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 Fri, October 16, 2026 at 4:22 AM EDT 3 min read TSLA -1.29% SPCX -2.33% Explore stocks 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 erected at SpaceX's facility in Waco, Texas. The Roadster 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.
Tesla stock rose more than 4% during premarket trading on Friday following the Roadster event.
Then the Roadster performed a similar stunt, jumping over several Teslas (including a semi), inverted itself, and then used its thrusters to land — an automaker first. "Well, it worked," CEO Elon Musk deadpanned.
Go deeper with AlphaSpace 362.44 -4.72 (-1.29%) At close: October 15 at 4:00:00 PM EDT 377.78 +15.34 (+4.23%) Pre-Market: 4:34:59 AM EDT The Roadster also went 0-60 mph in less than 1 second (0.81 seconds) during 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 when can you expect to get one? "We enter production in 2028," Musk said.
Performance: road-ready, seats 2, with multi-mode suction system for next-level performance on and off track;
Thrust: race-ready, seats 2, with multi-mode suction system and rear-mounted cold-gas thrusters that enable 0–60 in
