Tesla unveils a flying, SpaceX-thruster Roadster, targets production in 2028
What happened? On 15 October 2026 (evening, Texas time; early 16 October CEST), Tesla revealed its long-delayed second-generation Roadster at SpaceX's rocket test site in McGregor, near Waco, Texas. In a livestreamed demo of under 30 minutes, a prototype drove up a multi-storey curved ramp, hung upside down, flipped off it and hovered down to land, then jumped over Tesla's lineup (Model 3, Model Y, Cybertruck, Semi and Cybercab).
Key claims The car uses a fan-based suction system rated at up to 2g, active aerodynamics, and SpaceX-supplied cold-gas thrusters (10 nozzles, two carbon-overwrapped tanks of about 600 litres holding ~250kg of ultra-high-pressure air, which the car recharges itself; over 80kN of rear thrust). Tesla timed 0-60mph at 0.81 seconds on stage and quotes a top speed above 230mph and 300+ miles of range. Elon Musk said production starts in 2028.
Price and availability No vehicle price was announced. Tesla's reservation page lists a Performance version (reported $50,000 deposit), a Thrust version with acceleration thrusters ($250,000 deposit), and an invite-only, single-seat Rocket version with a full flight system. Tesla first showed this Roadster in 2017, promising deliveries in 2020; the 2028 date leaves a gap of eight years.
The pitch Musk framed it as "the last best driver's car": the one manually driven car Tesla plans to make long term as the rest of its lineup moves to autonomy. Tesla says the design draws on the SR-71 and F-35, and the event nodded to 2018, when SpaceX launched an original Roadster into space.
• Steer-by-wire two-seater: yoke, brake and throttle are all by-wire, with seats moulded into the chassis to save weight.
• Grip: the fan system lets the car corner at over 2g, versus roughly 1.26g from tyres alone; it switches between high-downforce and low-drag modes, and the rear wing adjusts its pitch automatically.
• Acceleration: 0-60mph was clocked at 0.81 seconds on a shortened pad. Musk said the production car should be quicker and claimed it covers a half mile in the time other cars take for a quarter mile.
• Top speed: over 230mph, and Musk said he hopes for much more ("Mach 0.5, maybe higher"). He promised more stunts, including a jump over Snake River Canyon in the style of Evel Knievel.
• Caveats: the demo car drove itself for safety. Musk said it is "not necessarily a safety-optimised car" and may not be legal in every jurisdiction, but that it will be a road car customers can own. He repeated that production starts in 2028.
Watch the full event Roadster Event (Tesla, YouTube)
Sources Tesla on X, CNBC, The Verge, Reuters via The Hindu, Car and Driver
Key points
What the clip shows In a short clip posted on X after its 15 October 2026 Roadster event, Tesla shows a prototype Roadster lifting off the ground on jets of compressed air, rolling a full 360 degrees in mid-air like a skateboard kickflip, and setting back down on its wheels in a cloud of vapour.
How it works The stunt relies on the same hardware Tesla pitches for track driving: cold-gas thrusters supplied by SpaceX, fed by compressed air stored on board, which can push the car with more force than its tyres can grip. Smaller attitude-control nozzles let it rotate, which Elon Musk said means the car "can basically fly like a rocket" and do "crazy gymnastics".
More stunts promised Musk said this was not the last trick, floating a jump over Snake River Canyon in the style of Evel Knievel's 1974 attempt.
Under the hood
• Electric at heart: the Roadster is a battery-electric car; the stunts add no combustion engine or rocket fuel. Tesla has not yet published battery size or motor details for this version (the 2017 prototype was quoted at 200 kWh, and some reports repeat that figure).
• "Thrusters" are compressed air: according to Tesla, the jets are cold-gas thrusters, meaning they simply vent very high-pressure air through nozzles; nothing burns. Two carbon-fibre-wrapped pressure tanks (COPVs, the same type SpaceX uses) hold about 600 litres, roughly 250 kg of air, feeding 10 nozzles. Tesla engineering VP Lars Moravy gave the 600-litre figure on stage, according to TechCrunch; The Verge reports the two tanks carry about 250 kg of air.
• Tank pressure: Tesla has not stated it. Packing 250 kg of air into 600 litres means a density of about 417 kg per cubic metre, which at room temperature takes roughly 440 bar (about 6,400 psi), around 200 times the pressure in a car tyre. Some explainers quote 7,000 to 10,000 psi (Musk floated 10,000 psi in 2018), but at the top of that range 600 litres would hold closer to 300 kg, so the 250 kg figure points to the lower end. Rear nozzles push the car forward and up; smaller ones around the body rotate it, which is what made the roll possible.
• Refilling: Tesla says the car recharges its own air supply, so no special propellant is needed. Some outlets report an onboard compressor powered by the main battery that refills the tanks while driving; Tesla has not detailed this.
• Downforce fans: separate from the thrusters, battery-powered fans and a ground seal suck air from under the car (Tesla quotes up to 2g), enough to hold it upside down when stationary. That is how it climbed the near-vertical ramp before flipping off.
• Control: the thrusters use all-electric actuators that make micro-adjustments in fractions of a second to stabilise the car in flight, and the demo car was driven autonomously.
• Stunt car vs. what you can buy: full flight hardware comes only in the invite-only, single-seat "Rocket" version, which Tesla says is not approved for public roads. The "Thrust" version has rear thrusters for acceleration only; the base "Performance" car has fans and active aero but no thrusters. Tesla quotes 300+ miles of range for all three.
• What we still don't know: how long the car can fly or hover on a full tank, how long a refill takes, battery capacity and charging speed, weight, and how regulators (road authorities, and the FAA for anything airborne) will treat the Rocket version. A post Musk reshared says airspace over the McGregor test site is closed through 31 October; this has not been independently confirmed.
Caveat The demo car drove itself for safety; no human was on board during the flight.
Sources Tesla on X: "Do a kickflip!", Tesla Roadster page, Roadster Event stream, Tesla on X (COPVs), The Verge, TechCrunch, PASMAG
