Last night, Elon Musk gave the people what they wanted: a car driving vertically down a multi-story ramp, launching off the edge, performing a mid-air “kickflip” over a line of Teslas, and landing via cold gas thrusters.
That’s what people want, right? “We were promised flying cars,” sure, but isn’t the key word in that statement “we”? Because from what I can tell, everything we saw last night – while extremely cool and incredibly impressive – won’t result in a real production-ready car that you can park or, I suppose, land in your driveway.
Tesla’s nighttime protest in Waco, Texas, certainly gave some corners of the internet what they wanted. And the enthusiastic praise and wide-eyed reactions on X, a platform already predisposed to absolve Musk of all his sins, were hard to avoid.
Considered a pure stunt, the demo was breathtaking. Equipping an electric supercar with 600 liters of compressed air, 10 cold gas directional thruster nozzles and a 2G suction fan system directly inspired by SpaceX is undeniably awesome. Seeing a launch from 0 to 60 mph in less than a second pushes the absolute limits of physics, even if it might lead to a detached retina or two.
Yet calling it an “automotive reveal” or even considering the Flying Roadster a real product, in the sense that it can be purchased by an unaffiliated third party for private ownership, stretches the definition beyond recognition. Tesla says the Roadster’s “Rocket” configuration, the one we’ve seen doing all the cool shit, will be “invitation only.” But even that strains credulity. This version of the Roadster removes the passenger seat to make way for ultra-high-pressure fuel tanks and trades road practicality for short bursts of thruster-powered levitation. But where you can take your flying Tesla remains a mystery, as the company admits it won’t be approved for “use on public roads.”
Considered a pure stunt, the demo was breathtaking.
Even for wealthy supercar buyers, the event offered almost nothing of substance. Tesla ignored basic business details such as pricing or battery range specifications. The Roadster’s range estimate has been downgraded from 600 miles to 300 miles. And Musk carelessly pushed the production window back to 2028 – more than a decade after early users handed over $50,000 deposits.
Musk himself acknowledged that the Roadster is a “small potato” project that won’t move the needle financially compared to mainstream models like the Model Y. He also called it the “last best driver’s car,” in a nod to his belief that autonomous driving will define Tesla’s future.
Some analysts are already speculating that the Roadster re-release is an attempt to set the stage for a rumored Tesla-SpaceX merger. Musk’s fans on But these are just a few issues in Musk’s quest to consolidate control of his companies.
In some sense, the car had to fly to make the previous decade of missed deadlines worth it. Tesla has already been overtaken several times in the electric hypercar market. Even some of the Roadster’s most impressive tricks have already been done. There are cars that can drive upside down, cars that can jump in the air, and cars that can accelerate very, very fast.
BYD’s Yangwang U9 Extreme uses four electric motors (one more than the Roadster) to produce an insane 3,000 horsepower for a top speed of 308 mph in testing, breaking Rimac’s Nevera record of 268 mph. And the McMurtry Spéirling single-seater holds the record for the fastest acceleration from 0 to 60 mph in 1.35 seconds. The Roadster could do better, but we’ll have to wait for independent testing to confirm.
But no one puts on a show like Elon Musk. So if the goal is to score a PR victory, dominate social media feeds, and solidify the Tesla brand as a pioneer in cutting-edge technology, I’d say the Roadster demo was a success. Competitors like Rimac, Porsche and BYD will continue to deliver true track-ready hypercars while Tesla will spend a few more years refining its rocket-powered prototype.
It’s completely useless as a viable product. But as a 30-minute engineering demonstration, it was truly a sight to behold.
Gn bussni
