Tesla's New Roadster Hovers in Oct. 16 SpaceX Facility Test

Tesla rolled out a new version of its Roadster electric sports car on Oct. 16 at a facility owned by Elon Musk's SpaceX, where thrusters built into the car let it hover, spin in midair and land using jets of air, according to video published by BBC News. The demonstration showed the Roadster driving up and off a steep ramp before turning in the air and touching down on its thrusters, the BBC reported.

What did Musk say before the demonstration?

"You're going to see some crazy stuff tonight," Musk, Tesla's chief executive, told the audience at the SpaceX facility, according to BBC News. He said he needed a live crowd on hand to prove the footage of the hovering Roadster "is not AI," the outlet reported, an apparent reference to concerns that the clip could be mistaken for a computer-generated render rather than a real vehicle test.

What role did SpaceX play in building the car?

The event took place at a SpaceX-owned site, and the rocket company helped develop the Roadster model shown, according to BBC News. The report did not specify which SpaceX systems or personnel were involved beyond describing SpaceX's facility and development role.

Is this actually a flying car?

The vehicle did not fly in the conventional sense during the demonstration described by BBC News — it was shown hovering, spinning and landing using air jets after launching off a ramp, not sustaining independent flight over distance. BBC technology editor Zoe Kleinman said in the same report that there are several reasons a flying car is unlikely to appear on public roads anytime soon, though the specific engineering or regulatory hurdles she cited were not detailed in the clip summary.

Why isn't a street-legal version coming soon?

Nothing in the BBC report indicates Tesla has filed for road-use approval, set a production timeline, or disclosed technical specifications such as thrust output, flight duration or altitude limits for the thruster-equipped Roadster. The absence of those details, combined with Kleinman's on-air caution about obstacles to road deployment, points to the demonstration functioning as a technology showcase rather than an announcement of an imminent consumer product.

Key figures from the unveiling

• Oct. 16: Date BBC News published its report on the SpaceX demonstration.
• 1 minute, 18 seconds: Runtime of the BBC video documenting the hover-and-landing test.

The BBC video, credited to video editor Serene Khalifeh, remains the primary public record of the demonstration as of publication. Tesla did not immediately provide additional technical detail beyond what Musk said on stage at the SpaceX facility, per the BBC's account.

For now, the clearest confirmed facts are these: Tesla built a thruster-equipped Roadster, tested it at a SpaceX site with SpaceX's help, and showed it hovering and landing in front of a live audience on Oct. 16. Whether that technology translates into a vehicle legally allowed to leave the ground on public roads is a separate question that BBC's technology editor flagged as unresolved.