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The Flying Car: Tesla’s New Roadster Takes Flight After Nearly a Decade of Delays
Wall Street Journal ^ | 10/16/2026 | Chrisopher Otts

Posted on 10/17/2026 7:58:29 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

After nine years, potentially millions of dollars in deposits and considerable hype, the Tesla Roadster is finally ready to launch—which it did.

The electric automaker on Thursday unveiled its second-generation sports car with a flourish of engineering prowess. Using SpaceX rocket technology, the angular sports car climbed a curved ramp and hurled itself to a controlled landing. Later, it leapt over five other Tesla vehicles while twisting in the air.

The demonstration was held before a crowd of Tesla enthusiasts—some of whom paid $250,000 to reserve the car nine years ago—at a SpaceX rocket test site facility in McGregor, Texas.

Flanked onstage by his top executives for design and engineering, Chief Executive Elon Musk claimed the Roadster would eventually be the “only manually driven car that Tesla makes” amid a pivot to autonomous driving and robotics.

But customers who put down hefty deposits nearly a decade ago will still have to wait a bit longer for the Roadster. Musk said the car enters production in 2028. “Actually, for real,” he said.

Some key details were missing, however. At the event, onlookers shouted to Musk, asking for a price tag, but their cries went unanswered.

Musk also demurred when asked how it might be street legal. “Yeah, depends on your street, but it’ll be a viable car,” he said.

On Thursday night, Tesla’s updated website offered a handful of additional details about the car, including packages it called “Augments.”

One called “Thrust,” designed to enable the lowest 0 to 60 mph time, is described as “Limited Release.” Another, “Rocket,” is described as invitation-only but promises “actual flight” with seating for one, along with the disclaimer: “Not approved for road use.” Neither was given a price.

(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: elonmusk; flyingcar; neuralink; spacex; tesla

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1 posted on 10/17/2026 7:58:29 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Way more impressive than any car I’ve seen in a James Bond film.


2 posted on 10/17/2026 8:00:32 PM PDT by simpson96
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To: simpson96

“ After Nearly a Decade of Delays”

WJS had to put that snarky shot in the headline


3 posted on 10/17/2026 8:04:09 PM PDT by gibsonguy
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To: All

This pretty much sums up the lefts reaction

Video
Woman gets triggered by Elon Musk’s flying car
https://rumble.com/shorts/v7h0j9a


4 posted on 10/17/2026 8:05:49 PM PDT by janetjanet998 (Please don’t use google products, especially YouTube )
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To: SeekAndFind

It looked like a Targa top at best instead of a convertible.


5 posted on 10/17/2026 8:07:15 PM PDT by alternatives?
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To: simpson96


6 posted on 10/17/2026 8:09:00 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Impressive but a just a novelty. It is a testament to what Elon Musk’s engineers can do just for fun.

When Elon Musk first started Space X and Tesla, he sought out the best engineers in the world to work for him. Today the best engineers in the world seek him out to work for him.


7 posted on 10/17/2026 8:15:01 PM PDT by cpdiii (cane cutter, deckhand, oilfield roughneck, drilling fluid tech, geologist, pilot, pharmacist, MAGA)
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To: cpdiii
Impressive but a just a novelty. It is a testament to what Elon Musk’s engineers can do just for fun.

You have to look at all of Musk’s enterprises as serving the Martian goal. EVs equipped with these thrusters can be orbitally inserted on the Moon and Mars. The rockets, the satellite network, even the automated boring machines, are all about colonizing Mars. He’s just figured out how to develop the segments profitably on earth, with enterprises now valued at over a trillion dollars where nothing stood before him.

Absolutely legendary and visionary capitalist.

8 posted on 10/17/2026 8:32:34 PM PDT by Gunslingr3
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To: gibsonguy

Yep. There’s an old story in the tech world about a dancing bear. Some were critical because it didn’t dance gracefullly, but the amazing thing is that it could dance at all. No one at WSJ is competent to carry Elon Musk’s lunch pail...yet they snark.


9 posted on 10/17/2026 8:45:01 PM PDT by bigbob (We are all Charlie Kirk now)
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To: SeekAndFind

Hope it comes with plastic covered seats with what it’s going to get deposited on them.

wy69


10 posted on 10/17/2026 8:51:19 PM PDT by whitney69
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To: Gunslingr3

I think its rather more impressive if the battery tech underlying that suction action is lifting the car that way.

After a certain point if that technology does surpass other engine forms, the applications for things like electric flying cars do make more sense.


11 posted on 10/17/2026 9:55:59 PM PDT by Bayard
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To: SeekAndFind
"The Flying Car"


12 posted on 10/17/2026 10:14:31 PM PDT by clearcarbon (Fraudulent elections have consequences.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Was the car manned or autonomous?


13 posted on 10/17/2026 10:47:47 PM PDT by Nachoman (Proudly oppressing people of color since 1957.)
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To: simpson96
Way more impressive than any car I’ve seen in a James Bond film.

The second most impressive sight I've seen.

The most impressive was watching SpaceX catch the Super Heavy booster for the first time.

14 posted on 10/17/2026 11:40:03 PM PDT by Ol' Dan Tucker (If you want to hate America, watch the news. If you want to love America, drive across it.)
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To: SeekAndFind

It was cool but.... I seen video from the 1980’s of a warhead with maneuvering thrusters holding positions.

Divert Attitude Control System (DACS) kinetic warheads
https://www.reddit.com/r/EngineeringPorn/comments/lonhg0/divert_attitude_control_system_dacs_kinetic/

This badass ballistic missile interceptor built by Lockheed Martin
https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/uluuw3/this_badass_ballistic_missile_interceptor_built/


15 posted on 10/18/2026 2:59:08 AM PDT by minnesota_bound (Making money now. Still want much more.)
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To: SeekAndFind

It was cool but.... I seen video from the 1980’s of a warhead with maneuvering thrusters holding positions.

Divert Attitude Control System (DACS) kinetic warheads
https://www.reddit.com/r/EngineeringPorn/comments/lonhg0/divert_attitude_control_system_dacs_kinetic/

This badass ballistic missile interceptor built by Lockheed Martin
https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/uluuw3/this_badass_ballistic_missile_interceptor_built/


16 posted on 10/18/2026 2:59:46 AM PDT by minnesota_bound (Making money now. Still want much more.)
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To: gibsonguy

Well Elon has been very busy with one or two other things….. and a rocket car is bound to have some issues as it comes together.


17 posted on 10/18/2026 4:18:57 AM PDT by MrRelevant
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To: SeekAndFind

I would be curious to know what the curb weight of the car would be fully loaded.

The regular Teslas are pretty hefty.

Add a high pressure air compressor and high pressure storage bottles and I would guess the car is going over 5K pounds.


18 posted on 10/18/2026 4:22:07 AM PDT by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminisheRs the human spirit.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Cool and impressive as hell but not in anyway practical, affordable or useful in todays world.


19 posted on 10/18/2026 4:39:41 AM PDT by maddog55 (The only thing systemic in America is the left's hatred of it!)
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To: MrRelevant

I hate it when so many news articles block the columns expecting you to subscribe to some of their stuff to be able to read the news, even if it accidentally happens to be truth.


20 posted on 10/18/2026 5:27:56 AM PDT by oldtech (oltech)
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