Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) finally unveiled its long-delayed next-generation Roadster Thursday night, nearly nine years after first showing it. At a SpaceX test site in McGregor, Texas, the car drove upside down on a ramp, flipped in mid-air, and used SpaceX-style thrusters to jump over a Cybertruck, a Tesla Semi and other vehicles. Investors loved the show at first, sending shares up about 5% in premarket trading Friday. However, the rally faded after the open. By midday, Tesla traded at $356.99, down 1.5% from Thursday’s close of $362.44.

Key Points

• Tesla showed the Roadster going from 0 to 60 mph in about one second, with a top speed above 230 mph and more than 300 miles of range.
• An invite-only, single-seat “Rocket” version uses 10 cold-gas thrusters fed by 600 liters of compressed air to lift and spin the car.
• Tesla plans to start production in 2028 and is taking $50,000 and $250,000 reservations for two road and track trims.
• Analysts called the reveal an “engineering flex” and said it strengthens the case for an eventual Tesla–SpaceX combination.

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) Brings Rocket Tech to the Road

Tesla developed the new Roadster with SpaceX and borrowed heavily from rocket engineering. Vehicle engineering chief Lars Moravy said 10 thrusters connected to 600 liters of rechargeable compressed air lift and spin the top “Rocket” trim. Tesla also packed carbon-fiber overwrapped pressure vessels, the same type of tank SpaceX uses, into “every usable void” in the car.

The Roadster comes in three versions:

• Performance (“road ready”): two seats, active aerodynamics and a fan-driven suction system that presses the car onto the road.
• Thrust (“race ready”): adds rear cold-gas thrusters for a claimed sub-one-second 0-to-60 time.
• Rocket (“air ready”): a one-seat, invite-only model with a full flight system that Tesla says is not approved for public roads.

Musk called the car “the best of the last of the human-driven cars.” He also joked about a possible jump over Idaho’s Snake River Canyon.

Questions Remain About the Claims

Not everyone is convinced. Electrek questioned Tesla’s downforce figures and its timing method for the 0-to-60 run, noting that the thrusters fired before the car began to move. It also flagged safety risks from the gas plumes and doubted the 2028 timeline. Range has fallen too: Tesla now promises just over 300 miles, about half the 600 miles Musk pitched in 2017.

The delays are part of the skepticism. Tesla first took $50,000 deposits on the Roadster in 2017, and some buyers paid $250,000 for a Founders Series car. Musk then pushed back the launch in 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2024, and postponed this reveal twice in 2026.

Wall Street Sees a SpaceX Signal, Not a Sales Driver

Analysts mostly agreed the Roadster won’t move Tesla’s numbers. Musk himself has called it a “small potato situation.” Deepwater Asset Management’s Gene Munster called it “an engineering flex” with no commercial value, and Morningstar’s Seth Goldstein said it gives Tesla a new halo car.

Instead, many analysts focused on what the car says about Musk’s companies. Wedbush’s Dan Ives said the shared “propulsion, pressure-vessel, and control hardware” strengthens the case for Tesla and SpaceX “operating as one engineering platform over time.” In September, Ives put the odds of a combination by 2027 at 80%. SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) shares also rose about 2% in premarket trading.

For now, investors are turning back to fundamentals. Tesla reports third-quarter results on October 21, where margins, cash flow and progress on the Cybercab robotaxi and Optimus robot will matter far more than a flying sports car.

The fade in Tesla’s shares came on a weak day for EV stocks broadly. In the PRISM EV Index, Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID) fell nearly 8%, while GreenPower Motor, SES AI and Kandi

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