Here’s All The Tesla Roadster Promises That Were Broken

October 19, 2026 Andrew Beckford

At this point, you’ve seen all the viral videos of the new Tesla Roadster boosting, sticking to walls, and even doing a barrel roll (shout out to Peppy Hare!). Now that the rocket vapor has cleared. Let’s get into what Elon Musk is actually offering in the new Tesla Roadster, what promises he broke from 2017, and which ones he actually kept.

The Tesla Roadster Looks Totally Different Now

This wasn’t a broken promise, but the first thing we clocked was how different the new Roadster looks compared to the design shown in 2017. The 2017 Roadster’s design had a clear throughline to the other models in Tesla’s lineup. The lines were a bit more aggressive, but it clearly had Tesla design DNA. The new Roadster looks more like a continuation of the low-polygon Cybertruck with some 80s Lamborghini/Lotus Esprit influences.

As far as we can tell, Tesla never divulged that it was even considering changing the Roadster design, which made its reveal all the more surprising. So surprising, in fact, that some think the 2017 Roadster is a separate car that is still in development. We tend to believe that this new Roadster is an evolution of that same vehicle, and part of that evolution was a blank-page redesign.

It Does Actually Have Freakin’ Rockets, and it Flies (sort of)

One major promise that Musk made was that the Tesla Roadster would have a SpaceX-developed rocket system, and he definitely delivered on that promise. At least on the demo car, he did. The reveal came on the back of another surprise: the Roadster is equipped with a fan system so powerful it allows the car to stick to walls, even while completely upside down.

From there came the first demonstration of the Roadster’s rocket system: it was remotely driven off the inverted ramp and used its thrusters to gently land on the ground.

The Tesla Roadster used a CGT, or cold-gas thruster system, which works by using a large tank of hyper-compressed air to create thrust and lift. The thrust is powerful enough to lift the Roadster high enough to “jump” over several cars and land safely. The thrusters can also boost the Roadster fast enough that it can go from a dead stop to 60 mph in under one second.

So, in a way, the Roadster does “fly,” but it can only keep itself up for a very short period of time, as it can deplete its tank of compressed gas within a matter of seconds. However, we’ll still give it to Musk. Though there are some heavy caveats that we’ll get into soon.

All The Promises Not Kept

Besides the rockets and the flight power, Musk also promised that the Roadster would have 620 miles of range. However, during the presentation, it was suggested that the Roadster’s range would be closer to 300 miles.

Musk promised a top speed of 250 mph. On stage, a chief Roadster engineer said the car can go “over 220 mph,” but would not elaborate beyond that. However, they did suggest that with some work the car could “hopefully” surpass that. Musk pushed for the top speed to be half the speed of sound, which is about 384 mph. He could have been joking, but honestly it’s hard to tell with that guy. The point is, they don’t seem able to confirm a 250 mph top speed.

Finally, Musk said the starting price for the Roadster would be $200,000. This is a bit of a grey area since the price was not mentioned during the presentation at all. When the new reservation page went live afterward, the mid-range trim Roadster was shown to have a starting price of $250,000. However, no price for the base model has been made public yet. That being said, it still could be $200,000, but since there was no confirmation, we’re going to count it as a loss for now. However, if Tesla announces a base model price at $200,000 or less within the next 30 days or so, we’ll update the article.

So, “You” Can’t Actually Buy The Flying Tesla Roadster

Throughout the demonstration, Musk joked about the road legality of the rocket-powered Roadster, but he kept referring to it as “buyable.” However, there are a few big caveats to that claim.

First of all, the base model “Performance” Roadster will not have the CGT system. That starts with the mid-range “Thrust” model, which will include the fan suction system and “acceleration thrusters” that push the car forward, not upward. The top of the line “Rocket” model is trim capable of vertical thrust. The thing is, while anyone can reserve the Performance and Thrust models, the Rocket model is “invite-only.”

So, is the Rocket model “buyable”? Technically, yes, but not for you. It’s likely that only Elon’s closest friends, business partners, and certain celebrities will be invited to buy the Rocket Roadster. Even then, it is not road legal, so if you thought you would be able to throw down some cash and fly over traffic in this new Roadster, then think again.

Here We Go Again, Again

Alright, Roadster deposit holders have been waiting since 2017, so they were able to pick up their cars right after the presentation, right? No. No, they weren’t. Musk moved the goalposts once again and promised that the new Roadster would begin production in 2028. Which gives a little more than two years to make good on that promise.

Roadster depositors have been down this road before, so we wouldn’t blame any of them for not believing the claim this time. However, given how many millions of people just saw a car climb a wall like Spider-Man and do a barrel roll like Fox McCloud, we would be surprised if Tesla doesn’t see a large influx of new Roadster reservations to offset any that have or will fall off.

Although the new crop of Tesla Roadster reservation holders should know that there is a clause in the contract that states that a reservation does not guarantee a car, and that Tesla does not guarantee that the Roadster will even make it to production. You know, even though they are so super cereal about the 2028 production window this time.

This Tesla Roadster saga has been too chaotic for us to assume anything one way or the other, so we’re just going to sit back and see how it plays out. If you’ve watched it all unfold and still think it’s worth putting down $50,000 to $250,000 for a Roadster, then we wish you luck. However, we also reserve the right to say “we told you so,” if it doesn’t work out. Sorry, that’s just the rule.