A Car That Leaves the Ground
Elon Musk has been promising a new Tesla Roadster for nearly a decade. On Thursday, October 15, 2026, he finally showed it to the world — and it did something no production car has ever done. It left the ground.
The event took place outdoors at SpaceX's rocket test site in McGregor, Texas. In front of a live crowd, the white two-seater drove up an inverted ramp, flipped in mid-air, turned around, and landed. It used built-in thrusters to do it. Later in the show, it jumped clean over a truck and several other vehicles, twisting in the air as it flew. "Flying cars are real," Musk told the crowd.
Built With SpaceX
This Roadster is as much a SpaceX product as a Tesla one. The thrusters use highly pressurised air, not rocket fuel. Tesla says they can push the car from 0 to 60 miles per hour in under one second — about 0.8 seconds in the demonstration. Musk also claimed a top speed of more than 230 miles per hour.
The car looks nothing like the smooth prototype Tesla showed back in 2017. The new design is sharp and angular, with the round thruster nozzles sitting low on the rear. Musk called it "the best of the last of the human-driven cars" and said the vehicle on stage is the one that will actually reach the roads. He also admitted, unusually for a car launch, that safety had not been the top priority in the design.
When Can You Buy One?
Not soon. Tesla says production will start in 2028 — eight years after the car was first promised for 2020. Reservations opened on Tesla's website right after the event, and the prices are steep.
There are three versions. The "Performance" version needs a $50,000 deposit. The "Thrust" version, which adds the acceleration thrusters, needs a $250,000 deposit. A third variant called the "Rocket" is invite-only: a single-seat model that Tesla says carries a "full flight system." No final price was announced. Almost a decade ago, Tesla quoted a base price of $200,000 for the Roadster.
What the Experts Say
Not everyone is impressed by the business case. Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management, a Tesla investor, called the event "an engineering flex with no commercial value beyond embarrassing traditional car makers." He said the show was the latest sign of why Musk wants to bring Tesla and SpaceX closer together.
Musk himself has played down the car's importance to Tesla's finances. Back in 2023, he described the Roadster as a "small potato situation" that would not move the company's numbers in a major way.
Still, analysts say the car matters as a symbol. "Tesla does not currently have a halo car, or high-performance luxury vehicle designed to showcase an automaker's best engineering and technology. The Roadster will be Tesla's new halo car," said Seth Goldstein, an analyst at Morningstar, in a note last month.
Why Now?
The timing is interesting. Tesla has been shifting its focus toward self-driving technology and robotics, and the Roadster reveal came just days before the company's third-quarter results — numbers that analysts say matter far more to investors than a sports car. Tesla shares still rose about 5% in early trading on Friday after the event.
There are also open questions. Nobody has made clear whether a car with built-in thrusters can legally drive on public roads. Tesla did not answer that question at the event.
The Bottom Line
After years of missed deadlines, Tesla finally has its showpiece back. The new Roadster is faster, stranger, and more ambitious than anything the company has shown before. Whether it becomes a real product people can buy — or stays a very expensive stunt — will only be clear when production starts in 2028.
