Technically speaking, Tesla CEO Elon Musk first mentioned a next-generation Roadster over a decade ago. When production of the OG Roadster ended, Musk said a new one could appear as early as 2014. Then it became 2019, and 2020, and well, you know the story from there. It’s now October 2026 – almost nine years to the day that the second-gen prototype made its surprise debut. And the Roadster is back.
And frankly, it’s nothing like what we were expecting.
The New Tesla Roadster Is Alive
Right off the bat, the new Roadster looks nothing like the car that was shown in 2019. It’s been fully redesigned, clearly to make it more like the Cybertruck. It’s all flat planes and angles. At least it seems to have a higher polygon count than the truck. Tesla’s head designer Franz von Holzhausen said they took inspiration from fighter aircraft and vintage supercars. Indeed, it looks a bit like a knock-off of old Lamborghinis.
It has two squinting triangular headlights, and a simple light bar at the back. The rear diffuser shows four openings that look like exhaust tips. These aren’t exhaust tips for an engine, though. They are nozzles for part of the air thruster system (more on that in a bit). The upper part of the car’s rear end pops out to create an adjustable rear wing, but that’s only part of the downforce package.
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The interior is par for the course for Teslas. It has a bare dashboard with a single center screen to handle everything, along with two evidently minuscule auxiliary displays. Ahead of the driver is a new version of Tesla’s yoke. It will be paired with a steer-by-wire system like on the Cybertruck, along with brake and throttle by wire. Only two seats are found in the cabin, and they’re basically on the floor, and look almost like a bench seat. The car itself seems quite long to have only two seats and no engine, and it’s likely because of all the other stuff fitted to give the Roadster its party tricks.
Does It Actually Fly?
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The most ridiculous claim Musk made about the Roadster was that it would have rocket thrusters and could fly. Well, it seems that it actually has thrusters. During the reveal, a Roadster was shown jumping over the entire Tesla lineup, while flipping itself over and landing. Whether or not you call that flying is debatable, but there’s no denying the car launched itself into the air like a Knight Rider turbo boost, did a barrel roll, and landed. Take that as you will.
This was not done with rocket thrusters though. This system uses compressed air thrusters. They’re fed by a pair of carbon fiber compressed air tanks storing up to 600 liters and 250 kilograms of air. That air can be sent through 10 different nozzles to jump, turn, and accelerate the car. These tanks can be refilled, and that’s presumably done with an on-board air compressor.
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These thrusters are also, apparently, used to help the Roadster achieve at least a 1-second 0-60 mph time. All four of the rear thruster nozzles were used. We’re very curious just how long those can be used. They’re likely mostly useful for initial acceleration, since you’ll only have so much air available at a time. So the claimed 230 mph top speed will probably have to be done all on electric power.
Besides the thrusters, Tesla took a page from the McMurtry playbook and made the Roadster a fan car. It has a large fan that can pull air from under the car to generate downforce, in addition to the pop-out rear wing. This was also demonstrated with a test vehicle driving up a ramp and up to an inverted point. A graphic on the livestream screen said it was generating more than 4,000 pounds of downforce. On the second drive, the car launched off, flipped over and landed with the thrusters.
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There’s A Catch With The Thrusters
Looking at the Roadster’s consumer-facing website, you’ll discover that not all Roadsters will actually get the thruster system. The thrusters for acceleration, which provide the wild, claimed zero to 60 mph time, are going to be a “limited release.” As for the thrusters that make the car jump and flip, those are listed as “invite only.”
Not only that, but that setup also eliminates the passenger accommodations, so you won’t be bringing any friends along. Plus, Tesla notes the aerial thruster package is not street legal, though that was probably self-evident.
What About The Actual Powertrain?
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At the reveal of Tesla’s wild electric sports car, Musk and company didn’t say a single word about the most important part: the electric powertrain. There was no mention of the motors, how much power and torque it produced, the battery size or range. Everything about the powertrain is a complete and total mystery beyond the thrusters.
For that matter, nothing was mentioned about the price, despite people in the crowd asking about it. However, Musk did say that the car would enter production in 2028. Maybe that will happen, but Tesla is known for being late with just about everything. Plus, as we’ve mentioned, it took nearly a decade to go from what was probably a nearly production-ready Roadster, to this completely different car.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
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We’ll admit, we weren’t expecting this company to put thrusters on a car. And it does appear this reveal was done with a couple of test cars equipped with thrusters. There’s a lot we don’t know about this new Roadster, though. For instance, did any of them actually have a production-ready powertrain installed, along with all the thrusters and fan bits? So, as amazing as some of the footage was, we have plenty of reservations.
Additionally, none of these stunts mean anything if the car doesn’t make it to production. The production date is still a few years away, and if this car actually does everything Tesla says, it’s probably going to be the most complicated and difficult car it has ever produced. Not to mention the most expensive to develop.
That brings us to the main issue: this is not the car Tesla needs when the Cybertruck is a sales flop, and the existing, volume-selling, money-making line is incredibly ancient. But hey, it can jump over other cars, so there’s that.
