Elon Musk had promised a flying car. He delivered on the promise by debuting the Roadster 2 on Thursday. Almost a decade in development, the Roadster 2 can do what was so far the stuff of science fiction — it can fly.
During a demonstration event at SpaceX’s rocket development and testing facility in Texas, the electric supercar drove upside-down on a huge curved ramp, flipped, remained airborne for a few seconds, and then landed safely on the ground.
"Well, it worked," Tesla CEO Elon Musk said after it successfully landed.
“Flying cars are real,” added Lars Moravy, Tesla’s VP of vehicle engineering.
{{/usCountry}}“Flying cars are real,” added Lars Moravy, Tesla’s VP of vehicle engineering.
{{/usCountry}}Also during the demonstration event: The Tesla Roadster flipped over the company’s entire lineup, floating above the Cybertruck before landing safely again. Tesla said the vehicle can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 1 second.
How does the Roadster 2 fly?
Tesla vehicle engineering head Lars Moravy said that the “flying” technology is enabled by SpaceX thrusters.
According to TechCrunch, Moravy explained that the Roadster uses 10 thrusters connected to 600 liters of compressed air to lift and spin the car in midair.
“More compressed gas on board = more flight time,” Tesla explained in an X post.
When will the car be available for purchase?
The Roadster 2 is the long-awaited followup to Tesla’s first vehicle, the Roadster. It was announced in 2017 and has been in development for nearly a decade. Tesla had promised to ship the car by 2020.
Even after today’s demonstration, the supercar will not be available for purchase immediately. Musk said that the car will enter production in 2028.
How much will it cost?
Tesla is offering the Roadster 2 in three variants. The first, called “Performance”, was described as “road ready” on the Tesla website.
The second tier, called “Thrust”, was called “race ready”. The top tier, called “Rocket”, was described as “air ready” by Tesla.
The company has begun taking reservations for the car. Reserving the Performance variant will cost $50,000, and reserving Thrust will cost $250,000. The Rocket model is “invite only” and cannot be reserved.