Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has unveiled Tesla's new Roadster Rocket — a "flying car" equipped with "ultra high-pressure air tanks" and SpaceX-derived thrusters.
Musk revealed the next-generation Roadster during a livestreamed launch event Thursday at SpaceX's test facility in McGregor, Texas — nearly nine years after the Roadster was first announced.
During the demo, which was livestreamed on Tesla's X account, a driverless two-seater prototype launched from a steep steel ramp, performed a full barrel roll in mid-air, and landed on its wheels. At one point the car drove upside down using underbody suction before vaulting over a line of Teslas.
"Flying cars are real," Musk said. "It can basically fly like a rocket."
Musk said the car is fitted with 10 nozzles and "ultra high-pressure air tanks" that store around 250kg of compressed air to propel the vehicle into the air and accelerate rapidly on the ground. The system, developed with SpaceX engineers, uses cold-gas thrusters and self-recharging tanks.
According to Musk, the Roadster can go from 0 to 60 mph in under one second — Tesla showed a run at 0.81 seconds — and reach a top speed of 230 mph (370 km/h). He described it as "what happens when you have a collaboration with the world's best car company and the world's best rocket company."
The prototype ran autonomously "to make sure we don't kill anyone," Musk told the crowd, adding: "Success is not guaranteed ... it will probably work."
Musk said the vehicle is "not necessarily a safety-optimized car" but will be "an actual car that's on the roads," though it may not be legal in all jurisdictions.
Tesla plans to begin production in 2028, though Musk's timelines have historically slipped.
He added: "We need an audience to prove that it's not AI. So you guys can tell people you saw it with your eyes, because what you see with your eyes, you will not believe."
