Tesla has finally unveiled its new Roadster, and it is even more sci-fi than anyone expected. Bulit as a collaboration with SpaceX, the Roadster has rocket thrusters and ground-hugging fans, which allow it to fly, flip, and reach 0-60mph in around 0.81 seconds. Which - I don’t know about you - but all sounds a bit unpleasant? 

Anyway, the Roadster was revealed out in Texas, where the Roadster did indeed fly in front of crowds of people. You can check out the official Tesla vid, here! 

The Tesla Roadster has been in development for many years now. Tesla has been telling us that it’s coming since 2017, so it’s been a long wait, and some had lost faith in it ever arriving at all. But sure enough, Musk has said that this new Roadster will go into production in 2028. 

It is still an electric car and is primarily powered by a battery pack, but it also uses ten SpaceX-developed thruster nozzles to help it flip and fly. These are powered by 250kg of high pressure air, which the car can replenish itself – so you won’t need to buy rocket fuel.  

Underneath, a fan system sucks the car onto the road, which gives it cornering forces of up to 2g according to Tesla. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?! 

However, the rocket-assisted features are optional and won’t be legal in all markets. There’s more bad news for the UK, too, as it seems the Roadster is only going to be produced in left-hand drive. Even so, Musk confirmed that the Roadster will go into production and the tech clearly works on the prototype car shown in Texas, which flew right over a Tesla Semi truck.

Underneath the Roadster is still primarily powered by a skateboard battery pack and dual electric motors, with power said to be around 1,500hp – all of which makes the Model S Plaid look pretty tame, doesn’t it? Even with the rockets. 

Inside, the Roadster has two seats and uses a yoke steering wheel, while the styling on the outside has hints of Cybertruck. As if the rocket thrusters and ability to fly wasn’t quirky enough, there also doesn’t appear to be side mirrors or a windscreen wiper. Reports suggest that there will be a removable windscreen wiper on production cars – and we’re hoping there’ll be some mirrors, too. Legislation aside, it is nice to be able to see what’s behind you even when you can do 0-60mph in under 1.0 second.

As for how much the Tesla Roadster will cost? Nothing has been confirmed yet, but currently Tesla US is taking deposits of $50,000, so we’d be surprised if the new, flying Tesla Roadster didn’t come in at $250,000 or more. 

Never mind the rockets - where's the windscreen wiper?!