Tesla showed its long-delayed next-gen Roadster outside Waco, Texas, with SpaceX thrusters that let the car hop, spin, and briefly fly. TechCrunch reports the stark white coupe used high-powered fans and thrusters to climb an inverted ramp, rotate in the air, and land, then leaped over a Cybercab, Cybertruck, Semi, Model Y, and Model 3 while still moving. Tesla also showed a 0-60 mph run in one second. Musk said production is finally set for 2028 and did not name a price.
Engineering VP Lars Moravy said the Roadster uses 10 nozzles connected to 600 liters of compressed air, with a tank that can be recharged. Tesla wrote on X that every usable void is packed with carbon-fiber overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs), the same pressure hardware SpaceX has used on rockets. The redesign is more angular, closer to a Lamborghini or the Lotus Esprit Bond car Musk owns and had on display; Tesla also said the look draws from the SR-71 and F-35.
Musk called it "the best of the last of the human-driven cars" and said Tesla may try Evel Knievel's Snake River Canyon jump. He has previously said safety is not the main goal with the Roadster, comparing it to buying a Ferrari. The car first appeared as a surprise at the 2017 Semi event; customers put down $50,000 deposits, or $250,000 for one of 1,000 Founders Series cars. Thrusters were floated in 2018, then the project sat through Model 3 production hell, the Model Y boom, and Cybertruck. After Thursday's show, YouTuber Marques Brownlee posted that a 4,000-plus-pound car doing flips, half the speed of sound, and shipping in 2028 sounds like a prank.
— via TechCrunch