October 19, 2026
Tesla Finally Reveals the New Roadster — and It Drove Upside Down
Nine years after the first Roadster concept rolled out of a Semi trailer, Tesla finally revealed the production-bound car on October 15, 2026 — and it chose a SpaceX rocket test site in McGregor, Texas, for the stage. The driverless car, carrying a mannequin in a SpaceX spacesuit, drove up an inverted ramp using underbody suction fans, then used SpaceX-developed cold-gas thrusters to jump clean over a row of parked Teslas and hover in the air.
Tesla announced three configurations — Performance, Thrust, and Rocket — claiming a 0.81-second 0–60 mph run on the event's own timer (not independently verified), over 300 miles of range, and a top speed above 230 mph. Musk called it "the best of the last of the human-driven cars" and says production begins in 2028. No final price was announced; reports put reservations at $50,000 for Performance and $250,000 for Thrust. The footage is real but the car was remote-controlled on a closed course — a genuine stunt, not yet a proven product.