Elon Musk once again says the long-delayed Tesla Roadster 2 is finally headed for a public demo.
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(Image credit: Tesla) Speaking on the Joe Rogan podcast, Musk reiterated that Tesla’s next-gen roadster, which was announced eight years ago and was originally meant to go into production in 2020, will “hopefully” be demoed before the end of 2025, and that it includes “crazy, crazy technology,” adding that it’s crazier than “all the James Bond cars” combined.
The outspoken and controversial CEO then went on to comment on flying vehicles. “My friend Peter Thiel once reflected that the future was supposed to have flying cars, but we don’t have flying cars,” adding that people will “have to wait until the demo” when asked whether Tesla is currently trying to make a flying car.
Musk originally mused about adding a “SpaceX package” with cold-air thrusters to the Roadster 2 when it was unveiled in 2017. These, in theory, could at least lift the car off the ground and allow it to hover for a short period of time. Tesla is known to have filed patents for “adaptive vehicle aerodynamics”, but it’s unclear whether Musk was talking about the same thing during the podcast.
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At the time of its unveiling, the second-generation Roadster was pitched as the fastest production car on the planet, boasting 0-60 in 1.9 seconds and a 620-mile range. It was also supposed to ship in 2020. That didn’t happen. Tesla’s focus shifted to the likes of the Cybertruck and Model S refresh, and the Roadster 2 quietly faded into the background. Although Musk has repeatedly said the Roadster 2 is in development and close to finalization, we’ve seen no evidence to support this claim.
Realistically, a flying Roadster would face massive regulatory hurdles. Anything capable of vertical lift or sustained hover falls into a different class of transportation altogether, requiring FAA certification and crash safety data that no production EV has ever had to provide. Even a brief demo would likely trigger scrutiny from multiple agencies.
The most likely scenario — if there’s any truth to what Musk is hinting at — will be a demo that involves a tightly constrained hover test that shows off the potential. But even that would be a serious technical feat. The car’s structural design would need to accommodate both high-speed road performance and vertical lift stabilization, something no mainstream automaker has attempted.
Comments by Tesla’s Design Director, Franz von Holzhausen, corroborate Musk’s claim of an imminent demo. Speaking on the ‘Ride the Lightning’ podcast recently, he confirmed that the Roadster’s development was moving ahead and that a reveal should take place this year. As for whether it might be demoed with something resembling flight capabilities, Musk’s comments are probably ones to ignore.
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