Tesla unveils Roadster featuring compressed air thrusters for limited flight Tesla said it was the world's fastest car, hitting a sub-1 second 0 to 60 mph time. Pras Subramanian · Senior Reporter Thu, October 15, 2026 at 9:47 PM EDT 3 min read TSLA -1.29% Trade Tesla on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
After a two-week delay, the Tesla (TSLA) Roadster event went off with a massive bang — a flying one.
The wedge-shaped, cyberpunk-looking Roadster EV appeared in front of an inverted half roller coaster ramp, cruised halfway up — glued to the ramp using a vacuum fan system — then launched off the ramp upside down and performed flips in the air, using air thrusters to right itself and land on the tarmac.
Next, the Roadster did a similar stunt, jumping over several Tesla cars, including a semi, inverted itself, and then used its thrusters to land — something no other automaker has ever done with a vehicle. "Well, it worked," CEO Elon Musk deadpanned.
The Roadster also went 0-60 mph in less than 1 second (0.81 seconds), per a test Tesla conducted at the event. While Tesla claimed the car could hit a top speed of 230 mph, Musk boasted that the production version could target half the speed of sound, or Mach 0.5 (383 mph).
So how does it all work? The Roadster includes a fan-suction system that pulls 2Gs to glue the car to the ground (twice the car's weight), Tesla VP of engineering Lars Moravy said. The downforce keeps the car to the ground for better handling, Musk added.
To conduct short bursts of flight and flips, the car uses tanks with 250 kilos of compressed air and 10 nozzles to propel itself with ultra-high-pressure air that serves as thrusters. Musk said the tanks can be recharged while the car is driving.
So when can you expect to get one? "We enter production in 2028," Musk said.
The event came two weeks after the initial Oct. 1 reveal date. Tesla said the reveal was pushed back due to weather conditions at the demo site, SpaceX's (SPCX) Rocket Development and Testing facility in Waco, Texas.
Tesla is asking prospective buyers to put down a $5,000 deposit, followed by a $45,000 wire transfer due within 10 days of the initial deposit.
Tesla has not said how much the new Roadster will cost, though it is expected to exceed $250,000.
The original Roadster, released in 2008 and on sale until 2012, was Tesla's first-ever EV and used a Lotus Elise chassis.
Tesla announced its successor way back in 2017, took in reservations with those high deposits, and originally said deliveries would begin in 2020. Those initial reservation holders have been waiting for quite a long time.
During his appearance on the All-In Summit in September, Musk brought up the Tesla Roadster. "It'll be a banger. Excitement guaranteed. Success is not guaranteed, but excitement is," he added, with host Jason Calacanis claiming he had seen a preview of the event, which would "blow people's minds."
Pras Subramanian is Lead Auto Reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on X and on Instagram.
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