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Tesla

Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla has unveiled a prototype of its redesigned Roadster sports car featuring rocket-inspired cold-gas thruster technology that allows the vehicle to launch briefly into the air, targeting commercial production by 2028.

The demonstration took place at a SpaceX testing facility in Texas, where the driverless two-seater performed a series of maneuvers, driving along a specialized track before using cold-gas thrusters to propel itself into a short airborne jump.

Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk stated that operating the prototype remotely without passengers was a deliberate safety precaution during initial testing.

“Success is not guaranteed. I mean that. It’ll probably work, but if it doesn’t work, we’re at a safe distance,” Musk remarked during the presentation, assuring spectators that the live audience was necessary to demonstrate the authenticity of the technology.

READ ALSO: Tinubu, Sanwo-Olu, CIOTA Seek Integrated Transport System to Drive $1tn Economy

Developed through a engineering collaboration between Tesla and rocket manufacturer SpaceX, the prototype utilizes high-pressure air tanks feeding into 10 specialized nozzles to generate extreme thrust.

According to technical specifications shared during the event, the vehicle is designed to accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in less than a second using the thruster system.

Despite the demonstration, aviation and transportation experts have raised questions regarding the practicality of commercially producing a hybrid road-and-air vehicle. Roger Conner, curator for vertical flight at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, noted that combining ground transport safety requirements, such as crumple zones and structural weight, with aircraft engineering principles presents substantial design trade-offs, describing the maneuver as short thruster-assisted hopping rather than sustained, controlled flight.

Conversely, industry representatives such as Jim Dukhovny, Chief Executive Officer of flying car developer Alef Aeronautics, acknowledged the technical feasibility of thruster-assisted vehicles while emphasizing that navigating the transition between vertical propulsion and forward movement remains the primary engineering hurdle for eVTOL designs.

Tesla plans to initiate official production of the new Roadster model in 2028, though regulatory approvals for public road and airspace usage remain subject to future authority reviews.

The Traffic NG
Tesla
Hibbatullah Shittu
The Traffic NG

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