Tesla Roadster will be able to fly, claims Elon Musk yet again
In a recent post on Twitter, Elon Musk claimed that the upcoming Tesla Roadster will - brace yourselves - be able to 'fly'. He did not share any further details to back up his claim, but given his notorious track record of making promises that never lead to fruition, it might be sensible to think that the claim of the Roadster 'flying' may just mean that it will be very, very fast, which won't be surprising at all. However, this is also not the first time Musk has claimed that the roadster will be able to 'fly', more on that later.
For those who need a refresher - and you'd be forgiven for needing one because it seems like an eternity since the car was first unveiled during Tesla's Semi and Roadster event seven years ago in 2017 - the Roadster is Tesla's highest-end vehicle which has been in Tesla's yet-to-be-released list since 2020 and is the spiritual successor to the original Roadster from 2008, which was based on the Lotus Elise platform and marked Tesla's foray into electric vehicles.
The new Tesla Roadster can fly
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 15, 2024
The car was originally claimed to have a 0-62 mph time of 1.9 seconds - a number that was ridiculous in 2017, but now, not so much, considering that Lucid, as well as Tesla themselves, have cars with sub-2-second 0-60 times. Further, supercars in the same league as the Roadster such as the Aspark Owl can do the same in under a staggering 1.7 seconds.
Later on, however, in 2021, Elon claimed that the Tesla Roadster would bring that number down to an insane 1.1 seconds, with the help of a SpaceX option package that "will include ~10 small rocket thrusters arranged seamlessly around car". This package was announced in 2018 for improved acceleration and braking, and it was also the first time Elon claimed the Roadster "may even be able to fly".
As per recent statements from Musk, the Tesla Roadster is expected to be officially unveiled later this year and will enter production next year. Although as stated before, given Tesla's history of delaying production, it remains to be seen how things play out in reality. The car was initially set to start from $200,000, but the price was later omitted from the official website, therefore, it can be deduced that a price hike is likely.
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