Tesla Debuts New Roadster That Can Drive Upside Down and Fly

McGREGOR, TEXAS Tesla on Thursday showed off its new Roadster, an electric sports car that can drive upside down and even make short flights. At a SpaceX rocket test site in Texas, the car drove up a curved ramp until it was upside down, jumped off, flipped in the air, and landed back on its wheels. Then it leaped over five other Tesla vehicles in a single jump.

Roadster comes in three versions: Performance, Thrust, and Rocket. Tesla says the car can travel more than 300 miles on one charge and reach a top speed above 230 mph. Reservations are open now, and production starts in 2028.

“Turns out the future does have flying cars,” said Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO. Musk called Roadster “the best of the last of the human-driven cars,” a nod to Tesla’s push toward cars that drive themselves. He also said the work of Tesla and SpaceX engineers was “better than any James Bond car.”

A Reveal at a Rocket Test Site

Tesla held the event at a huge SpaceX site where the company tests rocket engines. It was planned for October 1, but strong winds pushed it back two weeks, since the show could only happen outdoors. Before the event, the FAA, which controls US airspace, even closed the sky above the site to planes and drones.

The show started with a ramp shaped like half a roller-coaster loop. Roadster drove up it while fans under the car sucked it against the track. Then it shot off upside down, spun in the air, and fired its air jets to land on its wheels. “Well, it worked,” Musk said.

In a speed test, the Roadster went from 0 to 60 mph in 0.81 seconds. A video of the flight passed 1.7 million views on X.

Fans That Hold It to the Road

Most sports cars use wings to push themselves down onto the road, which helps the tires grip. But wings only work well at high speed. Roadster adds fans underneath that suck the car toward the ground, a bit like a vacuum cleaner pulling itself onto a rug.

The fans work even when the car is standing still, and Tesla says they are strong enough to hold the Roadster upside down. More grip means the car can take corners faster and stop harder.

In Track Mode, Roadster lowers itself and adjusts its wings and suspension for racing. Musk says it’s going to “crush every track record that has ever existed.”

Air Jets Built With SpaceX

Tires can only push a car forward so hard before they slip. To go past that limit, Roadster uses cold-gas thrusters, small jets that blast out compressed air. SpaceX uses similar jets to steer its spacecraft. Tesla says Roadster’s jets push four to five times harder than its tires can.

The jets run on 600 liters of compressed air stored in a tank on board. Electric controls adjust them in a split second to keep the car steady while it’s in the air.

Tesla says the top speed is above 230 mph. Musk wants to push it to half the speed of sound, about 383 mph.

Three Versions, From Road to Sky

1. Performance is built for the road. It seats two, uses the fans for grip, and goes from 0 to 60 mph in under 1.6 seconds.
2. Thrust is built for the race track. It seats two and adds air jets at the back, which cut 0 to 60 to under 0.9 seconds.
3. Rocket is built for the air. It seats one and has 10 air jets around the car so it can lift off and spin. It hits 60 mph in under 0.59 seconds. Tesla’s own description: “So … yes, it can fly.”

Light Body, Space-Inspired Look

Roadster is made from light but strong materials like magnesium, titanium, and carbon fiber. The seat is fixed in place and the controls are manual, which keeps weight down and helps the car react fast. Instead of a round steering wheel, you steer with a yoke, a wheel shaped more like an airplane’s controls.

The white paint, called Ano White, comes from coatings made for spacecraft. It protects against sun damage, extreme cold, and corrosion. The tinted glass looks gold, like the visor on an astronaut’s helmet.

Inside, the cabin is white with gray suede-like fabric, one touchscreen in the middle, and two smaller screens in front of the driver.

Where Roadster Comes From

Roadster is named after Tesla’s very first car. The original Roadster was built on a Lotus sports car and sold from 2008 to 2012.

Tesla first showed this new Roadster as a concept in 2017 and said it would arrive in 2020. A year later, Musk said it could get a SpaceX package with small rocket-style jets.

The finished car is quicker than first promised, but its range is shorter: more than 300 miles instead of the 620 miles Tesla promised in 2017.