Tesla's thruster-powered Roadster flies at Waco event, production promised for 2028

Tesla has revealed a redesigned, second-generation Roadster that uses cold-gas thrusters and fan-based suction to fly, flip and land, at an event near Waco, Texas. The company said the car accelerated from 0 to 60 mph in 0.81 seconds during the demonstration, according to The Verge, and CEO Elon Musk told the audience that production would finally begin in 2028.

What the demonstration showed

The Roadster first drove up a tall, multi-storey ramp, holding itself against the surface with downforce, then used its thrusters to rotate and settle back onto the pavement, The Verge reports. It then lifted itself over the rest of Tesla's lineup — the Model 3, Model Y, Cybertruck, Semi and Cybercab — performing what Tesla VP of Engineering Lars Moravy described as a "kick flip" along the way. TechCrunch similarly reports the car drove up an inverted ramp, spun around mid-air, and eased itself down to a landing.

Musk told attendees the vehicle behaves like a rocket in the air, capable of rolls and other aerial maneuvers, and insisted it was a real product. "This will be the actual car that's on the roads," he said, according to TechCrunch. He also floated the possibility of attempting to jump the Snake River Canyon, the site of Evel Knievel's famous failed rocket crossing.

The engineering behind the stunts

Moravy said the car carries ten thrusters fed by 600 liters of compressed air. The Verge adds detail: two ultra-high-pressure tanks holding roughly 250 kilograms of air, ten nozzles, and an underbody fan-based suction system supplied by SpaceX capable of generating up to two Gs of downforce. The tanks can reportedly be recharged by the car itself, with no chemical propellant required.

In a post on X, Tesla said "every usable void" in the car is packed with Carbon Fiber Overwrapped Pressure Vessels, or COPVs — a type of pressure vessel that, as TechCrunch points out, has been implicated in several SpaceX rocket explosions. Other hardware includes a steer-by-wire yoke, brake and throttle, seats molded directly into the chassis, and a retractable rear wing. Tesla said the angular design drew on the SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft and the F-35 fighter jet, and Musk's Lotus Esprit from the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me was on display at the event.

Three trims, steep reservations

TechCrunch reports the car will come in three trims: "Performance," described as road-ready with two seats, active aerodynamics and a multi-mode suction system; "Thrust," race-ready with two seats and rear-mounted cold-gas thrusters enabling sub-one-second 0-60 mph runs; and "Rocket," air-ready with a single seat and ten thrusters positioned around the car. All three are listed with 300 miles of range and top speeds above 230 mph.

No price was announced on stage, but Tesla's website opened reservations at $50,000 for the Performance trim and $250,000 for Thrust, with Rocket available by invitation only, per TechCrunch. The Verge notes the half-hour presentation felt more like a stunt show than a product launch, skipping most conventional announcement details.

A reveal nine years in the making

The Roadster was originally unveiled as a surprise at the November 2017 Tesla Semi event, with promised specs including a 200 kWh battery, 620 miles of range and deliveries from 2020, as The Verge recounts. Customers paid $50,000 deposits — or $250,000 for Founders Series editions — but the program slipped repeatedly as Tesla prioritized the Model Y and the troubled Cybertruck. TechCrunch documents delays in 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2024, a reveal pushed to April 1, 2026 that Musk joked would give him deniability, and an October 1 attempt scrubbed due to severe weather.

That history has bred skepticism. "This is a prank, right?" YouTuber Marques Brownlee posted after the event, according to TechCrunch, questioning how a 4,000-plus-pound car could flip, approach half the speed of sound and ship in 2028.

Why it matters

Even Musk has downplayed the commercial stakes, calling the Roadster a "small potato situation" that will not move the needle financially, per The Verge, while framing it as an engineering collaboration with SpaceX. The Verge also notes that a flying, thruster-equipped car sold to the public would face scrutiny from both the FAA and NHTSA, and that competitors such as Rimac, Porsche and BYD have shipped high-performance EVs during Tesla's nine-year detour. Some analysts, The Verge adds, see the project as groundwork for a rumored Tesla-SpaceX merger. Musk has been blunt about priorities, saying earlier this year that "if safety is your number one goal, do not buy the Roadster."