Tesla unveils rocket-powered Roadster, production set for 2028
Tesla unveiled a redesigned Roadster with SpaceX-developed rocket thrusters at a Texas event, saying production will begin in 2028. The two-seater can accelerate from zero to 97 kmh in under a second and travel over 480 km per charge.
Tesla unveiled a redesigned Roadster powered with rocket-style thrusters on Thursday (Oct 15) and said it would start production in 2028, more than a decade after it first showed a next-generation version of its electric sports car. The white two-seater vehicle, developed in collaboration with CEO Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX, drove upside down on a ramp using a suction system, turned in the air and landed using built-in thrusters.
Later in the event it used the thrusters to jump over a truck and other vehicles, twisting in the air during the maneuver. The reveal gives Tesla a showpiece car after years of missed Roadster deadlines, but it comes as the company shifts its focus to self-driving technology and robotics, and days before third-quarter results that analysts say matter more to investors.
The Roadster can accelerate from zero to 97 kmh in less than one second and can hit a top speed of over 370 kmh, Tesla vehicle engineering chief Lars Moravy said. "Definitely much faster than that," Musk said. "I think you've got to crack halfway to the speed of sound." The Roadster can also travel over 480km on a single charge, less than half of what Musk promised in 2017.
Musk and other executives did not specify any target prices at the event, although Tesla nearly a decade ago quoted a base price of US$200,000 for the vehicle. Tesla's reservation page after the event showed a "Performance" version requiring a US$50,000 deposit and a "Thrust" version with "acceleration thrusters" requiring a US$250,000 deposit. A "Rocket" variant, which Tesla says is "invite only", is described as a single-seat model with a "full flight system".
Some watchers saw the collaboration as Musk drumming up interest in a merger of the two big companies he controls, an idea he has explored by discussing their overlap. "It was an engineering flex with no commercial value beyond embarrassing traditional car makers," Gene Munster, managing partner at Tesla investor Deepwater Asset Management, said on social media platform X. "The Roadster event is the latest example of why Elon can't wait to bring (Tesla) and (SpaceX) together," Munster said.
Musk has played down the car's importance to Tesla's finances, describing it in 2023 as a "small potato situation" that would not "move the needle in a major way financially". But the car still carries symbolic weight. "Tesla does not currently have a halo car, or high-performance luxury vehicle designed to showcase an automaker's best engineering and technology. The Roadster will be Tesla's new halo car," Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein said in a note last month.
The event at a SpaceX test site in McGregor, Texas, had all the elements of a classic Musk product reveal: dramatic music, smoke, mechanical hissing sounds and a launch countdown. "This is the culmination of incredible work by Tesla and SpaceX engineers working closely together to make something that you haven't seen in any movie," Musk, wearing a silver Western-style belt buckle emblazoned with the Tesla logo, told a cheering crowd of enthusiasts and investors.
The Roadster can accelerate from zero to 97 kmh in less than one second and can hit a top speed of over 370 kmh, Tesla vehicle engineering chief Lars Moravy said. "Definitely much faster than that," an excited Musk said. "I think you've got to crack halfway to the speed of sound." The Roadster can also travel over 480 km on a single charge, less than half of what Musk promised in 2017, when Tesla first revealed a prototype of the second-generation Roadster and said deliveries would begin in 2020.
Musk and other executives did not specify target prices at Thursday's event, although Tesla nearly a decade ago quoted a base price of US$200,000 for the vehicle. Tesla's reservation page after the event showed a "Performance" version requiring a US$50,000 deposit and a "Thrust" version with "acceleration thrusters" requiring a US$250,000 deposit. A "Rocket" variant, which Tesla says is "invite only", is described as a single-seat model with a "full flight system".
The reveal comes as Tesla shifts its focus to artificial intelligence-led self-driving technology and robotics. This year, Tesla stopped selling Model S and X vehicles to make space for production of its Optimus humanoid robots. It also launched Cybercab, a two-seater robotaxi that comes without manual controls such as a steering wheel, pedals and mirrors.
Tesla is set to report third-quarter results on Oct 21. Sales of Tesla's aging lineup of EVs have declined over the past two years, although high gas prices helped boost deliveries in the third quarter. "The margin and cash flow numbers will carry far more weight with investors than anything they saw at the reveal," said Josh Gilbert, lead analyst for Asia-Pacific at trading platform eToro.
