Tesla Roadster Debuts With SpaceX Thrusters, 2028 Production

The Tesla Roadster is finally a production car. Tesla showed the second-generation version on Thursday at a SpaceX test facility in McGregor, Texas, nearly nine years after Elon Musk first teased it, and says production will begin at Gigafactory Texas in 2027 or 2028.

What the Tesla Roadster actually promises

Tesla’s own product page describes a car that “goes beyond Plaid” and calls it an “expertly crafted extra-terrestrial vehicle.” The headline feature is a multi-mode fan and ground sealing system that pulls air out from beneath the car. Tesla says the resulting suction is strong enough to hold the vehicle upside down, even when it is standing still.

Three versions, and only one is road legal

Tesla lists three. Performance is the road car: by reservation, seating for two, active aerodynamics and the suction system, but no thrusters. Augments, sold as Thrust, is the limited release track version, also seating two, with cold-gas thrusters at the rear that Tesla says push it from 0 to 60 mph in under one second.

Rocket is invite-only and seats one. The Tesla Roadster Rocket carries thrusters around its perimeter for “forward and upward acceleration as well as lateral rotational movement. So yes, it can fly.”

A footnote on the same page is the part worth reading twice. The Rocket trim is marked “Not approved for public road use,” and Tesla adds that it is not available in all regions. The specifications listed on the page reflect the Thrust upgrade only, which Tesla sells as an optional add-on.

The reveal leaned on spectacle. The car drove up an inverted ramp, spun around and lowered itself to the pavement, then used its thrusters to lift over a Cybercab, Cybertruck, Semi, Model Y and Model 3 while in motion.

Musk called it “the best of the last of the human-driven cars” and said the demo car “will be the actual car that’s on the roads.” He has been blunter about priorities: “if safety is your number one goal, do not buy the Roadster.”

Production, pricing and the Philippine question

Gigafactory Texas will build it, confirmed by Tesla executives Lars Moravy and Franz von Holzhausen. Pricing has not been updated since 2017, when Tesla quoted a $200,000 base price and $250,000 for the first 1,000 Founders Series cars. Reservations still require a $50,000 deposit.

Electric supercars remain a tiny segment. Xiaomi showed a Vision GT concept this year with no production date.

Tesla has sold cars in the Philippines since opening its BGC showroom in 2024, and local pricing for the Model 3 starts at PhP1.838 million. Roadster pricing and availability for the Philippines have not been announced.

The car’s history is the reason to treat any date carefully. Tesla promised production in 2020, then moved it to 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Sam Altman and Marques Brownlee both canceled their reservations in public. Musk has also called it the last Tesla built for human driving, as the company shifts toward autonomy.

Tesla has not said how many it will build, or when buyers will receive one. For a car first shown in 2017, that remains the only number that matters.