Tesla unveils its "flying" Roadster: what the car actually showed

On October 15, at a SpaceX test site in Texas, Tesla unveiled the second generation of its Roadster, an electric sports car first announced in 2017. The company presents it as a car capable of "flying." The livestreamed demonstration showed a car that jumps, flips in mid-air and lands back on its wheels (CBS News). This isn't flight in the sense we'd use for an airplane, but rather short aerial maneuvers, made possible by technology partly borrowed from SpaceX.

1. What the demonstration showed

In the first sequence, the car drove up a curved ramp until it was upside down, launched off the end, rotated in mid-air and landed on its wheels. In the second, it jumped over a row of Tesla vehicles: a Cybercab, a Cybertruck, a Semi truck, a Model Y and a Model 3 (Euronews, TechCrunch). Several things remain unknown, however. No source gives the height, duration or distance of these jumps, and reports differ on whether anyone was on board: some describe a remotely operated prototype, others don't say. Tesla showed no sustained flight.

2. How it works, in plain terms

The principle relies on compressed air. According to Lars Moravy, Tesla's vice president of engineering, the car carries 10 thrusters connected to about 600 liters of very high-pressure air, stored in rechargeable tanks (TechCrunch). By releasing that air in a controlled way, the thrusters push the car upward and rotate it, a bit like air escaping from a balloon, but precisely directed. To stay on the ramp while upside down, the car uses a suction system under the body, which Tesla says can generate up to 2 G of force (Euronews). The tanks are carbon-fiber composite pressure vessels, a technology that comes from the space industry.

3. Three versions, production in 2028

Tesla is taking reservations for three versions (TechCrunch). The Performance version, designed for the road, seats two and requires a $50,000 reservation. The Thrust version, aimed at the track, adds rear thrusters and claims 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) in under a second, for a $250,000 reservation. Only the single-seat Rocket version has the ten thrusters that enable aerial maneuvers; it is available by invitation only. All three versions claim more than 300 miles (480 km) of range and a top speed above 230 mph (370 km/h). No retail price has been announced, and production is planned for 2028.

The project's timeline has shifted considerably: announced in 2017 with production planned for 2020, the Roadster was pushed back several times, and the unveiling itself moved from late 2025 to April, then to October 2026.

4. The open questions

Safety. Asked about it during the presentation, Elon Musk said the car was "not necessarily a safety-optimized car" (Euronews). Legality. No information was given on what approvals would be needed to use the aerial features on public roads, an area where rules vary widely from country to country. Whether the product will match the demo. Reactions are mixed: some outlets praised the spectacle, while other observers questioned the project's feasibility given its weight, its claimed performance and its timeline (Axios, TechCrunch). Finally, the announcement comes as Tesla's car sales are slowing, according to Bloomberg (Bloomberg). Musk himself said he doesn't expect the Roadster to move the needle much on revenue.

The takeaway: Tesla's new Roadster can jump and rotate in mid-air thanks to compressed-air thrusters, as the October 15 demonstration showed. It's still a long way from a car that flies from one place to another, and much information is missing: price, conditions of use, road approval. The answer will come with production, planned for 2028.

1. What the demonstration showed

2. How it works, in plain terms

3. Three versions, production in 2028

4. The open questions

Sources