Tesla shows Roadster with SpaceX thrusters, due in 2028

Anyone in Mexico who wants a Roadster will have to wait: Tesla has not opened reservations in the country, and production of the car would not start until 2028. Reservations, at $50 000, are being accepted in the United States, Canada and China, according to CNBC. The company gave no final price and no specifications for all versions.

Tesla unveiled the new generation of the two-seater on Thursday, October 15, in a live stream from McGregor, Texas, where SpaceX tests rockets. In the track demonstration, the white Roadster ran up a curved ramp, stuck to it upside down, jumped, flipped in the air and touched down after hovering briefly. It had no driver, according to Fortune. Tesla explains those moves with cold gas thrusters made together with SpaceX and with fans that create suction against the surface.

None of those figures has been checked outside the company. The range falls short of the 620 miles Tesla promised in 2017, a contrast that Fortune points out and the company does not.

Fortune describes three versions: Performance, a road-going two-seater; Thrust, with rear thrusters; and Rocket, a single-seater with 10 thrusters, by invitation only. For the Thrust deposit, the magazine gives $250 000, a figure CNBC does not mention and that was not confirmed on Tesla's reservation page.

Elon Musk, Tesla's chief executive, told the audience at the event:

This is not necessarily a safety-optimized car.

Fortune adds that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) considers that the vehicle does not fit its definition of an aircraft, and that the NHTSA, the U.S. road safety agency, will keep watching the case. Those positions come only from Fortune: no statement from either agency was found.

Tesla showed a Roadster in 2017 and has since given delivery dates that it did not meet, according to CNBC. It remains unanswered whether the car could be driven on public roads.