Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the company’s next-generation Roadster will finally enter production in 2028, and he brought SpaceX hardware along to prove it. The billionaire unveiled the long-delayed electric supercar at SpaceX’s Rocket Test and Development Center in McGregor, Texas, on Thursday, October 15, where a demonstration car used compressed-air thrusters to lift off the ground and flip in midair.
The white two-seater drove upside down along an inverted ramp using a fan-driven suction system, rotated in the air and eased itself onto the pavement below, The Hindu reported. It then used the thrusters to jump over a Cybercab, a Cybertruck, a Tesla Semi, a Model Y and a Model 3 while in motion.
Tesla vehicle engineering chief Lars Moravy said the car runs on 10 thrusters connected to roughly 600 liters of compressed air, a tank that can be recharged, according to TechCrunch. The automaker claims the range-topping version can reach 60 mph in under one second. Top speed is listed above 230 mph, with more than 300 miles of range on a single charge.
The Roadster will come in three versions, TechBriefly reported. The road-ready Performance lists a $50,000 reservation, the Thrust adds rear-mounted cold-gas thrusters for a $250,000 deposit, and the single-seat Rocket is invite-only with a full flight system and 10 thrusters positioned around the car.
Musk told the crowd the car was “the culmination of incredible work by Tesla and SpaceX engineers working closely together to make something that you haven’t seen in any movie, better than any James Bond car.” He also promised the stunts would not stay on the event stage, saying, “This will be the actual car that’s on the roads,” per TechCrunch.
TechRadar noted that Musk promised the car would “crush every track record that has ever existed,” while Tesla’s own materials describe thrusters generating several times the grip available from the tires alone. The company has not announced final pricing for any version.
The spectacle closes, at least on paper, one of the longest running sagas in the auto industry. The second-generation Roadster was first shown in November 2017 with deliveries promised for 2020, and the program was pushed back in 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2024 before the reveal itself slipped from April 1 to October 1 and finally to Thursday after severe weather, Yahoo Autos recounted.
The flying claim is not new from Musk. Hypefresh previously reported on Musk teasing the flying Roadster as the most unforgettable thing riders would ever experience when the project was still in limbo, a pitch that drew plenty of skepticism at the time.
The reveal also lands while Musk is juggling Tesla, xAI and SpaceX in what Hypefresh has covered as an around-the-clock engineering push across all three companies. Whether the 2028 date holds will depend on that schedule bending toward the factory floor.
Tesla is moving as the electric performance segment heats up. Hypefresh covered Ferrari’s first electric car, the $640,000 Luce, arriving to stake out the top of the market earlier this year, and the Roadster, with its rocket-grade party tricks, is Musk’s answer to rivals who are selling speed without the theatrics.
Reservations remain open on Tesla’s site, and the company says production is targeted for 2028. Nearly a decade of broken timelines hangs over that promise, but Thursday’s demonstration was the first time the car’s most outrageous claim, brief flight, played out in front of a live audience.
