Roadster
Promised in 2017 for 2020. Revealed October 15, 2026 on a SpaceX rocket range, where it drove up a wall, hung upside down, hovered, kickflipped over five Teslas and ran 0–60 in 0.81 seconds. Production: 2028. Everything that happened, everything that was claimed, and everything still unknown.
Watch the demos
Tesla’s official clips of the three stunts, plus the full 22-minute event.
The Roadster is Tesla's halo car — the first one it ever sold, and the one it has struggled hardest to deliver again. On October 15, 2026 it became something else: a demonstration of what SpaceX cold-gas thrusters and Tesla ground-effect fans can do to a two-seat coupe.
The run of show
7:55 pm Central, SpaceX's engine-test facility at McGregor, Texas, outside Waco — two weeks after the October 1 date was scrubbed for weather. An opening film on a CRT monitor in 1980s cyberpunk style, then Musk: “You're gonna see some crazy stuff tonight.” He framed the car as the work of “the world's best car company and the world's best rocket company,” said the crowd was there in person “to prove that it's not AI or SI,” and warned that “success is not guaranteed.” SlashGear liveblog Not a Tesla App recap
Franz von Holzhausen talked design — the SR-71 Blackbird and “cars that transform” — and Lars Moravy explained the compressed-air system and named the trick that followed. Musk's own Lotus Esprit submarine car from The Spy Who Loved Me sat on display.
| Time (ET) | Demo | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| ~9:06 pm | The Ramp | The car drove up an inverted half-loop, clung to it upside down on suction alone, left the ramp fully inverted, rolled upright on thrusters, hovered briefly and landed in a cloud of gas. Telemetry showed 4,700 kg of downforce and a 3.3 G landing. Musk: “Well, it worked.” |
| ~9:11 pm | The Kickflip | Accelerating at a row of a Model 3, Model Y, Cybertruck, Cybercab and Semi, the car lifted about 7 m on its thrusters, flipped mid-air and landed on its wheels. Moravy: “Tony Hawk would be proud.” |
| ~9:17 pm | The 0–60 | Test footage at ~1.0 s, then a live run clocked at 0.81 s on Tesla's own readout — roughly 3.4 G for about 11 metres. Musk said production cars could be quicker. |
| ~9:22 pm | Encore | From a standstill: straight up, flip, land. End of show, about 22 minutes after it began. |
Nobody was in any of the cars. The “driver” was introduced as Starman and the stunts were flown autonomously — “to make sure we don't kill anyone,” Musk said later. He also described the car as “not necessarily a safety-optimized car.” Afterwards on X: “Turns out the future does have flying cars.” The Autowire
The best of the last of the human-driven cars.Elon Musk, October 15, 2026 — he said the Roadster will be Tesla's only manually driven car
How it flies: the air system
There is no rocket fuel. The Roadster carries compressed gas at around 10,000 psi in carbon-overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs, the same vessel type SpaceX uses) and releases it through up to ten cold-gas nozzles. Moravy quoted “over 80 kilonewtons” of rear thrust — about 18,000 lb — with gas leaving the nozzles faster than sound. Tesla says the thrusters produce four to five times the force the tyres could ever put down. TechCrunch TeslaNorth
Thrust carries one 200-litre tank in the trunk feeding four rear nozzles; Rocket adds a 400-litre tank where the passenger seat was, plus six more nozzles at the corners and front
Mass of gas in a full 600-litre fill — roughly one 5–6 second run
Current refill time (sources vary); the goal is about 30 minutes
Floor fans with sealing skirts that pull the car onto the road — over 2 G of grip from 0–50 mph, and enough to hold it upside down while parked
The fans and skirts are the “multi-mode suction system.” Add an active rear wing (moved by Optimus leg actuators) good for ~2 G of downforce above 200 mph, front wings that pivot 80°, pop-out barge boards, a swivelling bonnet vent and deployable underskirts, and Tesla claims downforce “approaching F1 levels.” Track Mode drops the car 40 mm and triples spring stiffness. Top Gear Moravy with Hagerty
Does the physics check out?
Engineering Explained's Jason Fenske ran the numbers: hovering a ~2,000 kg car needs ~20 kN, a quarter of what Tesla quotes; a 250 kg fill at ~37 kg/s lasts about 6.75 seconds, and each stunt used about four. His verdict: “possible.” He also notes the base car without fans is grip-limited to roughly 2.1 s to 60 at best — “Grip sets the ceiling.”
Open conflicts: Musk said the car can refill its own tanks; Moravy described external high-pressure nitrogen (“nitrogen seemed like a good fuel”). Tesla's own numbers don't yet agree on refill time. EVXL / Engineering Explained Drive Tesla Canada
Three trims (plus a rumoured fourth)
| Performance | Thrust | Rocket | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla's label | “Road ready” | “Race ready,” limited | “Air ready,” invite only |
| Seats | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 0–60 claim | under 1.6 s | under 0.9 s (0.81 s live; 0.85 s with rollout per Moravy) | under 0.59 s (0.55 s with rollout) |
| Thrusters | none — fans and active aero only | 4 rear, 200 L tank | 10, 600 L |
| Public roads | yes | intended; thrusters not usable on the street | “Not approved for public road use” |
| Reservation | $50,000 ($5,000 now, $45,000 within 10 days) | $250,000 | by invitation |
Tesla calls Thrust and Rocket “augments” on the Performance car. Moravy and Franz also described a cheaper Standard version to Top Gear and MotorTrend — no fans, about 800 kW, ~210 mph — but it isn't on the order page and isn't confirmed for production. Top Gear
Shared specs, as claimed
About 1,341 hp — “one third more power than Model S Plaid, with half the mass.” Torque around 1,400 Nm
All megawatt trims; a 300–330 mph version is in development; Musk's long-term target is “Mach 0.5”
Range per Moravy; battery capacity undisclosed, reported above 100 kWh of custom high-power 4680 cells
Pack voltage; charging above 500 kW on V4 Superchargers, 10–80% in about 10 minutes
Target weight (~3,700 lb): carbon fibre, magnesium, titanium and aluminium — “the team will kill me for saying this”
Wheelbase; about 2.0 m wide; two inboard rear motors with torque vectoring, no differential
Inside: steer-by-wire yoke, brake- and throttle-by-wire, a large centre screen plus a strip display at the base of the windscreen, and a “Dynamics” menu for the wings, vents and fans. Fixed moulded seats with an adjustable pedal box. Butterfly doors, T-top roof panels that stow in the boot, hidden headlights, a full-length taillight, “Ano White” paint derived from rocket coatings and gold-tinted glass meant to evoke spacesuit visors. Franz says it will run “a limited version of FSD.” The windscreen wiper is removable — you plug it in when it rains. Electrek Paul Tan
2017 promise vs 2026 car
| Nov 16, 2017 prototype | Oct 15, 2026 reveal | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats | 2+2 | 2 (Rocket: 1) |
| 0–60 | 1.9 s | <1.6 s / <0.9 s / <0.59 s |
| Quarter mile | 8.88 s | not stated |
| Top speed | over 250 mph | over 230 mph (faster versions planned) |
| Range | 620 mi | 300–320 mi |
| Battery | 200 kWh | undisclosed, >100 kWh |
| Drive | 3 motors, AWD | 2 rear motors, RWD |
| Roof | removable glass | T-tops |
| Base price | $200,000 | not announced |
| Production | 2020 | 2028 |
Musk said in February 2024 that the design goals had been “radically increased” — the sub-one-second car replaced the long-range four-seater. Critics argue the 2017 car was a feasible product and the 2026 car is a demonstration. Franz: the design draws on the SR-71 and the F-35; Top Gear called it “Tesla's Veyron moment.”
Fifteen years of promises
The first Roadster
Tesla's first car, built on a Lotus Elise-derived chassis: 0–60 in 3.7–3.9 s, 244 miles from a 53 kWh pack, $98,950–$128,500. About 2,450 built through 2012.
“A new Roadster by 2014”
Musk's first promise of a successor, as the Lotus contract ends.
The surprise
At the end of the Semi event a new Roadster rolls out to the Beastie Boys' “Sabotage”: 1.9 s, 620 miles, 250+ mph, four seats, 2020. $200,000 base; 1,000 Founders cars at $250,000 paid in full.
A Roadster goes to space
Musk's 2010 Roadster rides Falcon Heavy's first flight into solar orbit with Starman at the wheel. It passed within 8 million km of Mars in 2020 and next nears Earth in 2047.
The SpaceX package
Musk announces ~10 cold-gas thrusters and 10,000 psi tanks replacing the back seats.
2021. Then 2022. Then 2023.
Production slips a year at a time.
“Not a commitment”
Hopefully 2024.
Goals “radically increased”
A demo by end-2024, production 2025, and a new target: under one second to 60.
A demo by year-end
Promised on Joe Rogan. Six days later it moves to April 1, 2026 — a date Musk says gives him “some deniability.” Production: 2027–28.
Late April. “A month or so.” June. August.
Each slip tied to the thruster system. Electrek counts at least six production slips and seven unveil dates since 2017.
Reservations reopen at $50,000
And a “Go for launch” teaser sets October 1 at McGregor.
Weathered out
Postponed two weeks for a severe-weather forecast; the show “can only be held outdoors.”
Revealed
Three demos, three trims, production 2028.
“Arguably the coolest demo of any product ever”
Musk on the Q3 call. Moravy says 4–5 prototypes exist and a larger build comes in early 2027; the Q3 deck lists the Roadster as “Design development,” region “TBD.”
The reaction
Creators and press split hard. MKBHD: “This is a prank, right?” — then a video calling it “both figuratively and literally smoke and mirrors” and “a stupid amount of work that essentially amounts to a party trick,” with crash safety his biggest worry. Top Gear's Tom Ford, who saw the car in secret beforehand: “beautifully pointless,” “largely useless and yet utterly enthralling.” Electrek's Fred Lambert: “The engineering here is real” — but the stunts live on trims that aren't road-legal. Jalopnik: “the automaker of party tricks.” The Autopian: it “redlines the bullshitometer” and is “the next Veyron or the next piece of vaporware.” Dexerto The Autopian
Analysts: Dan Ives said it won't move volume but could “restore the brand halo”; Gene Munster called it an “engineering flex” with no economic value; Ross Gerber said a Tesla–SpaceX merger is now “obvious.” Prediction-market odds of a merger nearly doubled to ~56%.
The stock: up nearly 5% pre-market on October 16, then closed at $354.72, down 2.1%, on volume 64% above average. Yahoo Finance
Regulators: the FAA told CBS the car does not meet the definition of an aircraft; NHTSA didn't comment. Tesla's own page says the Rocket is not approved for public roads, and legal commentators doubt any state would allow thruster use in traffic. Snopes confirmed the stunt videos are real.
Sam Altman, who reserved in 2018 and publicly cancelled in October 2025 (“7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait”), posted on October 16: “Wow the new roadster looks quite amazing, good job.” Asked whether Altman had “cancelled his cancellation,” Musk replied “Indeed.”
Deposits and the fine print
Tesla has never disclosed how many 2017 reservations it holds — “thousands,” by most accounts. Early cancellers were initially refunded $45,000 of $50,000; MKBHD got the last $5,000 back only after publicity (“Tesla has been sitting with my 50 grand for eight years”). The 2026 reservation agreement is new: deposits are not held in escrow, Tesla “does not guarantee when, or whether” delivery happens, refunds are available until configuration, and disputes go to binding arbitration with class claims barred. The Autowire
The open question nobody at Tesla has answered: what 2017 depositors who wanted a 620-mile four-seater receive now that the car is a 300-mile two-seater.
What happens next
- 2028 — production at Giga Texas in a dedicated building Moravy calls “Roadster Factory Texas.” No volume, no price.
- Early 2027 — a larger prototype build, per Moravy (4–5 exist today).
- Snake River Canyon — Musk floated jumping it, Evel Knievel-style: “I don't know if this is possible or not.” No date.
- Still to settle — refill time down to ~30 minutes, the 300–330 mph variant, final weight and battery size, whether Thrust gets road certification, and what the Rocket invitation process looks like.
No further Roadster events were announced as of October 31, 2026.