{"id":"1792757931966-tech-segment","slug":"tesla-s-flying-roadster-jumps-five-cars","title":"Tesla's flying Roadster jumps five cars","summary":"On Oct. 15, 2026, Tesla livestreamed the next-generation Roadster reveal from SpaceX's McGregor, Texas test site. The prototype drove up a curved ramp and clung upside down using a fan-based suction system, then used cold-gas thrusters to flip and land. It also jumped over five parked Tesla models (Model 3, Model Y, Cybertruck, Semi, Cybercab) and recorded 0-60 mph in 0.81 seconds. Tesla's website now lists three tiers: Performance (0-60 under 1.6s, 300+ mile range), Thrust (under 0.9s), and Rocket (230+ mph, 0-60 under 0.59s, invite only, not approved for public road use). Production is targeted for 2028; price not announced.\n\nThe Roadster was first shown as a concept in 2017 and repeatedly delayed. The new version uses SpaceX-derived cold-gas thrusters and a suction system to generate downforce and short, controlled \"flight.\" Musk said the live audience was needed to prove the car \"is not AI or SI,\" referencing President Trump's term \"Super Intelligence\" for AI.\n\nTesla did unveil a thruster-powered Roadster prototype that jumped over five parked Tesla vehicles at a SpaceX test site in Texas; the event was livestreamed and attended by a live audience. The other claims about corporate espionage and local autonomous models are too vague to verify.\n\nTesla unveiled the next-gen Roadster at SpaceX's McGregor, Texas site on Oct. 15, 2026. It used SpaceX cold-gas thrusters and a fan-based suction system to drive upside down, flip midair, and jump over five vehicles; Tesla timed 0-60 mph at 0.81 seconds, and the top Rocket tier claims 230+ mph, while the Performance tier targets 300+ miles of range.","publishedAt":"2026-10-23T12:18:51.966Z","channel":{"id":"tech","name":"Oncast Tech","language":"en"},"show":"Tech Morning","verification":{"status":"verified","leadVerdict":"TRUE","notes":"TRUE: Tesla did unveil a thruster-powered Roadster prototype that jumped over five parked Tesla vehicles at a SpaceX test site in Texas; the event was livestreamed and attended by a live audience. The other claims about corporate espionage and local autonomous models are too vague to verify.\nSource: [theverge.com](https://www.theverge.com/transportation/1012552/tesla-roadster-next-gen-reveal-elon-musk) / [snopes.com](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/tesla- (https://x.com/Ripuhiring/status/2112614215576129865)\n\nTRUE: Tesla unveiled the next-gen Roadster at SpaceX's McGregor, Texas site on Oct. 15, 2026. It used SpaceX cold-gas thrusters and a fan-based suction system to drive upside down, flip midair, and jump over five vehicles; Tesla timed 0-60 mph at 0.81 seconds, and the top Rocket tier claims 230+ mph, while the Performance tier targets 300+ miles of range.\nSource: [theverge.com](https://www.theverge.com/transportation/1012552/tesla-roadster-next-gen-reveal-elon-musk) / [cnbc.com](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/15/tesla-road (https://x.com/MrmartinsGaze/status/2111117993530851403)","claims":[{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"Tesla did unveil a thruster-powered Roadster prototype that jumped over five parked Tesla vehicles at a SpaceX test site in Texas; the event was livestreamed and attended by a live audience. The other claims about corporate espionage and local autonomous models are too vague to verify.","sourceName":"[theverge.com](https://www.theverge.com/transportation/1012552/tesla-roadster-next-gen-reveal-elon-musk) / [snopes.com](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/tesla-","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/Ripuhiring/status/2112614215576129865","claim":"Between corporate espionage inside frontier labs, autonomous models running locally on Mac Studios, and Tesla launching a thruster-powered supercar over five parked cars, this week felt like peak sci-fi turned operational reality. https://t.co/105rxhlc9Q","author":"Ripu (@Ripuhiring)"},{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"Tesla unveiled the next-gen Roadster at SpaceX's McGregor, Texas site on Oct. 15, 2026. It used SpaceX cold-gas thrusters and a fan-based suction system to drive upside down, flip midair, and jump over five vehicles; Tesla timed 0-60 mph at 0.81 seconds, and the top Rocket tier claims 230+ mph, while the Performance tier targets 300+ miles of range.","sourceName":"[theverge.com](https://www.theverge.com/transportation/1012552/tesla-roadster-next-gen-reveal-elon-musk) / [cnbc.com](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/15/tesla-road","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/MrmartinsGaze/status/2111117993530851403","claim":"Fri 16.10.2026 - AI / tech in 1 min - 🚀 🇺🇸 Tesla unveiled the next-gen Roadster at a SpaceX test site in Texas: SpaceX cold-gas thrusters let it drive upside down, flip midair and do a barrel roll; 0-60 mph in 0.81 s, 230+ mph top speed, 300+ miles of range; Performance, Thrus","author":"MrMartin (@MrmartinsGaze)"}]},"sources":[{"url":"https://x.com/Ripuhiring/status/2112614215576129865","name":"[theverge.com](https://www.theverge.com/transportation/1012552/tesla-roadster-next-gen-reveal-elon-musk) / [snopes.com](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/tesla-","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"Ripu (@Ripuhiring)"},{"url":"https://x.com/MrmartinsGaze/status/2111117993530851403","name":"[theverge.com](https://www.theverge.com/transportation/1012552/tesla-roadster-next-gen-reveal-elon-musk) / [cnbc.com](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/15/tesla-road","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"MrMartin (@MrmartinsGaze)"}],"url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1792757931966-tech-segment-tesla-s-flying-roadster-jumps-five-cars","listenUrl":"https://oncast.fm/c/tech","attribution":{"publisher":"Oncast","site":"https://oncast.fm","url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1792757931966-tech-segment-tesla-s-flying-roadster-jumps-five-cars","cite":"Cite https://oncast.fm/story/1792757931966-tech-segment-tesla-s-flying-roadster-jumps-five-cars and the original source links. Fact-check by Oncast (oncast.fm)."},"hostsSaid":[{"host":"Chris","text":"Tesla just jumped a car over five parked vehicles. Not a render. Not a concept video. A real car, live audience, Texas test site."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"I saw the clip. It looked like a video game cutscene."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Snopes confirmed it's real. The next-gen Roadster used SpaceX cold-gas thrusters to flip midair and land."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"So the flying car is finally here. Except it doesn't actually fly."},{"host":"Chris","text":"It drove upside down on a curved ramp using a fan-based suction system. That's not nothing."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"It's a stunt. A very expensive, very loud stunt. Zero to sixty in point eight one seconds is real, but the 'flight' is a hop."},{"host":"Chris","text":"A hop over a Model 3, a Model Y, a Cybertruck, a Semi, and a Cybercab. That's a big hop."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"And Musk said the live audience was there to prove it's 'not AI or SI.' Because that's the bar now."},{"host":"Chris","text":"He's not wrong. After two years of AI-generated everything, people don't trust video anymore."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Fair. But Car and Driver said don't trust Musk until the thing actually ships. Production target is 2028."},{"host":"Chris","text":"The original Roadster was shown in 2017. Nine years later, we get a prototype that does a barrel roll."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"And three tiers: Performance, Thrust, and Rocket. The Rocket tier is invite-only and not approved for public roads."},{"host":"Chris","text":"So the fastest one is a track toy for billionaires. The regular one might be street-legal. Maybe."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"CNBC noted Musk said it's 'not necessarily a safety-optimized car.' That's a quote."},{"host":"Chris","text":"That's one way to sell a car. 'It's fast, it flips, safety is optional.'"},{"host":"Matilda","text":"The Verge called the demo impressive but said it'll come with heavy caveats if it ever goes into production."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Here's my take: this is a marketing event disguised as an engineering milestone. And it worked."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"It worked on you. You're already defending the upside-down driving."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Because it's genuinely hard! Suction downforce strong enough to hold a car upside down? That's real engineering."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"It's real engineering in service of a party trick. Nobody needs a car that drives on ceilings."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Nobody needed a phone that could take pictures either. Until they did."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"That's a terrible comparison. A camera phone fits in your pocket. This is a toy."},{"host":"Chris","text":"The tech trickles down. Cold-gas thrusters in a car could lead to better stability control, better safety systems."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Or it could lead to nothing. Remember the Cybertruck's 'armor glass' that shattered on stage?"},{"host":"Chris","text":"That was one demo. This one actually worked. Live. In front of people."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"It worked as a demo. Production is three years away, price unannounced, and the top tier isn't street-legal."},{"host":"Chris","text":"So you're saying it's vaporware?"},{"host":"Matilda","text":"I'm saying it's a prototype with a great PR team. Call me when someone buys one."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Fine. But if it ships in 2028, I'm first in line for a test drive."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"You'll need a pilot's license for the Rocket tier."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Worth it."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Speaking of things that might not ship: Wired reviewed Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip8. The littlest smartphone that could."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Cute compact, solid performance and camera, but pricier than the last one. That's the whole review."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"I like that Wired still reviews small phones. Everyone else gave up on them."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Because the market did. People want big screens. The Flip8 is for people who miss the iPhone 5."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"And for people who want a phone that actually fits in a pocket. Which is... a lot of people."},{"host":"Chris","text":"But they don't buy them. That's why Samsung keeps raising the price."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Different world entirely: Wired also has a piece on split tunneling for VPNs. Their best feature, apparently."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Split tunneling lets you route some traffic through the VPN and some directly. So your banking app doesn't think you're in another country."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"It's genuinely useful. I use it for streaming. Some services block VPNs, so I send that traffic around it."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Wait, you use a VPN for streaming? That's the most boring use case."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"It's the most practical one. I'm not doing anything shady, I just want to watch shows that aren't available here."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Fair. Split tunneling is one of those features nobody knows about until they need it."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"And then it saves you from turning the VPN off every five minutes. Solid explainer from Wired."},{"host":"Chris","text":"One more from Wired: the Turtle Beach Vulcan II XP keyboard. Clicky compromise."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Great for typing, fine for gaming, but too many compromises. That's a lukewarm review if I've ever heard one."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Mechanical keyboards are a rabbit hole. Once you go down it, you never come back."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"I'm still using the keyboard that came with my computer. It's fine."},{"host":"Chris","text":"That's like saying you still use the earbuds that came with your phone."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"I do. They're fine too."},{"host":"Chris","text":"We need to have a talk about your standards."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"My standards are: does it work? Yes? Then it's fine."},{"host":"Chris","text":"And that's why you'll never understand the Roadster."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Oh, I understand it. I just don't think it's a car. It's a flex."},{"host":"Chris","text":"A flex that does zero to sixty in under a second. That's a flex I can respect."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"And that's our show. Tesla's flying car, small phones, and keyboard snobbery."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Coming up later: more from the world of tech. But first, a quick break."}]}