Tesla Roadster

(tesla.com)

210 points | by shekhar101 1 hour ago

81 comments

  • mullingitover 49 minutes ago
    So this is a completely obvious scam, right? I don't see anyone else calling this out and I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

    The thing that they showed off isn't something that they could legally sell, it would basically be a bomb. Also, the battery pack that would go in the car would be so large that they couldn't do the stunts they showed in their drone vehicle.

    Are we not calling an obvious stock pumping charade what it is out of some sense of politeness?

    • Nition 7 minutes ago
      I suppose at least we can say there is a working car that seems to be able to actually do the things as advertised, which is more than one could ever say for e.g. the Moller Skycar.
    • tiku 21 minutes ago
      Well I see no numbers saying how long it will fly. Perhaps it "hops", could easily see that happening with a burst of air below the car. (While standing still, accelerating the car upwards for 1 second with a burst of air)
    • leesec 10 minutes ago
      What are you talking about re: the battery pack?
    • sailfast 27 minutes ago
      If you wanted another pretext to merge Tesla and SpaceX this would be a good way.

      The existing tech fab plus this car maybe makes it harder to sue once the merger happens - but he will still be sued. “Look we’re making it rocket cars with AI of course we should be one company”

      • estearum 17 minutes ago
        A pretext that convinces the most credulous people on the planet. Clever guy this Musk.
    • adocomplete 21 minutes ago
      I mean is it ever actually being released? probably not.

      Was it a an amazing demo? yes.

    • robrain 40 minutes ago
      There are close to 105 shills in here, or several busy ones. They’re ignoring the previous Roadster rugpull, sorry, ten year free loan to Tesla, the missing F and S from FSD, the mystery of the Cybertruck; the hyperloop; sundry Nazi nonsense.

      Fool me once, I’ll drive your Model 3 for five years. Try to fool me this many times and I will never believe anything you say (except when you move your arms like that - I believe you mean that stuff)

    • speg 45 minutes ago
      That’s why it’s invite only.
    • qblv 21 minutes ago
      [dead]
    • aaron695 8 minutes ago
      [dead]
    • mlindner 19 minutes ago
      I think calling it a scam is a crazy thing to say. Tesla has never not (eventually) shipped a product they said they would .

      Also yes you can legally sell it. Whether you can legally operate it is a different question.

      • charlesabarnes 15 minutes ago
        The roadster hasn't shipped after 9 years. Including a referral program for preorders. I find it incredibly more insane to be trusting of this
      • billfor 12 minutes ago
        He actually says in the video that it might not be legal to operate but they could still sell you one. Anything is legal off-road on your own private property.
        • ygjb 7 minutes ago
          Yeah, once you leave the ground you aren't on your property anymore.
      • seabrookmx 15 minutes ago
        The second generation Roadster (reservations for which opened in 2017) literally is the product they didn't ship.

        Also Cybercab.

        How many Optimus robots are out in the wild?

        It is a scam, 100%.

      • alasdair_ 7 minutes ago
        He took preorders for the roadster nine years ago. It never shipped.
      • bakies 11 minutes ago
        this is a new roadster, the previous roadster hasnt sold a unit
    • tdhz77 20 minutes ago
      I was #12 Tesla Roadster owner. I spoke across the country with my father. We drove from coast to coast in 2014 at a time when there was a lot of doubt. — I supported elons “mission” and now we know it’s a neo Nazi front of a company. This company and Elon has been a scam since he stole JB Straubel. How do I know? JB Straubel is my father.
      • jacquesm 4 minutes ago
        I can't make soup of this. Your dad is a billionaire and you're left to fend for yourself? That's got to be some story.
    • espeed 25 minutes ago
      When I searched for Tesla on YouTube at the start of the event, the first live event returned was this, an AI generated Tesla presentation with Elon telling users to send bitcoin and he'll send you back double as a promotional event like an X Money thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5EDp2rEbFA. The QR code went to this site: https://roadster.tv. I reported it to YouTube.
    • billfor 18 minutes ago
      Well we could examine the history here, for instance when he bought Twitter that it would immediately collapse (now its more popular than ever and Bluesky is the one that's falling apart) and when the Cybertruck was announced there were lots of people saying it could never be made: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21602437
    • phyzix5761 42 minutes ago
      China has had flying cars since 2023 so I don't see how this is a scam. The flying mechanism is unique for the Roadster so that's still to be seen how it would perform out in public.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZpQZSBTi7k

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2c-B3y7yGQ

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU5viDOjWLw

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSjXf7IUSDw

      • TheDong 28 minutes ago
        I mean, Tesla demoed, promised, and took reservation money for a roadster reboot that _also_ didn't contain any technology China didn't have in 2017, and at this point they still haven't delivered on that and it feels safe to call it a scam.

        Just because the technology is technically feasible doesn't mean that a specific company is not scamming you when they promise it.

        And Tesla already has enough of a history of fake promises (your tesla will be a self-driving robotaxi earning money while you sleep within a few years, FSD will take you across the country while you sleep by next year, humanoid robots, the new roadster is taking reservations now and will deliver soon, regulation is the only thing holding up FSD, etc etc).

        • phyzix5761 16 minutes ago
          To be fair the main reason why FSD hasn't been a wide spread thing is mostly due to local regulations. The technology exists and performs fairly well. FSD is allowed in pretty much all the same cities Waymo is allowed to operate so we can see from this that its a regulatory issue not a technological one.
      • bakies 8 minutes ago
        none of these are videos of flying cars
      • crummy 38 minutes ago
        wow i did not realise this. are there videos of these flying cars? can you buy them?
        • solyin 1 minute ago
          There's also a real life speeder bike from Star Wars, if you've got an extra million dollars sitting around.

          https://volonaut.com/

        • Nition 35 minutes ago
          The only one I can think that they might mean is the BYD Yangwang U9. It can jump a tiny bit.
        • motionlessveloc 29 minutes ago
          XPeng has been spruiking flying cars (really just giant quadcopters) for a while now, but while they exist and can fly, they're more of a publicity stunt. For example, while you can buy the X2 in Australia, you can't legally fly it.

          https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/australias-first-flyin...

        • phyzix5761 35 minutes ago
          Yep, just google: china flying cars. They're basically human sized drones/quadcopters.
      • m4ck_ 28 minutes ago
        I mean it looks cool but considering they haven't produced any of the other Roadster models in any meaningful quantity, and have repeatedly come up short on much more reasonable product offerings... Idk I have just the slightest doubt about a flying electric car hitting the market any time soon. Hasn't it been nearly a decade since the promise of a software update that would turn your Tesla into a self-driving taxi that can earn money while you're not using it?
  • synapsomorphy 56 minutes ago
    Ok, so it actually flies. That was unexpected.

    It's an incredible engineering achievement to build in massive fans and rocket engines into a high performance car. It's truly wild.

    It's being sold in two modes. One with cold gas (no combustion) seemingly just for extra forwards acceleration (no flying) and one with real combustion rocket engines, the latter was in the video and is "invite only".

    Wild that they devoted so much effort to an economically completely infeasible model. I wonder if the combustion version will even break 3 figures sales.

    Even just the cold gas variant seems like a nightmare for production, there's a high pressure COPV in that thing and that's gonna make crashes much more.. exciting, and Tesla doesn't have a great record anyways. But very few of these are ever getting sold anyways.

    • delichon 52 minutes ago
      > kinda wild they devoted this much effort to an economically completely infeasible model.

      Watch Ford v Ferrari for an idea of what auto companies are willing to invest for bragging rights.

      • estearum 15 minutes ago
        Ford and Ferrari aren’t on the brink of extinction
    • alasdair_ 2 minutes ago
      It doesn’t actually fly. Elon claims it will, but it won’t.

      Elon lies constantly.

      Any “demo” they produce, isn’t a real demo - it’s just fake.

    • jcheng 14 minutes ago
      Reading https://www.tesla.com/roadster, it seems like both variants only use cold gas thrusters, and the difference is that the "normal" (lol) one only has them pointed rearwards while the flying one has them pointed in all different directions as well.
    • casualscience 49 minutes ago
      It's cool as fuck but calling it flying is misleading. It jumps and can maneuver in space.
      • pg_bot 25 minutes ago
        "That wasn't flying. That was falling with style!"
    • js2 15 minutes ago
      > and one with real combustion rocket engines

      The site states it's cold-gas thrusters for both models: "Features a multi-mode suction system paired with cold-gas thrusters positioned around the perimeter of the vehicle that support forward and upward acceleration as well as lateral rotational movement."

    • billfor 15 minutes ago
      I thought somewhere in the video they said that it is just regular compressed air that is held in a tank, and that the car itself has a compressor and regenerates the compressed air over time.
    • hatthew 43 minutes ago
      It's very economically feasible if it pumps up the stock price
    • pastel8739 50 minutes ago
      to be fair we don’t actually know yet that this is a high performance car. We only saw it drive a few mph without rocket assistance
      • synapsomorphy 40 minutes ago
        Good point. It can't have much battery. Also wonder if the propellant/s are cryogenic. Monopropellant? You could tell from analyzing the plume.
    • gizajob 47 minutes ago
      I don’t want to jinx this today, but one of these is so going flying into someone’s house and land on their bed. Likely within days of it being released into the wild.
  • afavour 1 hour ago
    Looks like a sensible turning down of the Cybertruck aesthetic into something that looks good.

    That said, the production issues with the Cybertruck mean you’d be a fool to reserve one of these. Let others do it, find out how late it arrives, what glued panels fall off at speed and wait for the inevitable recalls. Tesla has torched their engineering reputation lately and this page is making a lot of promises about revolutionary things.

    • gopalv 54 minutes ago
      > what glued panels fall off

      The Lotus Elise was famously glued together instead of welds. The original Roadster also had the same innards.

      This is clearly not a car for someone who wants to go from A to B, but a lot of Tesla components gets binned together for the next iteration of the cheaper car because they always order too many of them.

      Oddly enough this makes their cheaper cars more reliable than the expensive ones (think about the Audis right when Ferdinand Piech took over Lamborgini).

      • majormajor 34 minutes ago
        > Oddly enough this makes their cheaper cars more reliable than the expensive ones

        That's pretty standard. An M3 has long pushed the tolerances of things in the engine more than a base-model 3 series. An S-class has more whiz-bang-hope-it-still-works-in-ten-years stuff than a C-class. A Lexus has more going on than a boring base Corolla.

    • nradov 49 minutes ago
      This type of vehicle isn't intended to drive at speed, at least not very far. It's targeted at collectors who will park it in a garage with their other supercars. It's a status symbol with wheels, not transportation or even a toy for track days. (And I don't mean that as a criticism, there's nothing wrong with wealthy people buying collectibles.)
      • luqtas 38 minutes ago
        > (And I don't mean that as a criticism, there's nothing wrong with wealthy people buying collectibles.)

        there's a whole lot of systemic issues with wealthy people buying low-poly cars to their collection.

    • jbm 32 minutes ago
      Everyone is talking about the Cybertruck, but both the 3 and the Y have plenty of engineering problems as well. I believe both cars are listed as below-average reliability by CR.

      Worse, there are no 3rd parties producing cheaper suspension parts, so your old Model 3 is going to have to spend 2000-3000$ on an yearly basis until you get sick of fixing the suspension. Tesla claims to have fixed the issue on newer models (and apparently they did a lot of work on the suspension), but they don't really take responsibility for their old cars so I doubt they will take responsibility when their design causes problems for you.

      I do enjoy driving my 2019 SR+ Model 3, but I hate when people do the whole "Well on first principles, EVs have less parts so they are more reliable..." thing. My Toyota Sienna has been far more reliable than the Model 3, despite having many, many more parts.

      • motionlessveloc 21 minutes ago
        Early Model 3/Ys built in the US were unreliable. The ones built in Shanghai, though, are excellent. Berlin is somewhere in the middle.

        FWIW, I'm into my fourth year of (Chinese-built) Model 3 ownership and it's been rock solid, the only services so far were to replace the air filter and wipers.

    • doginasuit 47 minutes ago
      That was my first thought, Cybertruck: The Car. But then it drove up a wall and stopped on the ceiling and flew down. That was awesome. I'm sure it will be a nightmare to own.
    • combobyte 1 hour ago
      > glued panels fall off at speed

      Given some of the tauted 'features' of this thing, I'd be more concerned about it blowing up in my driveway.

    • rgbrenner 50 minutes ago
      at least the CyberTruck shipped.

      9 years since the announcement of Roadster v2, people who paid 50k deposits are still waiting.

      Time to up the promises, and ask for more $50k deposits for v3!

    • NewsaHackO 59 minutes ago
      A lot of haters of Tesla on HN I see, I guess you all are trying everything to malalign Tesla and see what sticks.
      • estearum 56 minutes ago
        Tesla's most recent project was the largest flop in automotive history lol.
        • mrheosuper 50 minutes ago
          You mean Cybertruck? Hate it or not, there are bigger flops in automotive history. The history is long and broad.
          • pseudosavant 28 minutes ago
            Not many. Elon said their plan was to produce 500k per year and they did less than 5% (15k) of that over the last year. Their installed production capacity is 125k.

            The Ford Edsel is widely regarded as one of the greatest car flops of all time and it sold 60k cars per year for their 2-year production run.

            The CyberTruck is a massively bigger flop than that.

          • estearum 18 minutes ago
            Name a few that you think are bigger and by what metric you think so.

            I doubt any program has lost the $1 to $1.5 billion that Cybertruck is reasonably estimated to have lost. And that’s including their quarter where SpaceX bought like 20% of their production for definitely-totally-legitimate-reasons.

          • bdangubic 28 minutes ago
            definitely not biggest flop but it has by far the biggest hype-to-flop ratio.
      • henrikschroder 52 minutes ago
        The latest car Tesla released, the cybertruck, was one of the biggest automotive flops ever, production is essentially halted, demand is non-existant.

        Tesla announced and started taking reservations for their roadster TEN YEARS AGO. People who made reservations and paid the $50k-$250k cost are STILL WAITING.

        And now Tesla has announced yet another vapourware car, with a controversial design, taking reservation money again.

        If you fall for this, you are a fool.

      • LastTrain 57 minutes ago
        I don’t hate Tesla, I do think their leader is a Nazi Saluting prick though. You like him?
        • mjmsmith 51 minutes ago
          I don't hate Tesla either. I'm actually a bit disappointed knowing that I will never consider buying one for the rest of my life.
  • aresant 1 hour ago
    This was 100% precursor to the absorption of Tesla into SpaceX and I’m here for it

    https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/tesla-spac...

    • hiitsmyaccount 55 minutes ago
      Yes, let's combine Twitter, an AI company, and a space company with a solar company, car company, battery company, and robotics company, so that we can have one huge valuation that can't be possibly delivered upon and losses will be absorbed for a short period. What could go wrong?
      • gizajob 49 minutes ago
        Japanese companies manage fine doing this kind of thing.
        • Gigachad 22 minutes ago
          Do they have a gigantic tumor like twitter and Space AI slapped on the side? If all of the products were profitable it would work.
          • gizajob 10 minutes ago
            I don’t have time to look up whatever Masayoshi Son has wasted a few billion dollars on today, but yes kinda.
        • AlotOfReading 22 minutes ago
          What about Tesla's management style would you call Japanese?
          • gizajob 14 minutes ago
            I’m highlighting that companies can and do have all kinds of departments doing seemingly unrelated things if they want to.
      • killbot5000 44 minutes ago
        Tesla-Yutani
      • burnerRhodov3 38 minutes ago
        but... All elon companies. More valuable bundled, because all the elon lovers don't have to pick where they throw their tithes. I'd love it even more if they throw in a tunnel construction and a human brain implant company in the mix while they are at it.
      • fnordpiglet 54 minutes ago
        It would almost be as big a monstrosity as Amazon
  • delichon 1 hour ago
    The livestream has the stunts: https://x.com/Tesla/status/2110788059008819215
    • accountrequired 54 minutes ago
      Cool!!! Whoever thinks this is *not cool* please, leave your cool card at the door
    • silisili 37 minutes ago
      This is something straight out of Rocket League. Completely impractical, but awesome at the same time.
    • charlesfries 1 hour ago
      What is the practical use case of this? https://x.com/JehovaTrades/status/2110906028971938252
      • iugtmkbdfil834 1 hour ago
        You were never stuck in traffic I take it:D Insurance will be a bitch, but people will move out of your way.
      • cjbgkagh 1 hour ago
        Neat, but that car has to be practically empty. It appears to have very low inertia.

        By rough estimate, using hydroxide jet packs as a reference, I’d say they got it down to about 400kg.

      • mrheosuper 48 minutes ago
        WTF, that the most cartoonist thing i've seen today. Does it really have to do the flip ?
      • ls612 44 minutes ago
        To show off? Like whatever you think of it the market for supercars is rich men who want to show off so Tesla is playing in that market.
      • morkalork 1 hour ago
        To play Spy Hunter irl?
      • td521534f12 1 hour ago
        To brag to other, lesser billionaires.
      • phoghed 49 minutes ago
        Uhh to be sick af?
    • B1FF_PSUVM 1 hour ago
      Some smart cookies put up a scam video topping Google searches for the announcement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5lmBq00utE

      AI Elon pressure selling "act decisively, double your money" by transferring crypto to some wallet and getting 2x back - yeah, right

      (PS Google shut it down)

  • FabHK 41 minutes ago
    There are three configurations:

    - Performance: road ready, seats two, active aero and a “multi-mode suction system.” 0-60 mph in under 1.6 seconds. Available by reservation.

    - Thrust: race ready, seats two, adds rear-mounted cold-gas thrusters. 0-60 mph in under 0.9 seconds. Limited release.

    - Rocket: seats one, adds thrusters around the perimeter of the car for upward and rotational movement. 0-60 mph in under 0.59 seconds and a top speed of over 230 mph. Invite only.

    Per Electrek: https://electrek.co/2026/10/15/tesla-unveils-cyberfied-new-r...

    • david927 25 minutes ago
      This is incredible engineering and deserves nothing but applause.
  • okdood64 1 hour ago
    Okay that's one of the coolest things I've seen in a while since the rockets landing.

    Car looks half decent too.

    • esperent 1 hour ago
      > Car looks half decent too

      To me it looks like a mashup of a Ferrari and a Cybertruck. That's not a good thing.

      • eclipticplane 40 minutes ago
        Same; there are stylish super cars... this again looks like a 5 year old kid drawing like the Cybertruck does.
    • doublerabbit 1 hour ago
      Not really. Looks like junk to me.
      • okdood64 1 hour ago
        I like the fun retro look, similar to the N Vision 74 [1]. This actually has some taste unlike the Cybertruck.

        1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai_N_Vision_74

        • jchw 1 hour ago
          I really wonder why I think the N Vision 74 looks so much better; it just has more personality somehow. I do agree though that the new Roadster looks a lot less bad than the Cybertruck.
        • doublerabbit 1 hour ago
          I'd agree with you and merit the design has more thought as an upgrade to the look of the cybertruck. However it still looks like something to be left in a scrap heap of a destruction derby within Tron.

          Dislike the design, look and edge of it. Feels cold. Each to their own.

    • johnnyApplePRNG 1 hour ago
      What price did you buy TSLA at?
      • gexla 1 hour ago
        I guess you didn't see the video of a car sitting on a ramp upside down, doing flips in the air, jumping over a semi and other cars...

        Odd world we live in when we don't see that as being cool. But, we're seemingly headed there. At some point, it's going to be hard to imagine something that could surprise me.

        • iugtmkbdfil834 58 minutes ago
          << I guess you didn't see the video of a car sitting on a ramp upside down, doing flips in the air, jumping over a semi and other cars...

          It is weird. I am not fan of Musk, but one has to have some crazy blinders on not to give him credit here.

          << At some point, it's going to be hard to imagine something that could surprise me.

          It is hard to believe your eyes -- I assumed it was magnetic or something initially.

          • dozerly 55 minutes ago
            Other demos, like the humanoid robot one, were entirely fake so wouldn’t be surprised.
            • dawnerd 22 minutes ago
              Also wouldn't be that crazy for them to put together a demo that'll never actually be a production vehicle. Dunno why anyone thinks this will ever ship like this. One thing to market a car, another to just show off features that just wont be real.
          • doublerabbit 48 minutes ago
            >> It is weird. I am not fan of Musk, but one has to have some crazy blinders on not to give him credit here.

            For what? For an unpractical vehicle that now has the ability to launch and crush another car? If said to be true. As if driving wasn't already dangerous and stupid enough.

            If he would show maturity for a change rather than his childhood antics then I would give him credit.

            • iugtmkbdfil834 35 minutes ago
              << If he would show some and maturity for a change rather than his childhood antics then I would give him credit.

              Man only manages to coordinate an engineering feat and your response is "why can he not offer something responsible like a lightly breaded toast"?

              Beyond the obvious part where I say that his antics are part of the product demonstration ( roadster is space moment being another notable moment ), is your objection truly that he didn't come to the podium with a clipboard and say:

              " Begin communication - it jumps - it go up upside down - it can go 0-60 in 1 sec End of communication."

              Fuck man. Where has your wonder gone?

              • joquarky 2 minutes ago
                Hard to have wonder about billionaire toys when I have to choose between medicine and food.
        • throwayay58373 59 minutes ago
          The HN crowd isn't what it used to be. Technology doesn't excite most people here anywhere.
          • raddan 21 minutes ago
            I know you’re using a throwaway account but in case you come back to read this: we’re all tired of being scammed. Virtually every hot tech company now routinely overpromises and underdelivers. Some products are scams; some products kind of work but at great personal risk to oneself and others. The future we are excited about is one where technology SOLVES ACTUAL PROBLEMS.
          • justinhj 27 minutes ago
            Politics comes first. If you are on the naughty list you will be bullied until you submit to the allowed thoughts.
          • chrisstanchak 30 minutes ago
            Yea a bunch of lamers. Bring back the hackers.
          • bigyabai 31 minutes ago
            > Technology

            Panem et circenses

          • thefourthchime 48 minutes ago
            [dead]
      • okdood64 1 hour ago
        Nah, this ain't it chief. I own exactly 0 directly. Too volatile and don't really care for Teslas at all. I love my gas cars.
  • Keyframe 31 minutes ago
    Production and other realities aside, I've seen some cool shit in my life and this demo is high up there! Did you guys catch 0.5 mach target top speed? That's 600kmh. It'd better do that flying because there probably aren't any rubber tyres that could endure that before exploding within seconds.
  • pbohun 54 minutes ago
    Okay, that's some of the most impressive feats I've ever seen. Congratulations to the engineers!
  • george_max 3 minutes ago
    This is an incredible feat of engineering. I have my doubts of the 2028 mass production timeline, but I am quite amazed.
  • glimshe 1 hour ago
    I could have used that when leaving Costco last Saturday.
  • tekacs 47 minutes ago
    The fact that the one that can fly is invite-only makes me wonder if there would be ITAR issues with the guidance mechanisms that they have to put into it.

    I'm not saying that there aren't lower hanging fruit reasons why they wouldn't make more of those, but you can see how the guidance necessary to make this move the way that it does could be dual use.

    • viraptor 10 minutes ago
      I suspect it's more because some rando could actually try to use it in public space. The invite only means they could send it to people who will give them good PR, are known not to be idiots, and can be invited to sign many responsibility disclaimers.
  • ceroxylon 12 minutes ago
    The rocket flip part looks like CGI, in my opinion. I get the same feeling as when I see CGI on some random B movie. Would be happy to be proven wrong if there was a crowd of people filming from their angle though.

    Also "Beyond The Limits of Physics"... would any actual engineers at Tesla/SpaceX agree with that marketing statement?

  • zbrozek 1 hour ago
    Can this be scaled down to a Roomba? Then it would both be more useful at picking stuff up off the floor, and able to recover from falling down the stairs.
  • still-learning 1 hour ago
    Genuinely impressed, incredible demo
  • nhinck2 58 minutes ago
    Good on Elon for putting out a car that embodies his best trait, sucking as hard as possible.
    • gizajob 58 minutes ago
      It also blows.
  • vladdoster 1 hour ago
    aka a $245,000 loan to tesla with no interest for 10 years
    • pseudosavant 41 minutes ago
      They first started taking deposits on the Roadster 9 years ago in 2017 with a 2020 production date. It’ll be shocking if they ever sell this car they showed today. If they do, it’ll be many years late, not fly, and cost twice what they are saying. Just like the CyberTruck.
    • treesknees 59 minutes ago
      The one that doesn’t fly is only a $45,000 loan
  • gtirloni 1 hour ago
    > It challenges the limits of design, engineering and physics to deliver an expertly crafted extra-terrestrial vehicle.

    closed tab. thanks.

  • dmix 26 minutes ago
    The suction and air recovery part might be forward thinking for how we design roads or tunnels. They might not all need to be flat. Especially when autonomous.
    • clintonb 12 minutes ago
      So the CyberCab will drive on the ceiling of the Boring Company’s tunnel?
  • fivedogcity 30 minutes ago
    The real feat would be to actually ship the gas-equipped models. The on-stage demonstration was certainly quite impressive but handling real world terrain is a whole different story. Not to mention compensating for drivers who will skew lead-footed without any experience of handling a third dimension.

    I am skeptical that this feature will prove to be much more than a publicity stunt, especially since the availability of these models will be so limited.

  • vagab0nd 41 minutes ago
    I never thought I'd live to see K.I.T.T
  • salamandars 33 minutes ago
    The video goes against my intuition for how much performance you can get out of cold gas thrusters. I wonder if someone could do some back of the envelope maths on how much thrust and impulse you can get from a setup like this?

    My primary scepticism is how much the prototype weighs, and whether it can still jump with 2 passengers + 1000kg of batteries inside.

    • tristanj 21 minutes ago
      Based on the statement that the suction fan generates 2g of downforce, and the telemetry showing the fan operating at 4,700 kg @ ~95% load, the vehicle weighs approximately 2,300 to 2,500 kg.
  • jesse_faden 55 minutes ago
    I've been recently playing a game called Approximately Up. You start from simple building blocks, thrusters and can use the in game logic system to build complex controls. One of the things I came about to learn was something to make a hover system for my ship was a simple PID controller. The side and bottom firing thrusters just remind me of my ship in the game. While the game is oversimplified and a bit arcadey, does anyone know what actually goes into this in the real life and is the huge feat the improvement on the weight of the whole car?
  • iugtmkbdfil834 1 hour ago
    Been a while since I was impressed with a tech presentation. I was waiting for a clear case of AI assisted movement ( though I personally expected to see it for the first time in a military chopper ).

    **

    Side note, as I was looking for the right stream, youtube gave me a link to a different deep fake 'Musk' stream where he extolled virtues of sending him money ( https://roadster-tesla.com/#participate ). Everything has changed man. I am sure the scammer actually got some people.

  • 4d4m 20 minutes ago
    I dig the commitment to the low poly look! Really cool and fits in with the new design direction.
  • alexpadula 32 minutes ago
    Flying cars before GTA6.
  • luckydata 3 minutes ago
    At this point this is some sort of IQ test right?
  • reenorap 26 minutes ago
    So it can fly?

    Just like we will have 1 million robotaxis on the streets by 2021?

    EDIT: wow it really can fly, that is crazy

  • LeoPanthera 18 minutes ago
    If this is real, it's going to kill people.
  • dyauspitr 6 minutes ago
    Is this a gas that needs to be refilled with the cold thrust one?
  • sawjet 29 minutes ago
    You can hate the man, but you must respect him. Flying cars have truly arrived.
    • dawnerd 15 minutes ago
      No they haven't? It can hop at best, in a demo unit, designed specifically for that demo.
  • Rebelgecko 1 hour ago
    Is the copy grok's writing style? It feels inhuman but still more readable than Opus
  • tiku 23 minutes ago
    So they are going to send one of to space again?
  • gonzalohm 1 hour ago
    What's up with wheels not being round anymore? How is that supposed to work? I understand it for Formula 1, but for real world driving, it doesn't make any sense
  • dataking 1 hour ago
    Rocket-inspired design hints at desire to merge Tesla and SpaceX?
  • djeastm 43 minutes ago
    I must be old. I just keep thinking about what kind of whiplash I'd get with those flips
  • dmix 1 hour ago
  • sailfast 31 minutes ago
    Nice Testarossa!
  • phyzix5761 1 hour ago
    It can fly? Wow! What a time to be alive!
  • Aeolun 1 hour ago
    At least this one doesn't look horrible. I can't see myself buying it, but I don't feel like I want to gag either.
  • nilsbunger 35 minutes ago
    Are they serious about the rocket version??
  • est 37 minutes ago
    • Geee 21 minutes ago
      No, they're cold gas thrusters. The car has an air compressor, a composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV) and 10 nozzles.
  • portmanteur 51 minutes ago
    As a father of a growing family, I am still waiting for the RoBovan.
  • phyzix5761 38 minutes ago
    The engineering team did an amazing job!
  • kwisatzh 57 minutes ago
    A car that jumps - am I missing something? The speed numbers are cool.
  • seabrookmx 17 minutes ago
    Yay the (almost) 10th anniversary of the 2nd generation Roadster reservations, and now it's got fucking rockets apparently?

    How delusional are people? The emperor is not wearing clothes y'all.

  • latentsea 32 minutes ago
    I'd buy one for the police chases. Hell yes. Not that I'm in the billionaire invite-only inner circle, and not that they'll ever ship it.
  • ambicapter 58 minutes ago
    Is this a broken link for anyone else?
  • sippingabonedry 34 minutes ago
    I've never seen a site allegedly about technology, hate technology so much.

    Good luck with the food delivery apps fellas.

    • david927 21 minutes ago
      The technology is jaw-dropping, the engineering staggering, and this thread -- it's just embarrassing. I've been on HN since the beginning and I don't even recognize it anymore.
  • zhangchioulin 1 hour ago
    Very COOL, I like this Roadster retro style
  • chirau 1 hour ago
    So Elon's entities are really using SI instead of AI? Interesting. Or was he the one who actually suggested the name change to POTUS?
  • macinjosh 26 minutes ago
    Sorry about the eggs honey, I had to use the thrusters to get past this cyclist.
  • loveTech 53 minutes ago
    Unavailable to visit?
  • darksim905 33 minutes ago
    I absolutely detest the leadership and what he is actively doing to this country... but holy fucking shit. I want to reserve one, but when you're broke as a joke... ooph.
  • tdhz77 25 minutes ago
    Ai slop on a billion dollar company should tell you everything you know about how we are doomed by this ai experiment
  • moralestapia 1 hour ago
    Wow, this might be the most phenomenal tech demo I've ever watched.

    This is just amazing, congrats to everyone who worked on this.

    From an engineering pov, it must be the highlight of someone's life and a massive amount of fun to be able to work on a product like this.

  • Kuyawa 19 minutes ago
    Technology: spectacular, design: ugly as fuck
  • hristov 42 minutes ago
    He has finally gone bonkers. Drugs are bad, mmmmkay.

    Imagine the engineer hours wasted on this gimmick, while he is losing market share everywhere.

  • t1234s 1 hour ago
    I cant wait to see what type of batshit crazy motorsport series they invent for these.
  • NDlurker 1 hour ago
    "Tony Hawk would be called, we call that the kickflip."

    Uh what? Rodney Mullen invented the kickflip

    Reminds me of this https://youtu.be/LC97wdQOmfI

    • niwtsol 51 minutes ago
      Yes, Rodney Mullen invented the kickflip (and damn near every other skate trick), but the reference here comes from a time when Tony Hawk would drive around and yell "do a kickflip" at skaters, if they did a kickflip he would sometimes give them a signed board or other things. Example video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob0dI05Xz8s - it became a thing for a little where people would yell "do a kickflip" at skaters they saw on the street.
      • NDlurker 1 minute ago
        Oh yeah, I forgot about the origin of that meme.
  • combobyte 1 hour ago
    > Our multi-mode fan and ground sealing system acts as a downforce generator, pulling air out from beneath the vehicle. This provides enough suction to hold the vehicle upside down, even when stationary.

    Bullshit, no it can't.

    > Advanced cold-gas thrusters use all-electric actuators to offer precise thrust, completing micro adjustments within a fraction of a second. This helps stabilize the vehicle in flight.

    In flight? What? Did I miss the joke, or what? It's a fucking car... The image even shows it hovering off the ground. How is this not blatant false advertising?

    ETA: okay, skimmed some of the livestream. These is absolutely no way that any of these features will ever be part of a production model. People get serious whiplash injuries just from being rear-ended at low speed. What do they think is going to happen to the occupant when they tell their car to jump over a semi and do a fucking barrel roll? Seriously, what are we doing here?

    • gcanyon 0 minutes ago
      [delayed]
    • gizajob 53 minutes ago
      Amazing such instant expertise.

      Watch the video - the car jumps into the air. Not exactly flight or what we’d consider a flying car, but it’s careering through the air off the ground.

    • blobbers 1 hour ago
      It's supposed to be funny. Or it's not? Really not sure.
    • td521534f12 1 hour ago
      This isn't even the first car to demo holding and driving upside down using a ground effect fan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6LYcgaQ46c
    • rjsw 1 hour ago
      There is another car [1] with a fan to improve downforce.

      [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Murray_Automotive_T.50

    • teddy__d 1 hour ago
      Watch the livestream
    • foobazgt 48 minutes ago
      > Bullshit, no it can't

      I mean, this isn't crazy. In fact, it's already been done. Ever heard of McMurtry? (https://mcmurtry.com/). They're notorious for exactly this - using fans to provide extreme downforce (urr... upforce if you're hanging upside down?).

      > In flight?

      Did you see the stunt where it literally flew over vehicles? I mean, maybe it's a bit closer to a controlled super-leap like the original Superman, but... yeah, my personal reaction to that was more "holy shit" than "well, that's not flying".

    • kulahan 35 minutes ago
      If you scroll down on the page, it shows that the "rocket edition" is invite-only. Probably gonna sell it to a few friends in hopes that the 3-5 they make sell for millions down the road, so to speak.
  • ofjcihen 55 minutes ago
    Reading some of this feels like I’m having a stroke.

    >This provides enough suction to hold the vehicle upside down, even when stationary.

    Neat car though.

  • phyzome 34 minutes ago
    Technically very impressive. I wonder if they'll actually produce and sell any of these.

    And too bad it's associated with a Nazi shitheel. That takes a lot of the joy out of this.

  • johnnyApplePRNG 1 hour ago
    Does musk get final say on all of the latest car designs?

    The cybertruck? And now this?

    Vomit inducing, truly.

  • i_love_retros 38 minutes ago
    Listen, if you rightfully believe Elon Musk is a white supremacist piece of shit who used his wealth to buy his way in to Trump's regime to steal huge amounts of data on the american public and who attempts to influence foreign democracies and who promotes far right conspiracies, please don't buy his fucking cars.
  • alexwrich 54 minutes ago
    [flagged]
  • chmorgan_ 1 hour ago
    [dead]
  • codevark 24 minutes ago
    [dead]
  • ls-a 1 hour ago
    [dead]
  • matthuggins 1 hour ago
    [flagged]
    • gizajob 56 minutes ago
      Leave Volkswagen out of this. Day belongs to Tesla.
    • robrain 58 minutes ago
      Not just you.
  • useruser125524 33 minutes ago
    [flagged]
  • dozerly 58 minutes ago
    A lot of musk shills in these comments. This is a terrible idea, and just like all his other promises, won’t happen.
  • wilg 1 hour ago
    I recommend everyone watch the live event video. It is a master class in everything you could possibly do wrong when producing a product reveal event. It's really amazing.

    It's like watching their rehearsal, and also like watching The Rehearsal.

    • kcb 1 hour ago
      It was fine? I'd rather this than hyper rehearsed CGI human Apple launch video. At least its just real people talking like humans.
      • gizajob 54 minutes ago
        Yeah Apple really synthesising a platonic ideal of Steve’s product release smarm without any of his hubristic charm at this point. Tesla and SpaceX seem like humans just getting on with sh*t and onto the next.
      • wilg 1 hour ago
        It was not fine.
    • dmix 1 hour ago
      I can’t do a tech demo of a simple software feature on zoom without at least one thing messing up. They launched a car off a ramp live and were honest from the beginning of the stream it might not work.

      The last decade of social media has shown that humans care more about authenticity than perfection in presentations.

      • wilg 1 hour ago
        It did work! The point is they did a terrible job of producing the event and being clear what they were talking about and showing the product. The product, for all four people who will be able to buy it ("invite only"), seems very cool. But that is not what I was commenting on!
  • King-Aaron 1 hour ago
    I hate Tesla for their politics, broken promises, and all the drama that we are all aware and tired of hearing about. That being said, that was the coolest damn thing I've ever seen a car do.

    I don't think there's any doubt in anyone's mind that it'll never make production like this, but what I see as being demonstrated is a suborbital lander/off-world ground transport concept that can work in low gravity environments etc. This will aid autonomous delivery vehicles etc to be dropped from low orbit and find their own landing sites, and then drive to location.

    I wonder how many maimed kerbals are stranded around the space X facility while testing this.

    • j4k0bfr 11 minutes ago
      Very cool stuff but all the "extra-terrestrial" stuff is complete bunk. This thing wouldn't survive Max-Q, let alone any kind of landing that isn't on a clean slab of concrete. It's a cool rich person toy, no other notes.
      • King-Aaron 9 minutes ago
        You miss my point. They're demonstrating a landing system, it's just wrapped up in a car to fool the idiots that are going to pre-purchase it again so they can use that money to build more space X technology.

        The car is just a façade.

  • ThalesX 1 hour ago
    Pretty big nothingburger. Production starts 2028 and honestly, the taunted feature... it's not a flying car, it's a jumping car. Do people actually want this for themselves? I'd wager the valuation would go down after this presentation.
    • iugtmkbdfil834 55 minutes ago
      I never thought I would say this, but.. have you been like.. born 70 or something?
    • kingstnap 46 minutes ago
      Bro the car literally jumped over a semi like its the TF2 soldier. Nothingburger???
      • ThalesX 3 minutes ago
        OK sure. I don't have a lot of use cases in my day to day commute that would be better handled by this jumping over a semi like it's the TF2 soldier, hence, a big nothingburger.
  • ijustlovemath 57 minutes ago
    Kind of disturbing how hard he's leaning into the futurism aesthetic here, given its history.
    • pastel8739 46 minutes ago
      Tesla has been doing this for a while, having all their promo shots at night etc. The terafab announcement stuff has an especially dystopian vibe
    • phyzome 44 minutes ago
      I mean, he also did a straight-up Nazi salute. We already know the guy is a fascist.
  • maxnevermind 40 minutes ago
    I guess robotaxi is failing? This is my only explanation of that jumping gimmick.
  • johnnyApplePRNG 1 hour ago
    Still with the deadly door-handles that first responders can't open, I see.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-tesla-dangerous-door...

    • kcb 58 minutes ago
      Yea, i was going to reserve one of these sub 1 sec 0-60 vehicles with rocket motors and suction fans, but then I didnt because of the ergonomics of the door handle design.
      • phyzome 36 minutes ago
        "Ergonomics" is an interesting phrase to use for "critical safety issue".

        But yeah, that's not the part of the vehicle that's gong to kill its first victim.

    • sippingabonedry 28 minutes ago
      If you watched the video, which you didn't, you'd know it appears to have a traditional door latch with recessed handles.
  • motionlessveloc 25 minutes ago
    Tesla has completely lost the plot at this point. Yes, the Model Y and 3 are still selling well today, but they increasingly can't compete with the Chinese on price or features. And instead of even trying to stay relevant in the consumer market, they're focusing on niche toys like the Cybertruck and now this.

    At this point Tesla's future hinges pretty much entirely on Cybercab and Optimus, and neither is looking great.