Tesla and Elon Musk unveil flying Roadster model

NBC News posted a YouTube video under the title "Tesla unveils new flying car model," in the United States. The channel's description says Elon Musk is showing off a new Tesla Roadster that can fly, with Brian Cheung reporting. TechCrunch's Sean O'Kane reported that the white, angular car drove up an inverted ramp outside Waco, Texas, spun around, and landed with thrusters and fans. It then flew over a Cybercab, Cybertruck, Tesla Semi, Model Y and Model 3 while those vehicles were moving.

The car used ten thrusters and nozzles fed by 600 liters of compressed air, according to Tesla engineering vice president Lars Moravy, who spoke at the event. O'Kane wrote that Musk told the crowd, "This will be the actual car that's on the roads." Musk continued, "It literally is just going to puff itself up, and uh, and be able to do this, these maneuvers whenever you'd like." The Verge's Andrew J. Hawkins reported the same Waco demonstration and the same flyover of Tesla's lineup.

Hawkins wrote that Tesla clocked a 0-to-60 mph run in 0.81 seconds on site. The company is targeting under 0.59 seconds for the top Rocket trim. Top speed exceeds 230 mph, or 370 kph. Range is listed at 300 miles across the three trims. After the event Tesla updated its website with reservation tiers: Performance at a $50,000 deposit, Thrust at $250,000, and Rocket as invite-only. Production is promised for 2028.

Musk framed the machine as joint work. "This is the culmination of incredible work by Tesla and SpaceX Engineers working closely together to make something you haven't seen in any movie, better than any James Bond car," he said, per TechCrunch. He added, "I've never seen anything like this. You know when I suggested this to the team, I thought, 'Am I crazy?'" Tesla posted that the design draws from the SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft and the F-35 fighter jet and wrote, "Our design language has evolved since the last reveal: from S3XY to Cybertruck, Cybercab & Optimus."

The second-generation Roadster first appeared as a surprise at the 2017 Tesla Semi event. Customers put down deposits years ago. The project was delayed in 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2024, then slipped past an April 1, 2026 date Musk had floated and an October 1 attempt scrubbed by weather. On a podcast earlier this year Musk said, "If you buy a Ferrari, safety is not the number one goal. I say, if safety is your number one goal, do not buy the Roadster." AFP reported he also said the demo car had no driver "to make sure we don't kill anyone," and that while success is not guaranteed, "it will probably work."