Elon Musk has revealed Tesla’s latest model, which he says will be the world’s first flying car, using technology from his aerospace company SpaceX to “fly like a rocket”.
The billionaire, who held a demonstration of the Tesla Roadster 2 at the SpaceX rocket development and test center in Texas, said the sports car could go from 0 to 60 mph in a record time of less than a second and was equipped with thrusters.
Video of the event shows the Roadster, which he said was controlled remotely “to make sure we didn’t kill anyone”, driving up a curved ramp using suction to grab it upside down, before using thrusters to flip, fly and land.
Later in the demonstration, the Roadster is seen using the jets to jump over a line of existing Tesla models, then accelerate to 60 mph in record time.
“It turns out the future has flying cars,” Musk said in a post on his social media site X, accompanying a video of the event.
Speaking at the event on Thursday, Musk said: “Flying cars are real. They have altitude controls, thrusters and main thrusters in the back. So they can fly like a rocket, they can do rolls, crazy gymnastics.”
“I’m not sure it’s necessarily legal in all jurisdictions,” Musk said, adding that the prototype was “not necessarily a safety-optimized car, but it takes the fun meter to 11.”
In 2014, Musk expressed skepticism about a future with flying vehicles.
However, three years later it announced development of the Roadster 2, which will go into production in 2028 and cost more than $200,000 (£150,000), to create an electric sports car “to give petrol cars a major blow”.
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After the event, a Tesla booking site intended to express interest in the two-seater Roadster 2 showed that a “performance” version of the vehicle would require a deposit of £50,000. A “pushed” version would require a deposit of $250,000.
Meanwhile, a single-seat “rocket” variant with “full flight system” has been labeled as being available by invitation only. The automaker added that flying it was not allowed on public roads.
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