed pricing, battery capacity, or an updated driving-range figure. The 2017 Roadster promised a 1.9-second 0-60 mph time, a top speed exceeding 250 mph, a 200-kWh battery and a $200,000 starting price, but none of those figures were reconfirmed tonight. What Tesla did confirm is a production target, with Musk stating the Roadster will enter production “for real” in 2028. Reservations for the Performance version are now open, requiring a fully refundable $5,000 due today and a further $45,000 within 10 days, for a total $50,000 reservation deposit.
As significant automotive moments go, this is a big one. The Roadster moves the game forward dramatically, combining automotive and aerospace engineering in a way only Tesla was likely to attempt, let alone demonstrate live.
Images: Tesla
***Editor’s note: This is an evolving story. We will update this article as Tesla releases additional specifications, technical details, pricing, and production information.
