Is the flying Tesla Roadster real?
Is the flying Tesla Roadster real? The car is real and Tesla showed it on October 15, 2026: it drove up an upside-down ramp, flipped in the air and hopped over parked cars. The flying, though, has only been shown at Tesla’s own event and in Tesla’s own videos. Tesla says the new Roadster uses 10 cold-gas thrusters fed by compressed air; no independent test has confirmed that it can fly, and production is planned for 2028.
The short version
- Revealed on October 15, 2026, at SpaceX’s rocket test site in McGregor, Texas, near Waco.
- What it did: drove up an upside-down ramp, flipped and landed, and lifted itself over five parked Teslas, using fans underneath and cold-gas thrusters.
- Can it really fly? Tesla showed short hops and hovers at its own event. No independent test has confirmed it yet.
- Price: not announced. Reservations cost $50,000 for the Performance version and $250,000 for the Thrust version; the Rocket version is invite only.
- 0–60 mph: 0.81 seconds, Tesla’s own claim at the event, not independently timed.
- Range and top speed: Tesla claims more than 300 miles and above 230 mph.
- When: Tesla says production starts in 2028.
What Tesla showed
At an event outside Waco, Texas, on October 15, 2026, the second-generation Roadster used fans and thrusters to drive up an inverted ramp, spin around and land on the pavement below. It also lifted itself over a Cybercab, a Cybertruck, a Tesla Semi, a Model Y and a Model 3 while moving.
Tesla engineering vice president Lars Moravy said a fan suction system under the car can “pull up to 2 Gs” to hold it upside down, and that Tesla “borrowed some technology from SpaceX to do the rest.” Elon Musk described “altitude control thrusters and main thrusters in the rear.”
Watch Tesla’s own videos of the stunts
From Tesla’s YouTube channel (@tesla). Flyster is not affiliated with Tesla; these are Tesla’s videos, not ours. Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play.
The three stunts: the ramp, the kickflip and the 0–60
The Ramp: the Roadster drives into a curved wall that bends over into a ceiling, keeps going until it hangs upside down, held on by fans under the car that Tesla says pull up to 2 G, then lets go, turns upright in the air on short jets of compressed air and lands on the track.
The Kickflip: the car lifts off on four jets from the corners of its underbody, rolls over in the air around its long axis like a skateboard kickflip, and comes back down on its wheels in a cloud of white vapor. Electrek’s headline the next day called it the Roadster “that can kickflip”; Car and Driver wrote that it “does barrel rolls with the help of SpaceX thrusters”.
The 0–60: a straight-line launch Tesla timed at 0.81 seconds. Jalopnik and InsideEVs noted the time was Tesla’s own and was not independently measured.
How the thrusters are supposed to work
According to Moravy, the Roadster has 10 thrusters connected to 600 liters of compressed air, which lift and spin the car. The tank can be recharged. Tesla says the pressure vessels are carbon fiber overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs), the kind SpaceX uses. Because the thrusters vent compressed air, the plumes are cold gas, not fire.
Tesla lists three versions: Performance (“road ready,” 2 seats, fan suction, no thrusters), Thrust (“race ready,” 2 seats, rear cold-gas thrusters, $250,000 reservation) and Rocket (“air ready,” 1 seat, 10 thrusters, invite only). The Performance reservation is $50,000. Tesla claims about 300 miles of range and a top speed above 230 mph.
Can the Tesla Roadster actually fly?
Not in the way a plane or a drone does, as far as anyone outside Tesla can tell. What Tesla showed are short lifts, hops and rolls a few car lengths off the ground, powered by cold gas from a 600-liter compressed-air tank, then a landing. Tesla has not said how long the car can stay in the air or how often it can do it.
The version with the full set of ten thrusters, the Rocket, is invite-only, has one seat and, according to Wikipedia’s summary of the coverage, is meant for off-road use only. The Thrust version has thrusters only at the rear, for acceleration. The Performance version has the fan suction and no thrusters at all. So a Roadster you could drive on the road is not a flying car.
What is still unproven
The flying sequences were not independently tested. Autonocion's Olivia Richman argued the flight footage was pre-recorded and possibly CGI, noting that the 0–60 run happened off the main stage and the car only reached the stage afterwards. Marques Brownlee questioned the claims, calling them a possible “prank.”
Musk himself told the crowd: “We need an audience to prove that it's not AI.” Tesla has delayed the Roadster many times since its first reveal in 2017 and now says it will build the car in 2028.
Tesla Roadster price and when you can buy one
- Price: Tesla has not announced a purchase price for the 2026 Roadster.
- Reservations: $50,000 for the Performance version and $250,000 for the Thrust version, reopened on the day of the event; the Rocket version is invite only.
- When: Tesla says production starts in 2028.
- For comparison, in 2017 Tesla listed the first Roadster plan at $200,000, with the first 1,000 “Founders Series” cars at $250,000 paid in full.
From 2017 to 2026: how the Roadster got here
- November 16, 2017: Tesla unveils the second-generation Roadster at the end of its Semi truck event, claiming 0–60 mph in 1.9 seconds, about 620 miles of range and over 250 mph, for 2020.
- June 2018: Elon Musk describes a “SpaceX option package” with about ten cold-gas thrusters and air tanks in place of the back seats.
- 2020 to 2024: the start of production slips again and again: to 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and then 2025.
- November 2025: the demo is set for April 1, 2026, with production in 2027 or 2028.
- October 15, 2026: after a rain delay from October 1, Tesla shows the car near Waco, Texas, reopens reservations and says production starts in 2028.
Elon Musk and the “flying car”
The idea is Elon Musk’s, and he has talked about it for years. In 2018 he said on The Joe Rogan Experience that rocket thrusters “could make it fly”. In 2024 he said the Roadster would not have “big wings” because they would be unwieldy on the road, and in October 2025 he said a “flying” demo was coming. At the reveal he told the crowd: “We need an audience to prove that it’s not AI.”
So is that viral video real or AI?
Clips from Tesla’s own event and X account show what Tesla staged. Many other flying-Roadster clips on X and TikTok are AI-generated, made with tools like Grok Imagine or this site. The three clips below are AI renders we made, not Tesla footage. Signs of an AI clip: the car’s shape or wheels change between frames, the thrusters spit flames (the real car uses cold air), or logos and number plates melt.
AI renders made with Flyster, not Tesla footage
Want to make one yourself, clearly labeled as AI? Describe your own flying Roadster video in a sentence or two, or start from one of our ideas; your first one is free.
Questions people ask
Is the Tesla Roadster real?
Yes, it is a real car that Tesla showed to a live audience on October 15, 2026, and you can reserve one. Its flying has only been shown by Tesla itself so far.
Was the Tesla Roadster flying real or fake?
The clips on Tesla’s own channels come from Tesla’s event, where the car hopped and rolled in front of a crowd. Some writers think parts of the footage were pre-recorded or edited, and nobody outside Tesla has tested it. Many other flying-Roadster clips online are AI-generated.
What is the Tesla Roadster kickflip?
Tesla’s name for the stunt where the car lifts off on its jets, rolls over in the air and lands back on its wheels. Tesla’s video of it is on this page above.
How much is the 2026 Tesla Roadster?
Tesla has not announced a price. Reserving costs $50,000 for the Performance version and $250,000 for the Thrust version.
Flyster is an independent fan tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Tesla, Inc. Every video is an AI-generated concept render, not real footage.