The flying Tesla is here. Yup, Tesla finally revealed the long-awaited second-generation Roadster last week, and the most talked-about version did something considerably stranger than simply accelerate quickly. It drove upside down, launched itself into the air, rotated in flight and landed using rocket-style thrusters developed with help from SpaceX. Elon Musk is calling it a flying car, but the engineering behind the stunt has an unexpected connection to automotive history.
Part of the Trick Is More Than 50 Years Old
Before the Roadster can fly, Tesla first has to make it stick to the ground. The car uses a multi-mode fan and sealing system that creates a low-pressure area underneath the chassis, effectively sucking the vehicle toward the pavement. Tesla says the system can generate downforce even when the car is stationary, which is how the prototype was able to climb a steep ramp and remain attached while upside down during its reveal demonstration.
The idea sounds futuristic, but racing engineers were experimenting with something remarkably similar more than half a century ago. Jim Hall’s Chaparral 2J appeared in Can-Am racing in 1970 with auxiliary fans that evacuated air from underneath the car while movable skirts helped seal the body against the pavement. Unlike conventional wings, the system could generate enormous downforce regardless of speed. The 2J was extraordinarily fast when it worked, but its fan system quickly became controversial and disappeared from top-level competition.
Tesla has taken that basic idea considerably further. According to engineering chief Lars Moravy, the Roadster uses four electrically driven 20-kilowatt fans and replaceable skirts to create enough suction for more than 2 g of cornering force. The modern McMurtry Spéirling has already demonstrated just how powerful fan-generated downforce can be, including hanging upside down while stationary. The Roadster adds something neither the Chaparral nor McMurtry has: rockets.
The Roadster Doesn’t Burn Rocket Fuel
Calling them rockets makes the system sound more explosive than it really is. Tesla uses cold-gas thrusters, a relatively simple type of rocket technology commonly used to control spacecraft. Instead of burning fuel, the system stores nitrogen under enormous pressure and releases it through carefully positioned nozzles. The escaping gas creates thrust, allowing the Roadster to accelerate harder, alter its position in the air and soften its descent.
The two-seat Thrust version carries a roughly 200-liter carbon-wrapped pressure vessel behind the occupants, reportedly pressurized to as much as 10,000 psi. Rear-facing thrusters provide more than 80 kilonewtons of additional thrust during acceleration, helping Tesla claim a 0-to-60-mph time below one second. The underlying electric drivetrain itself reportedly produces more than one megawatt, or roughly 1,340 horsepower, while Tesla is targeting a top speed above 230 mph and more than 300 miles of driving range.
The full Rocket Tesla Roadster goes considerably further. Another 400-liter pressure tank replaces the passenger seat, bringing total compressed-gas capacity to approximately 600 liters. Additional nozzles positioned around the car provide upward, forward and rotational control. That makes the Rocket a single-seater and allows it to perform the brief controlled flight shown during Tesla’s demonstration. It is less like an airplane than a car performing rocket-assisted jumps with the ability to control itself while airborne.
How Much Will the Flying Tesla Cost?
Tesla is actually planning three different versions. The Performance model is the most conventional, seating two people and using the active aerodynamics and suction system without acceleration thrusters. Tesla describes it as road-ready. The limited-production Thrust version remains a two-seater but adds rear cold-gas thrusters for sub-one-second acceleration. The Rocket adds the complete flight system, reduces seating to one and will be offered only by invitation. Tesla explicitly says the Rocket is not approved for public-road use.
The confusing part is price. Tesla has not announced final purchase prices. A Performance reservation currently requires $5,000 initially and another $45,000 within ten days, for a $50,000 total deposit. Reserving the Thrust requires $5,000 followed by another $245,000, making its deposit an extraordinary $250,000. Those numbers are reservation payments, not the final prices buyers will pay. Tesla’s reservation agreement states that final vehicle pricing has not yet been confirmed.
Production is currently planned for 2028, and Tesla says availability will depend on regional laws. That date should also be treated cautiously: when Tesla first revealed the second-generation Roadster in 2017, deliveries were supposed to begin in 2020. Whether customers eventually receive a flying Roadster remains an open question. What Tesla demonstrated last week, however, was real enough to make one thing clear. The company did not debut the first flying car in automotive history so much as combine two old engineering ideas, the fan car and the cold-gas rocket, in a way nobody had previously tried on an automobile.
