Elon Musk just showed off a flying car. Here’s what to know about the Tesla Roadster

Story By Staff Reporter

Nearly a decade after Tesla first announced its second-generation Roadster, the company debuted the car in a flashy demo. The stunts seemed to challenge the laws of physics.

The sleek white sports car drove upside down. It thrust itself into the air and flipped over a lineup of other Tesla vehicles.

It accelerated from 0 to 60 miles per hour in under a second. Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said it will eventually reach half the speed of sound.

“Let’s take it to the limits and way past the limits,” Musk said at Thursday’s event in McGregor, Texas. “You’re gonna see the results of what happens when you have a collaboration with the world’s best car company and the world’s best rocket company.”

Here’s what to know about Tesla’s latest electric model.

When will the Roadster actually be available to customers?

At the demo event, Musk said production will begin in 2028.

Tesla first unveiled the second-generation Roadster in 2017. It is a nod to the company’s first-ever car. The plan then was to start production in 2020.

“Delaying something for nine years, if that was Mazda, no one would stand for that. Tesla just seems to get a pass on everything like that,” said Brian Moody, an analyst at Capital One Auto Navigator.

The original Roadster hit roads in 2008. Tesla discontinued it in 2012.

Tesla does not have a good track record of meeting its own deadlines. Musk has long promised to perfect self-driving technology and bring it to existing Tesla models.

Since 2017, Tesla has collected numerous $50,000 deposits from customers who wanted to reserve a Roadster. Many of them have complained on social media that the wait has been too long.

In 2025, Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, posted a series of screenshots on X. They showed him asking Tesla for a refund of his Roadster reservation. His email to the company bounced back.

“I really was excited for the car! And I understand delays. But 7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait,” Altman wrote on X.

Will the Roadster really be able to fly?

At the Texas demo, the Roadster didn’t exactly soar through the air. Thrusters on the bottom of the vehicle pushed it off the ground for brief moments.

The version that can leave the ground won’t be publicly available. It also has no approval for use on public roads.

Tesla calls this the “Rocket” package, and it will sell it only to invited customers. The car will seat one person. It will carry a multi-mode suction system and cold-gas thrusters that can boost it into the air.

Tesla and SpaceX, both run by Musk, collaborated on the technology.

“A tease like that has a little bit more reality to stand on when it’s coming from a company that can send things to the moon and bring them back intact,” Moody said.

The “Thrust” package will see a limited release. It puts thrusters on the rear of the vehicle, which can propel it forward at record speeds.

“It’s gonna crush every track record that’s ever existed,” Musk said Thursday.

Customers can now reserve a “Performance” version of the Roadster that they can drive on regular roads. Musk did not announce a price, but analysts expect it to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Could the Roadster boost Tesla’s faltering sales?

Tesla’s electric vehicle sales have been falling. Musk has made clear he’s orienting the company’s future around AI, self-driving technology and robotics.

The company recently discontinued its Model S and Model X. It then unveiled the Cybercab, a golden robotaxi that carries two passengers and lacks driver’s parts like a steering wheel and gas pedal.

The Roadster demo gave Tesla shares a short boost, but they quickly came back to Earth. The stock fell 2% on Friday to trade near $355.

Like the original, the new Roadster isn’t a mass-market vehicle, said iSeeCars.com analyst Karl Brauer. He expects it to cost more than $250,000.

“This car, like most exotic cars, does not pay the bills,” Brauer said. “They’re supposed to be attention-getters. They’re supposed to reflect the advanced capabilities of the company.”

The Roadster could generate new excitement around Tesla, but it won’t make revenues surge.

Tesla has die-hard fans. Still, Musk’s reputation took a beating in 2025 when he briefly led President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. A cooling electric-vehicle market under the Trump administration has also slowed sales of mainstream Tesla models.

“His last all-new vehicle, the Cybertruck, everyone has pretty much agreed that’s an official flop,” Brauer said. “From a reputation point of view, Musk does need this one to be a hit.”