Elon Musk’s Tesla pulled back the curtain late Thursday night on the first footage of its flying car, showing the vehicle flipping through the air before touching down safely on the ground.
The video of the Tesla Roadster was posted on Musk’s X platform just before 10 p.m. Thursday. The clip shows the car driving straight up a vertical wall and twisting through the air, a stunt that looks like something pulled from a Matchbox toy set.
The gravity-defying moves are made possible by SpaceX-developed thrusters mounted on the side and bottom of the vehicle.
Musk also shared a separate video himself. In that footage, the Roadster soars over five other Tesla vehicles, completes a full flip in midair and then hovers gently down to the ground below.
“Turns out the future does have flying cars,” Musk wrote in the post.
The footage offers the first look at the flying Roadster in action, with the car shown performing a series of aerial maneuvers, from climbing a wall to clearing a row of vehicles.
The Roadster is also built for speed on the ground. The car reportedly goes from 0 to 60 mph in just one second.
Tesla is currently taking reservations for the Roadster through its website. Customers looking to secure a spot must put down an initial payment of $5,000.
From there, the cost depends on which version buyers choose.
For the Performance model, customers must make a follow-up payment of $45,000 within 10 days.
For the Thrust model, the follow-up payment jumps to $245,000.
Then there is the Rocket model, which Tesla is offering on an invite-only basis.
The tiered lineup gives buyers several options, ranging from the Performance model to the higher-priced Thrust version, with the exclusive Rocket model reserved for those who receive an invitation.
The late-night reveal put Tesla’s flying car front and center, with both the company and Musk himself sharing videos of the Roadster in flight on X.
In the footage shared by Tesla, the Roadster’s thrusters allow it to defy expectations of what a car can do, climbing a vertical surface and spinning through the air. In Musk’s video, the car’s leap over five other Teslas ends with a soft landing, as the Roadster hovers down after completing its flip.
For Musk, the videos served as proof that flying cars have moved out of the realm of science fiction.
“Turns out the future does have flying cars,” he said.
With reservations now open and the first footage public, the Tesla Roadster is officially taking flight, at least on video, as the company begins collecting payments from customers eager to get their hands on the high-flying vehicle.
