Tesla stuck a Roadster upside down on a suction ramp, corkscrewed it through mid-air, and jumped it over a Cybercab, Cybertruck, Semi, Model Y, and Model 3. That was the Oct 15 demo at SpaceX’s McGregor, Texas test site: not a quiet product page update.
The official highlight (@Tesla, 86s, “Roadster / The last best driver’s car”) shows the stunt package in full. Multi-mode fans and ground sealing deliver enough suction to hold the car upside down even when stationary. Advanced cold-gas thrusters (a SpaceX tech), with Carbon Fiber Overwrapped Pressure Vessels packed into usable voids, handle flight stabilization and those mid-air flips.
Then the timer. @Tesla posted a live 0.81-second 0-60, thruster-assisted, on Tesla’s own clock. I expect the production figure to move; Musk said they anticipate better. Still wild for a car you might someday park.
Roadster
The last best driver's car pic.twitter.com/WURiDjgcPD
— Tesla (@Tesla) October 16, 2026
Three configs sit on the product page and in @Tesla’s specs post: Performance (road ready), Thrust (race ready, rear thrusters), and Rocket (air ready, perimeter thrusters). Rocket is not approved for public road use. Official claims for Rocket include range >300 miles and top speed >230 mph. Many sites have reported a $250,000 Thrust reservation figure; Tesla’s reserve page did not clearly confirm that line when we checked.
Musk said production in 2028. We covered the 2017 reveal when 2020 delivery was the pitch. A decade of missed targets later, this demo is the spectacle – programmed stunts on a prototype, not a showroom car shipping next quarter. Demo is not production. Rocket is not street-legal. The 0.81 is thruster help, not tire grip alone. Even with those hedges, it’s hard to shrug off watching a production-shaped EV fly corkscrews.
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