Onlykashmir.in News Desk
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has unveiled the company’s long-delayed next-generation Roadster at a SpaceX facility near Waco, Texas. The prototype performed short aerial hops, midair flips and extreme acceleration using cold-gas thrusters developed with SpaceX.
During a livestreamed demonstration, the prototype drove up a curved ramp, stayed upside down using a specialised suction and fan system, launched into the air, performed a flip or roll and landed with thruster assistance. It also jumped over a line of other Tesla vehicles. The company claimed that the top configuration can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in under one second, with demonstrations citing times of around 0.81 seconds or lower.
Musk and Tesla executives described the car as the result of joint engineering by Tesla and SpaceX. Fitted with ultra-high-pressure air tanks and multiple nozzles, it carried out manoeuvres that Musk said were not guaranteed to succeed. The demonstration was conducted without a driver for safety, and the company acknowledged that the vehicle was not necessarily optimised for safety. “Flying cars are real,” Tesla Vice President of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy said at the event.
Tesla has outlined three configurations. The Performance version is designed for road use and features active aerodynamics and a suction system for better grip. The Thrust variant adds rear cold-gas thrusters for sub-one-second acceleration. The Rocket version, available by invitation, has a full perimeter thruster system for forward, upward and rotational movement. Tesla says the Rocket model can fly but is not approved for public road use.
Production is targeted for 2028, nearly a decade after the second-generation Roadster was first announced in 2017. Pricing has not been finalised, though reservations reportedly require substantial deposits depending on the configuration. Tesla has also cited top speeds above 230 mph and a range target of around 300 miles for certain versions.
Aviation experts have cautioned that what was shown resembles powered hops and controlled landings rather than sustained flight. Regulatory hurdles, including possible aviation rules and road-use restrictions for thruster-equipped versions, remain unresolved.
The demonstration has set off a wide online debate. Enthusiasts have praised the engineering spectacle, while critics question the car’s practical usability, safety, production timeline and whether its most ambitious flying features will ever reach customer models. For now, the Roadster remains a prototype and a promise, and the gap between the stage show and a road-legal product is the question that will define how it is judged.
