At a livestreamed event on Thursday night, Elon Musk gave Tesla enthusiasts their first close look at the long-awaited Roadster, an electric vehicle that the company claims can fly. The demonstration, held before a live audience, was designed to prove that the car's capabilities are real and not the product of artificial intelligence or special effects.
“We need an audience to prove that it's not AI or SI,” Musk told the crowd. “So, you guys can tell people that you saw it with your eyes. Because what you see with your eyes, you will not believe.”
The Roadster, which is Tesla's only manually driven car, drove up a towering curved ramp, went upside down, launched off the end, flipped in mid-air, and landed safely as the audience cheered. “Well, it worked,” Musk said.
SpaceX technology under the hood
Lars Moravy, Tesla's vice president of vehicle engineering, explained that the Roadster uses a “fan suction system” on its underside, capable of pulling up to 2 Gs to keep the car attached to the ceiling. “Then we borrowed some technology from SpaceX to do the rest,” he added.
Musk elaborated that the Roadster is equipped with “altitude control thrusters and main thrusters in the rear, so it can basically fly like a rocket.” He described the car's ability to perform rolls and “crazy gymnastics,” while joking that it is “not necessarily a safety optimised car.”
A second demonstration tested that claim, as the car drove toward a row of other Tesla vehicles, fired into the air, and performed a “kickflip” over them. Another display showed the Roadster accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in under one second.
The Roadster is now available for reservation on Tesla's website, with three variants: Performance, Thrust, and Rocket. The Rocket version is invite-only and boasts a top speed of over 230 mph and a range of more than 300 miles.
This unveiling comes amid a broader push by Musk to integrate SpaceX's engineering into Tesla's consumer vehicles, a strategy that has drawn both excitement and skepticism. The Roadster's flying capabilities, while impressive, raise questions about regulatory approval and practical use, especially in Europe where road safety standards are stringent.
European observers will note that Tesla's European operations, including its Gigafactory near Berlin, are central to the company's global ambitions. The Roadster's launch could influence the continent's electric vehicle market, which is already competitive with offerings from German and French automakers.
As Tesla continues to push the boundaries of what an electric car can do, the Roadster represents a bold statement of intent. Whether it will ever be street-legal in Europe remains to be seen, but the spectacle has certainly captured the imagination of car enthusiasts across the continent.
