01 · RoadReservations open
Performance
- 0–60 mph
- < 1.6 s
- Top speed
- 210 mph
- Seats
- 2
- Thrusters
- None
- Reservation
- $50,000
- Multi-mode fan and ground-sealing suction system
- Active aero: front wings, rear wing, vent hood
- The road-going Roadster
File 001 · Flight test dossier/McGregor, TX/
Flying Tesla Roadster
On October 15, 2026 Tesla's new Roadster drove upside down, fired SpaceX-developed cold-gas thrusters and hopped over five Teslas. Here is everything we know — what's real, what it costs, how it works and when you can get one.
- 0–60 mph (on stage)
- 0.81s
- Cold-gas thrusters
- 10×
- Top speed (claimed)
- 230+mph
- Production
- 2028target
- 0–60 mph 0.81 s on stage
- Cold-gas thrusters 10
- Compressed air 600 L
- Top speed 230+ mph
- Power ≈1 MW
- Suction up to 2 g
- Reservation from $50,000
- Production 2028
- Revealed Oct 15, 2026
- Location McGregor, TX
01 At a glance
The flying Tesla Roadster in six numbers
Tesla finally showed the long-delayed second-generation Roadster — and bolted rocket-style hardware to it. These are the headline figures, with the caveats that matter.
0–60 mph on stage0.81sTesla's own timer, thrusters firing. Not independently verified.
Cold-gas thrusters10nozzlesFour rear, four underneath, two at the nose, fed by 600 L of compressed air.
Claimed top speed230+mphDown from the 250+ mph promised for the 2017 Roadster.
Suction downforce≈2gA fan pulls the car onto the road — hard enough to hold it upside down.
Reservations from$50kUSDPerformance. Thrust takes $250,000; Rocket is invite-only. No price yet.
Production target2028Per Elon Musk at the reveal — eight years after the first promised date.
02 The reveal
What happened on October 15, 2026
The livestreamed show at SpaceX's Texas test site was less a product launch than a stunt reel. In one run the driverless car climbed a ramp that curled overhead, hung upside down, flipped and landed.
Approach
With nobody aboard, the Roadster accelerates toward a curved ramp at SpaceX's McGregor test site.
Suction lock
Underbody fans seal it to the ramp as the curve rises past vertical.
Inverted
The car hangs upside down, held on by up to about 2 g of fan suction.
Thrust + flip
It releases and fires cold-gas thrusters to rotate in mid-air.
Landing
It touches down on its wheels — then later kickflips clean over five Teslas.
03 Fact check
Is the flying Tesla real? Yes — but it hops.
The rising search everyone is typing. The footage is authentic and the car really left the ground. What nobody has shown is sustained flight.
Snopes rated the videos true: the demo was livestreamed, filmed by attendees, and shows no sign of AI or editing. But the airborne moments lasted seconds — one charge of the thrusters is good for about five to six. As the Smithsonian's curator of vertical flight told CNN before the event: “We are literally talking about hopping.”
Verdict · Claim status
Real car. Real stunt. Not real flight — yet.
Video authenticConfirmed
Drives invertedConfirmed
0.81 s 0–60Claimed
Sustained flightUnproven
04 Versions
Three Roadsters: Performance, Thrust and Rocket
Only one is a conventional road car. Thrusters start on the Thrust version, and the full ten-nozzle setup seen hopping and flipping belongs to the invite-only, single-seat Rocket.
02 · TrackLimited release
Thrust
- 0–60 mph
- < 0.9 s
- Top speed
- 230+ mph
- Seats
- 2
- Thrusters
- Rear cold-gas
- Reservation
- $250,000
- Everything in Performance
- Rear cold-gas thrusters for launches
- ~200 L compressed-air tank behind the seats
03 · FlightInvite only
Rocket
- 0–60 mph
- < 0.59 s
- Top speed
- 230+ mph
- Seats
- 1
- Thrusters
- 10 cold-gas
- Reservation
- By invitation
- Thrusters at the rear, underside and nose for lift and rotation
- Extra ~400 L tank where the passenger seat would be
- Not approved for public roads
05 Engineering
How a car “flies” on compressed air
No wings, no rotors, no flames. The Roadster combines a fan-car suction system with cold-gas thrusters — the same principle spacecraft use to steer.
Suction holds it down
Fans pull air from a sealed area under the car, creating downforce even when stationary. Tesla says it can generate up to about 2 g — double what is needed to cling to a ceiling.
Thrusters push it up and around
Ten nozzles release air stored at very high pressure in tanks inside the car. Rear jets add acceleration; underside jets give lift; nose jets steer. Because it is just air, there is no fuel to burn — only a tank to refill.
06 Elon Musk's promise
Elon Musk's flying Roadster: a nine-year build-up
Musk first teased a “SpaceX option package” in 2018. It took eight more years — and a lot of missed dates — to see it work.
2017November 16
A new Roadster surprises the Semi event
Tesla rolls the next-generation Roadster out of the Semi truck it was unveiling. Promises: 0–60 mph in 1.9 s, 620 miles of range, 250+ mph, a $200,000 base price and production in 2020.
2018June 9
The “SpaceX option package”
Musk tweets that a SpaceX option package will add about ten small rocket thrusters around the car to improve acceleration, top speed, braking and cornering.
“Maybe they will even allow a Tesla to fly…”
2025October 31
Joe Rogan: an “unforgettable” demo
On The Joe Rogan Experience, Musk says Tesla is close to demonstrating the prototype and that the product demo will be unforgettable. Asked if it can fly, he says you will have to wait for the demo.
“This product demo will be unforgettable.”
2026October 15 · 7:55 p.m. CT
The Roadster drives upside down and kickflips over five Teslas
At SpaceX's McGregor, Texas test site the driverless Roadster climbs an inverted ramp on fan suction, fires cold-gas thrusters to roll upright and land, flips over a row of Tesla vehicles, corkscrews up from a standstill and posts a 0.81 s 0–60 run on Tesla's timer.
“We enter production in 2028.”
2028Target
Production begins (planned)
Musk's stated start of production, about eight years after the original 2020 promise. No delivery date or price has been given.
07 Quick answers
Flying Tesla Roadster FAQ
Is the flying Tesla Roadster real?
Yes, the car and the demo are real. On October 15, 2026 Tesla showed the new Roadster at a SpaceX test site in McGregor, Texas, where it drove upside down on a curved ramp and used compressed-air thrusters to hop, flip and land. Snopes rated the videos authentic. What is not proven is sustained flight: the car was airborne for seconds, and aviation experts describe it as hopping rather than flying.
Read the full fact check →Can the Tesla Roadster actually fly?
Only briefly. The demo car launched off a ramp, rotated in mid-air, flipped over a row of Tesla vehicles and corkscrewed up from a standstill, each move lasting seconds. InsideEVs reports one charge of the thrusters lasts roughly five to six seconds. Before the event, the Smithsonian's curator of vertical flight told CNN, “We are literally talking about hopping.” It is not an aircraft in the eVTOL sense.
How the thrusters work →How much is the Tesla Roadster?
Tesla has not announced a price. Reservations reopened at $50,000 for the Performance version and $250,000 for the thruster-equipped Thrust version; the one-seat Rocket version is invite-only. In 2017 Tesla quoted a $200,000 base price and $250,000 for a Founders Series, but those figures belong to the old design.
Price and reservation details →What is the Tesla Roadster's 0–60 time?
In the live run the car hit 60 mph in 0.81 seconds on Tesla's own timer, with thrusters firing; Tesla's own clip of it quotes 0.67 seconds with rollout subtracted. Tesla's claims by version are under 1.6 seconds for Performance, under 0.9 seconds for Thrust and under 0.59 seconds for Rocket. None of these has been independently tested.
Full specs →When is the Tesla Roadster coming out?
Elon Musk said at the reveal, “We enter production in 2028.” The Roadster was first promised for 2020, so this would be about eight years late. Tesla has not given a delivery date.
The full timeline →Is this the same Tesla Roadster that's in space?
No. The car in space is Elon Musk's own first-generation Roadster, launched with the “Starman” mannequin on the first Falcon Heavy flight on February 6, 2018. It is still orbiting the Sun. The flying Roadster is the next-generation model.
REF Reporting we relied on
Sources
Figures marked as claims come from Tesla's event and reservation pages as reported by these outlets. None have been independently tested yet.
- CNNTesla unveils what it says is a flying car
- TechCrunchTesla reveals SpaceX-powered Roadster that flies and falls with style
- SnopesAre videos of Tesla's new 'flying' car performing mid-air stunts real?
- CBS NewsWith Tesla Roadster debut, Elon Musk shows “flying cars are real”
- ElectrekAre Tesla's claims for its new 'flying' Roadster real, or is it just full of cold gas?
- Not a Tesla AppTesla Roadster event recap: it flies, flips, and hits 0-60 in 0.81s
- InsideEVsThe Tesla Roadster has 1,341 HP and half the range Elon Musk once promised. Here are the full specs
- MotorTrend (via Yahoo Autos)2028 Tesla Roadster first look: everything to know about Tesla's new supercar that can actually fly
- HagertyNew Tesla Roadster revealed, and it flies
- GizmodoTesla's new Roadster can somehow do corkscrews in the air (without exploding—yet)
- CNBCTesla unveils long-delayed Roadster developed with SpaceX, fueling merger speculation