Hajra Naz
Tesla just revealed its redesigned second-generation Roadster with SpaceX thrusters. CEO Elon Musk has called it “the best of the last of the human-driven cars.”
The Live Demo
Musk showed off the car at an event outside Waco, Texas. The demo used a mix of high-powered fans and thrusters. The car drove up an inverted ramp. It spun around. Then it eased itself down to the pavement below. The car also used its thrusters to lift itself over several Tesla vehicles while moving. They were a Cybercab, a Cybertruck, a Tesla Semi, a Model Y, and a Model 3.
“This will be the actual car that’s on the roads,” Musk said. Tesla showed it going from 0 to 60 miles per hour in one second. “It literally is just going to puff itself up and, uh, be able to do these maneuvers whenever you’d like.”
Trims, Range, and Speed
Musk said Tesla will finally build the long-delayed car in 2028. He didn’t name a price. Tesla will offer three trims.
- Performance: Tesla calls it “road ready.” It seats two and has active aerodynamics. It also has a “multi-mode suction system for next-level performance on and off the track.”
- Thrust: Tesla calls it “race ready.” It seats two. Rear-mounted cold-gas thrusters give it sub-one-second 0-to-60 mph acceleration.
- Rocket: Tesla calls it “air ready.” It seats one. It has 10 cold-gas thrusters placed around the car.
All three trims offer 300 miles of range. All three can top 230 miles per hour.
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Reservations
Tesla’s website showed on Thursday that it’s taking reservations. The performance costs $50,000 just to reserve. The Thrust costs $250,000. The Rocket trim is billed as “invite-only.”
How the Thrusters Work
Engineering VP Lars Moravy explained the system at the event. The Roadster has 10 thrusters. They connect to 600 liters of compressed air. That air lifts and spins the car in midair. He said the air tank can be recharged.
Tesla also posted on X about the design. “Every usable void in the car is packed with Carbon Fiber Overwrapped Pressure Vessels (COPVs),” it wrote. This type of pressure vessel has been at the root of several SpaceX rocket explosions.
A Possible Canyon Jump
Musk also said Tesla may try to jump the Snake River Canyon. That’s where Evel Knievel famously tried to cross the gorge in a steam-powered rocket.
A “Halo Car” and Safety
Musk has described the Roadster as a true halo car for Tesla. At one point, he said he’s “not sure it moves the needle massively from a revenue standpoint.” He has also said that “safety is not the main goal” for the new Roadster.
“If you buy a Ferrari, safety is not the number one goal. I say, if safety is your number one goal, do not buy the Roadster,” he said on a podcast earlier this year. Tesla would “aspire not to kill anyone in this car,” he said.
“This is the culmination of incredible work by Tesla and SpaceX engineers working closely together to make something you haven’t seen in any movie, better than any James Bond car,” Musk said at the event. “I’ve never seen anything like this. You know when I suggested this to the team, I thought, ‘Am I crazy?’”
He had earlier said the car “will be very different from what was shown previously.” He also promised the demo would be the “most exciting, whether it works or not, demo ever of any product.”
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The New Design
The design changes were notable. The car was shown in stark white. It now has a more angular look. It recalls a Lamborghini. It also recalls the famous Lotus Esprit from the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. Musk owns one of those cars, and it was on display at the event.
Tesla said in another post that the design drew inspiration from the SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft and the F-35 fighter jet. “Our design language has evolved since the last reveal: from S3XY to Cybertruck, Cybercab & Optimus,” the company wrote.
Nine Years in the Making
The event came almost nine years to the day after Tesla first revealed the second-generation Roadster. That car was a modern take on Tesla’s first-ever vehicle. Tesla unveiled it as a surprise at the end of the Tesla Semi reveal in 2017. It was supposed to ship within a few years. Customers could place $50,000 deposits. Some paid $250,000 to reserve one of 1,000 “Founders Series” cars.
The Thruster Idea and the Delays
Musk first talked about adding thrusters in 2018. “The SpaceX option package for the new Tesla Roadster will include ~10 small rocket thrusters arranged seamlessly around the car,” he wrote on Twitter that year. “These rocket engines dramatically improve acceleration, top speed, braking & cornering. Maybe they will even allow a Tesla to fly …”
The Roadster then took a back seat. In 2018, Tesla went through what Musk called “production hell” with the Model 3. The company moved on to other projects. The Model Y became the best-selling vehicle in the world. The Cybertruck was a commercial flop by Tesla’s own standards. Along the way, Musk delayed the Roadster in 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024.
Later, he started talking about it again. Late last year, he said on Joe Rogan’s podcast that he wanted to reveal it by the end of 2025. One week later, at the shareholder meeting where he won a $1 trillion pay package, he pushed it to April 1, 2026. He said an April Fools’ Day event would give him “some deniability” if Tesla delayed again.
“Like, I could say I was just kidding,” he said at the time. Tesla pushed the reveal back again. It tried to hold the event on October 1. Severe weather caused another delay.
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Customer Frustration
The repeated delays pushed several high-profile customers to speak out. They include YouTuber Marques Brownlee and OpenAI head Sam Altman.
“They really just got on stage and said this newly designed 4000+ pound car can do flips and go half the speed of sound (380+mph) and will ship in 2028,” Brownlee posted Thursday. “This is a prank, right?”
