Tesla's flying Roadster clears test pad, lands short on safety and sticker price 🚀

Tesla unveiled a flying version of its Roadster at SpaceX's McGregor test site in Texas on Thursday, with Elon Musk posting afterward, "Turns out the future does have flying cars." The demonstration showed a fan suction system holding the car upside down before SpaceX-derived thrusters flipped it through the air and brought it down for a landing. The vehicle is offered only as part of the invite-only Rocket configuration, and Musk acknowledged the Roadster is "not necessarily a safety-optimized car," adding that he doubted it would be legal in every jurisdiction.

According to Tesla's livestream, two onboard tanks hold about 250 kilograms of air feeding 10 nozzles, and Musk said the system refills itself without requiring a special propellant. Tesla stated the car can exceed 230 mph and recorded a 0-to-60 mph run in 0.81 seconds during a live test. The vehicle's design, the company said, draws inspiration from the SR-71 spy plane and the F-35 fighter jet. Musk also identified the Roadster as the last manually driven car Tesla plans to make, with the company's long-term focus described by Wedbush analyst Dan Ives as centered on robotaxis and Optimus robots.

Reserving a base Roadster requires a fully refundable $5,000 deposit, followed by a $45,000 payment due within 10 days or the reservation is canceled. For the Thrust version, which adds acceleration thrusters but no flight system, the second payment climbs to $245,000, with Tesla limiting it to one order per customer. Tesla has not confirmed a sticker price for any version, and Musk said production is set to begin in 2028, eight years after the original 2020 delivery target.

Before the event, Musk hinted at a potential merger between Tesla and SpaceX, though the Roadster represents only a small slice of Tesla's valuation narrative. Investors are now looking to Tesla's third-quarter earnings on Oct. 21 for signals on whether the company will be valued as a carmaker or an AI company, after a third-quarter delivery beat. Tesla trades under the ticker $TSLA.