🚀 Tesla revealed its second-generation Roadster, featuring an optional SpaceX Rocket Package with cold-gas thrusters
😮 The car can accelerate from 0–60 mph in under a second and hover briefly in the air for short hops
😲 During live demonstrations, it executed maneuvers like vertical driving, flipping, and hopping over other vehicles
💰 Pricing starts at $200,000, with the rocket package reaching $400,000, marking a major milestone in electric propulsion
After countless delays and unkept promises, Tesla finally unveiled its second-generation Roadster – and it’s fair to say the wait may have been worth it.
The Roadster was supposed to arrive back in 2017, but its release continued to slip as Tesla prioritized the Cybertruck and Model Y. But during a reveal event in Hawthorne, California, Elon Musk delivered on his most outlandish promise yet: a car that can actually lift off the ground.
The new Tesla Roadster starts at $200,000, but the real moment that stole all the headlines and has subsequently gone viral on social media is the SpaceX Rocket Package, a $400,000 configuration equipped with cold-gas thrusters powered by nitrogen.
During a live demo, the Roadster accelerated from 0-60mph in under a second. If that wasn’t impressive enough, it then hovered in the air, leaving the attending crowd stunned. Musk says the Roadster is “the first production car that can fly”, though Tesla later clarified that the airborne effect is limited to short hops, not sustained flight.
It doesn’t make the demos shown any less impressive, however. We saw the Tesla Roadster drive vertically up a road, and then flip back down using the thrusters. It also hopped over Tesla’s entire fleet of cars and even performed a standing flip.
Tesla had teased the Roadster’s return as the ultimate halo car – a showcase of what electric performance could become. The company says the thruster system will eventually be road‑legal in limited form, though early units are demonstration‑only.
Still, the achievement is undeniable. The Roadster’s lift‑off marks a turning point in automotive history and is the first moment we’ve seen electric propulsion successfully cross into aerospace territory. Whether it’s practical or not, Tesla has once again made a groundbreaking leap that could pave the way for the flying cars of the future.
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Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. He also runs a retro gaming YouTube channel called Game on, boy! Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.