Elon Musk just showed off a flying car. Here’s what to know about the Tesla Roadster
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Nearly a decade after Tesla first announced its second-generation Roadster, the company debuted the car in a flashy demo that seemed to challenge the laws of physics.
The sleek white sports car drove upside down, thrust itself into the air and performed a flip over a lineup of other Tesla vehicles.
It accelerated from 0 to 60 miles per hour in under a second, with Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk saying it will eventually be able to travel as fast as half the speed of sound.
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“Let’s take it to the limits and way past the limits,” Musk said at Thursday’s event in McGregor, Texas. “You’re gonna see the results of what happens when you have a collaboration with the world’s best car company and the world’s best rocket company.”
Here’s what to know about Tesla’s latest electric model.
When will the Roadster actually be available to customers?
At the demo event, Musk said production will begin in 2028.
The second-generation Roadster, a nod to the company’s first-ever car, was originally unveiled in 2017. The plan then was for production to begin in 2020.
“Delaying something for nine years, if that was Mazda, no one would stand for that. Tesla just seems to get a pass on everything like that,” said Brian Moody, an analyst at Capital One Auto Navigator.
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The original Roadster hit roads in 2008 and was discontinued in 2012.
Tesla does not have a good track record of meeting its own deadlines. Musk has long promised to perfect self-driving technology and make it available in existing Tesla models.
Since 2017, Tesla has collected numerous deposits of $50,000 from customers who wanted to reserve their Roadster. Many of those customers have taken to social media to complain that the wait has been too long.
Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, posted a series of screenshots on X in 2025 that showed him asking Tesla for a refund of his Roadster reservation. His email to the company bounced back.
“I really was excited for the car! And I understand delays. But 7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait,” Altman wrote on X.
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Will the Roadster really be able to fly?
At the Texas demo, the Roadster didn’t exactly soar through the air — it thrust itself off the ground for brief moments using thrusters on the bottom of the vehicle.
The version of the car that’s capable of leaving the ground won’t be publicly available and does not have approval for use on public roads.
Dubbed the “Rocket” package, the thruster-enabled Roadster will be sold only to invited customers. It will seat one person and be equipped with a multi-mode suction system and cold-gas thrusters that can boost it into the air.
The technology is a collaboration between Tesla and SpaceX, both run by Musk.
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“A tease like that has a little bit more reality to stand on when it’s coming from a company that can send things to the moon and bring them back intact,” Moody said.
The “Thrust” package, which will see a limited release, comes with thrusters positioned on the rear of the vehicle that can propel it forward at record speeds.
“It’s gonna crush every track record that’s ever existed,” Musk said Thursday.
Customers can now reserve a “Performance” version of the Roadster that can be driven on regular roads. Musk did not announce a price for the vehicle, but it is expected to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Could the Roadster boost Tesla’s faltering sales?
Tesla’s electric vehicle sales have been falling, and Musk has made clear he’s orienting the future of his company around AI, self-driving technology and robotics.
With Chief Executive Elon Musk playing a prominent role in the Trump administration, many Tesla drivers are no longer happy about supporting the car brand.
The company recently discontinued its Model S and Model X electric vehicles, and in turn unveiled the Cybercab, a golden robotaxi that can carry two passengers and lacks driver’s parts like a steering wheel and gas pedal.
The new Roadster demo gave Tesla shares a short boost, but they quickly came back to Earth. Its stock price fell 2% Friday to trade near $355.
Like the original Roadster, the new version isn’t intended to be a mass-market vehicle, said iSeeCars.com analyst Karl Brauer. It’s likely to cost more than $250,000.
“This car, like most exotic cars, does not pay the bills,” Brauer said. “They’re supposed to be attention-getters. They’re supposed to reflect the advanced capabilities of the company.”
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The Roadster could generate new excitement around the company, but it won’t make revenues surge.
Though Tesla has die-hard fans, Musk’s reputation was battered in 2025 when he briefly led President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. An overall cooling of the electric-vehicle market under the Trump administration has also slowed sales of mainstream Tesla models.
“His last all-new vehicle, the Cybertruck, everyone has pretty much agreed that’s an official flop,” Brauer said. “From a reputation point of view, Musk does need this one to be a hit.”
