A day after Tesla unveiled its second-generation Roadster at SpaceX’s rocket test site in McGregor, Texas, the stunt-filled show was making headlines worldwide. In front of a live audience, the car drove up a towering curved ramp, continued upside down, launched off the end, flipped in midair and landed on its wheels.
Media outlets from Europe to the Middle East described the event as more Hollywood stunt show than traditional car launch. Tesla shares rose in premarket trading the next morning, while analysts and critics questioned how much of what was shown will reach customers.
A ramp, a flip and a jump over the fleet
According to Lars Moravy, Tesla’s vice president of vehicle engineering, a fan suction system under the car can “pull up to 2 Gs”, keeping it pressed to the ramp even upside down. Moravy said 10 thrusters fed by 600 liters of compressed air, stored in a rechargeable tank, lift and turn the car in the air.
“We need an audience to prove that it’s not AI,” Elon Musk told the crowd before the demonstration. “So you guys can tell people that you saw it with your eyes.”
In a second demonstration, the Roadster fired its thrusters while driving and jumped over a Cybercab, a Cybertruck, a Tesla Semi, a Model Y and a Model 3. “Well, it worked,” Musk joked afterward. “Flying cars are real,” Moravy added.
Three versions, production in 2028
- Performance: two seats, active aerodynamics and a multi-mode suction system; reservation $50,000.
- Thrust: two seats with rear-mounted cold-gas thrusters; reservation $250,000.
- Rocket: one seat, invite only and not approved for public roads.
- All versions: more than 300 miles of range and a top speed above 230 mph, according to Tesla.
Tesla also showed a recorded acceleration run in which the car went from 0 to 60 mph in 0.81 seconds, according to the company. The figure has not been independently verified. Musk said production will start in 2028 but did not give a final price.
How the world reacted
Euronews led with Musk’s “Well, it worked”, TechCrunch wrote that the Roadster “flies and falls with style”, and Britain’s GB News quoted Musk as saying the car’s grip makes it look like “you’re breaking physics”. Israel’s Ynetnews compared the evening to a Hollywood stunt show.
Not everyone was convinced. Tech reviewer Marques Brownlee, one of the customers who has waited years for the car, wrote that Tesla had just said a newly designed car weighing more than 4,000 pounds can do flips and will ship in 2028. “This is a prank, right?” he asked.
On Wall Street, Tesla shares rose 5.25% in premarket trading after closing Thursday down 1.3% at $362.44, Yahoo Finance reported. Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management called the event “an engineering flex with no commercial value beyond embarrassing traditional car makers”, adding that it showed Musk’s wish to bring Tesla and SpaceX closer together.
Questions that remain
Asked whether the Roadster is street legal, Musk answered: “Depends on your street.” Reviewers noted that the car shown appears to have no side mirrors and uses mechanical door latches, details that raise questions about U.S. federal safety standards for the production version.
Musk himself said the Roadster is “not necessarily a safety-optimized car”. Earlier this year, he said on a podcast that buyers whose first priority is safety should not buy it.
Roger Connor, a curator at the National Air and Space Museum, also questioned whether the promises would hold up in real-world use and series production. He noted that aircraft are extremely sensitive to weight, while road vehicles are expected to carry equipment such as bumpers, and said combining the two in one vehicle could result in both a poor aircraft and a poor car, at a very high price.
The car has also been a long time coming. Tesla first showed the second-generation Roadster in November 2017, promising 0 to 60 mph in 1.9 seconds and deliveries in 2020, and took deposits of $50,000 to $250,000. The project was delayed several times, and this month’s event itself was pushed back from October 1 because of severe weather.
Tesla said the new design was inspired by the SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft and the F-35 fighter jet. Musk, who called the Roadster “the best of the last of the human-driven cars”, also said Tesla might one day try to jump Snake River Canyon, the gorge Evel Knievel attempted to cross in 1974.
