Years after the car was first promised, Tesla launched a new version of its Roadster sports car on Oct. 15 that jumped over a row of other Tesla vehicles and flipped upside down in midair. CEO Elon Musk called it “the best of the last of the human-driven cars” and said production is planned for 2028.
Before the demo, Musk warned that “success is not guaranteed.” During the livestreamed event in Waco, Texas, the car drove up a curved ramp, turned upside down, launched off the end and landed safely.
In another stunt, it jumped over a Cybertruck, a Model Y and other moving Tesla vehicles. “Well, it worked,” Musk said afterward.
The car does not fly like a plane or helicopter.
Instead, it uses 10 thrusters fed by a 600-liter tank of compressed air, which is air squeezed into a tank at high pressure, Lars Moravy, Tesla’s vice president of vehicle engineering, said.
The car also has fans on its bottom that pull it down toward the road.
This helps the tires grip better and even lets the car stay stuck to a ramp while upside down.
Tesla claimed the Roadster can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in under a second, reach a top speed of more than 230 mph and drive about 300 miles on a single charge.
Musk said the long-term goal is “half the speed of sound.”
The car is stark white with sharp angles; Tesla said its design was inspired by the SR-71 and F-35 military jets.
The car will come in three versions.
The Performance model is built for the road, the Thrust model adds rear thrusters for racing and the Rocket model, the one with 10 thrusters, is invite-only.
Reservations cost $50,000 for Performance and $250,000 for Thrust, but Tesla has not shared final prices.
The Rocket model has not been approved for public roads.
Musk was open about safety not being the top priority. He said the Roadster is “not necessarily a safety optimized car” and that Tesla would “aspire not to kill anyone in this car.”
The car also uses the same type of high-pressure tanks that have been involved in several SpaceX rocket explosions.
Musk even suggested using the car to jump over the Snake River Canyon in Idaho.
The Roadster has been delayed many times, with promised dates slipping from 2020 to 2024, frustrating customers who already paid deposits.
Some viewers, including tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee and Sam Altman, wondered whether the announcement was a prank. Musk himself said the car may not make much money for Tesla.
Investors had a mixed reaction. Tesla shares rose about 3% before the market opened Friday, but closed down 2.1% as technology stocks sold off.
The company has not said how much the Rocket model will cost, how long it can stay in the air or whether it will ever be approved for public roads.
