All You Need To Know About The First Flying Car Tesla By Elon Musk

Elon Musk unveiled a redesigned of the first flying Roadster sports car featuring SpaceX-inspired rocket thrusters and compressed-air capabilities on October 15, 2026, at a test facility in McGregor, Texas.

The two-person sports car utilizes ultra-high-pressure air tanks and up to 10 thruster nozzles to perform brief aerial maneuvers, jumps, and flips rather than sustained flight.

Musk has previously teased that the new Roadster could feature a special package developed with SpaceX, potentially utilizing cold-gas thrusters to allow the vehicle to briefly hover, accelerate rapidly, or make short airborne leaps rather than function as a traditional aircraft.

According to Musk, Official production is scheduled to begin in 2028. The vehicle is not yet approved or guaranteed to be legal for public road or urban use in all jurisdictions, and it must eventually comply with federal motor vehicle safety standards. The Rocket version, the one built to fly, is invite only.

Musk expressed caution regarding mass-market flying cars, pointing out that they would be noisy, generate high wind force, and create anxiety if hubcaps or parts were to detach overhead.

he said:

“There is a challenge with flying cars in that they’ll be quite noisy. The wind force generated will be very high. Let’s just say that if something’s flying over your head, if there are a whole bunch of flying cars all over the place, that is not an anxiety-reducing situation…You’re thinking, ‘Did they service their hubcap? Or is it going to come off and guillotine me as they’re flying past?’”

Musk said on X, in response to a post that read, “We were promised flying cars and all we got is infinite superintelligence for everyone,” “You will get flying cars.

Anticipation for a hovering or flying demonstration has built around Tesla's long-delayed Roadster reveal events, though Musk has often tempered expectations by stating that "success is guaranteed, and excitement is".

Most recently, Musk said that anyone who wants a flying car should be able to get one. This was stated last October on the Joe Rogan Experience:

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“My friend Peter Thiel(co founder of PayPal)once reflected that the future was supposed to have flying cars, but we don’t have flying cars…

I think if Peter wants a flying car, we should be able to buy one.”

Elon Musk says owners of the new Tesla Roadster will be able to ask the car to perform the stunts Tesla showed at its unveiling, with the car doing the driving itself. Musk made the comment Saturday in a reply on X to tech blogger Robert Scoble, and he added a promise of a looping track at Tesla’s Texas headquarters.

Scoble had argued that the person in the Roadster is not really driving it. In his description, the driver operates a computer that tells another computer what to do, with steering, braking and acceleration all handled by wire. Musk answered, “True. You will be able to ask the Roadster to perform any of the tricks shown autonomously, as it will be sentient. Also, we will have a wild looping track (crazier even than Hot Wheels) at our Texas HQ where you can test out your Roadster.”

Inconclusion, Tesla has described some of the hardware that would make that possible. The Roadster uses steer by wire with a yoke, and its cold gas thrusters rely on electric actuators for small adjustments in flight. A fan system under the car creates suction, which Tesla says is strong enough to hold it upside down, a setup we covered in our look at the Roadster’s fan system and thrusters.