Tesla unveils new Roadster hypercar and Elon Musk just made it fly

Elon Musk’s long-delayed hypercar, the Tesla Roadster, is finally here, with rocket thrusters, a 0-60mph time of 0.81 seconds and a party trick that involves jumping over a Tesla Semi.

Elon Musk has been promising a flying Roadster for years. On Thursday night, at SpaceX’s rocket test facility in Texas, he rolled one out. After its first stunt, even he sounded surprised saying: “Well, it worked.”

On Thursday night, he rolled one out at SpaceX’s Rocket Development and Test Center in McGregor, Texas. The 4,000-acre site set the tone, with a Raptor rocket engine static fire as the warm-up act.

The first demo had the Roadster drive up a giant curved ramp, go upside down and launch off the end. It flipped in mid-air and landed on its wheels. “Well, it worked,” said Tesla’s VP of vehicle engineering, Lars Moravy, adding that flying cars are real. Musk said that was just a little flight and suggested a longer one.

Next, the Roadster fired itself over Tesla’s Semi and the rest of its current line-up, barrel-rolling on the way.

The Roadster isn’t a rocket in the traditional sense. It uses 10 thruster nozzles fed with compressed air rather than rocket fuel, a system developed with SpaceX. Rear main thrusters push it along, while separate attitude control thrusters adjust its angle in flight.

For grip, a fan under the car sucks it to the tarmac, generating cornering forces of more than 2G. Musk reckons it will “crush every track record that has ever existed”. The Roadster also has by-wire steering, braking and throttle, a steering yoke, a magnesium, titanium and carbonfibre structure and two rear motors, with reports of over 1,500bhp.

The standard Performance model has no thrusters and needs a £50,000 deposit. The Thrust adds boosters to improve acceleration, with a claimed 0-60mph time of 0.81 seconds, and requires a £250,000 deposit. The Rocket is the one that flies. It’s invite-only, with no price announced, and Tesla says it’s not approved for road use.

Even the Roadster that can’t fly may not be road legal everywhere. Musk admits it might not be legal in all jurisdictions, and Tesla says the rocket features won’t be available in every market. Prospective UK buyers (if there even is any) should also note that it will only be sold in left-hand drive.

We still don't know quite a lot about the Roadster. Musk first claimed a top speed of 230mph, then said it should manage at least half the speed of sound, around 383mph. Nobody knows how long it can stay airborne, and final pricing hasn’t been confirmed. Tesla says nothing has been carried over from the original 2017 Roadster. Production is now pencilled in for 2028, and he says it’s happening “actually, for real”. Judging by the last nine years, we’ll believe it when we see it.