Independent guide. Not affiliated with Tesla, Inc.
Revealed October 15, 2026 · McGregor, Texas
Nine years after it was first shown, the Roadster came back at SpaceX’s McGregor test site and lifted off its wheels. Here is what Tesla showed, what its own page says, what was reported and what a reservation actually buys.
At a glance
The only performance figure on Tesla’s page.
Thrust and Rocket, optional upgrades on the Performance car.
Tesla says the fan suction holds the car upside down, even standing still.
The augment that flies. Not approved for public roads.
Reported, not on Tesla’s page
Coverage of the reveal carried more numbers than Tesla’s page does. They may be right; treat them as unconfirmed until Tesla publishes them.
| 0–60 mph, Performance | Under 1.6 s |
|---|---|
| 0–60 mph, Rocket | Under 0.59 s |
| Top speed | Over 230 mph (370 km/h) |
| Range | Over 300 mi (480 km) |
| Thruster air | About 600 litres |
| Production target | 2028, Giga Texas |
Checked Oct 16, 2026. Nothing here has been independently tested. Reported figures: Teslarati, Oct 2026; Drive Tesla Canada, Oct 15, 2026; TechCrunch, Oct 15, 2026.
The reveal
Suction fans held the car to the underside of a curved ramp as it drove up and over.
It left the ramp, rolled in the air on its thrusters and came down on its wheels.
Thrusters lifted it over a parked Cybercab, Cybertruck, Semi, Model Y and Model 3.
A standing start to 60 mph in about a second. Tesla’s timing; no one else has clocked it.
Configurations
Performance is the Roadster. Thrust and Rocket are optional upgrades on it, and seats drop as the thrusters multiply.
The car · Road ready
<1.6s 0–60 mphReported
The car itself. No thrusters: fans under the floor pull it onto the tarmac for grip no tire finds alone.
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Availability | By reservation |
| Reservation (US), reported | $50,000 |
HardwareActive aero and a multi-mode fan suction system for downforce, on the road or the track
Augment · Race ready
<1s 0–60 mphTesla’s page
An upgrade that adds rear thrusters, firing compressed air for a push off the line the tires can’t give.
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Availability | Limited release |
| Reservation (US), reported | $250,000 |
HardwareThe suction system plus cold-gas thrusters at the rear
Augment · Air ready
<0.59s 0–60 mphReported
The one that hopped. One seat and thrusters all round; Tesla says it can fly. Not approved for public roads, and not offered everywhere.
| Seats | 1 |
|---|---|
| Availability | Invite only |
| Reservation (US), reported | Invite only |
HardwareThe suction system plus cold-gas thrusters around the body, for lift, forward thrust and rotation
Tesla has not priced the Roadster. The $50,000 and $250,000 payments reported from the configurator hold a place in line; the price comes when you are invited to configure, and the Rocket can’t be reserved at all. Check Tesla’s current terms before you pay.
The SpaceX part
The Roadster doesn’t burn anything to leave the ground. It throws air, very fast, from tanks built the way rocket tanks are.
The rocket side of the story, from the first Roadster in space to the McGregor test stands, is on our sister site. Read it on Pad Zero
Fans under the floor seal it to the ground and pull out the air. Tesla says the suction holds the car upside down, even standing still.
Cold gas, not rocket fuel: the thrusters release compressed air through nozzles. Nothing burns.
The air sits in carbon-fibre pressure tanks of the kind SpaceX flies; Tesla’s engineering chief put it at about 600 litres (reported).
Electric actuators trim the thrust in fractions of a second to keep the car steady while it is off the ground.
Timeline
Unveiled at the Semi event: 0–60 in 1.9 s, 620 miles of range, from $200,000. Reservations opened at $50,000.
Musk says an option with small rocket thrusters is coming.
Delivery targets move from 2020 to 2021, 2023, 2024 and late 2025 as higher-volume cars come first.
Revealed
After a missed April date and a weather delay on October 1, the car is shown at McGregor and reservations reopen.
Target
Musk said on the stream that building starts at Giga Texas 12 to 18 months after the demo. The price comes when you are invited to configure.
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FAQ
Tesla has not announced a price. As of October 16, 2026, the configurator was reported to take a $50,000 reservation for the Performance and $250,000 with the Thrust augment in the US; the Rocket is invitation only. The final price comes when a reservation holder is invited to configure a car.
For a moment. Tesla’s page says the Rocket augment can fly, and at the October 15, 2026 reveal cold-gas thrusters lifted the car in short hops over a row of parked Teslas and rolled it in the air off a ramp. That is a hop, not sustained flight, and the Rocket is invitation only, not approved for public roads and not offered in every region.
The reveal was held at SpaceX’s rocket test site in McGregor, Texas, and Musk described the thruster system as joint work by Tesla and SpaceX engineers. The thrusters fire compressed air stored in carbon-fibre pressure tanks, the same kind of tank SpaceX uses on its rockets.
Musk said on the October 15, 2026 stream that production should start in 2028 at Giga Texas; Tesla’s Roadster page gives no date. The car was first promised for 2020, so treat 2028 as a target until cars are built.
Tesla’s Roadster page states one figure: 0–60 mph in under 1 second with the Thrust augment. Coverage of the reveal reported more that the page does not carry: under 1.6 seconds for the Performance, under 0.59 seconds for the Rocket, a top speed above 230 mph and more than 300 miles of range. None of these has been independently tested.
Check the terms on Tesla’s order page before you pay; they can change between launch waves. Either way, a reservation holds your place in line. It does not fix a price or a delivery date.
Sources, checked Oct 16, 2026: Tesla, Roadster page; Tesla, Roadster Event livestream (YouTube); TechCrunch, Oct 15, 2026; Teslarati, Oct 2026; Drive Tesla Canada, Oct 15, 2026. The illustration is GetTesla’s own.