Let’s just say it as we saw it then, and we can later reflect on whether it indeed happened, or if we ate a dodgy prawn at the pre-show buffet and succumbed to some sort of food poisoning fever dream.
What we saw is this: the Tesla Roadster can fly.
During its unveil event at a SpaceX facility outside Waco Texas, Tesla’s long awaited sequel to the car that kicked off the company back in 2008 performed a series of mind-melting stunts including accelerating from 0-60mph in under a second, driving upside down and (and there really is no other way to put this) performing a kickflip over the entire existing Tesla lineup, including the Semi. Gnarly.
How? Rockets. Yep, they really did it. The Roadster is equipped with 10 compressed gas thrusters – four at the rear and two at the front all facing outward, plus one on each corner facing downward. The quartet on its rump enable that record-breaking acceleration – the like of which, if attempted by sending power exclusively through the wheels, would result in four vaporised tyres.
The other six allow the Roadster not only to launch itself off the ground and control its descent, but also manipulate itself in mid-air. Ever played Rocket League? Just like that.
In true Tesla fashion, the event focused heavily on the spectacular while keeping details of the Roadster, which was first teased in 2017, to a frustrating minimum. We know deliveries will begin in 2028 and that the top speed is in the region of 230mph. We know the stunt car was unmanned and that it, erm, has two doors.
That’s about all that was divulged on the night, between the gravity-defying acrobatics. We’re certainly leaving this event with more questions than answers. Big important questions, like “how much does it cost” and “does it have a cupholder” and “what on Earth is the point of all that flying about where would you even be allowed to do it?”
And we’ll certainly have time to get to those – after that event, the Roadster is doubtless going to be at the centre of automotive discourse for months to come. For now, let us simply allow ourselves a moment to be suitably awestruck by what will surely go down in history as one of the most extraordinary automotive events in history.
Car launch? It most certainly did.
