Tesla’s Roadster has finally been launched in one of the most incredible and outlandish displays the automotive world has ever seen. The company’s “last manually driven car” used thruster tech from Space X to launch itself into the air, perform a barrel roll, fly upside-down over other models in the company’s range and go from 0-60mph in a staggering 0.8 of a second during the incredible performance in Texas.

Elon Musk boasted that the Roadster is “better than any James Bond car” before the livestreamed debut really got underway with the model going from a standing start at the base of a ramp that curled over backwards. 

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Using almost 5000 pounds of downforce from a fan suction system, it stopped halfway up the ramp, perpendicular to the ground, before reversing back down. It then used the thrusters to shoot right up the ramp, briefly fly upside down, perform a barrel roll and nail the landing on the stage after Musk joked, “It’ll probably work, but if it doesn’t work, we’re at a safe distance.”

The audience heard that the fan suction system can pull up to 2Gs and will produce so much downforce that it means “it looks like it’s breaking physics”, according to Musk, who promised the Roadster will “crush every track record that has ever existed”.

Those thrusters got another workout in a pre-recorded video that showed the Roadster hitting the 0-60mph mark in one second flat. When Musk said that wasn’t good enough, a live run produced a result of 0.8 seconds after a short delay with the timing.

There are four thruster outlets at the rear of the Tesla Roadster, with more attitude control thrusters underneath. The rear also features a rear spoiler that emerges from the bodywork and is able to adjust to conditions dynamically with high and low downforce modes. The fan system also goes from extracting downforce to improving airflow under the car at high speed. 

Air powers the thrusters through an advanced, ultra-high-pressure system that recharges itself on the go and can hold 250kg worth of air to feed the 10 nozzles. Musk said it can “fly like a rocket” and will “take the fun meter to 11 out of 10”.

The Roadster has a extremely sharp looks with a front end that’s reminiscent of a Lamborghini Murcielago. There are two handle-free scissor doors and the view from the rear is extremely aggressive with ultra-thick rear rubber and those Thunderbirds-esque booster nozzles. 

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The hosts who appeared with Musk said the Roadster should have a top speed in excess of 230mph (370km/h) but the world’s richest man said he wants to aim for Mach 0.5 – approximately 612km/h – as he said he wants the coupe to re-enact Evel Knievel’s famous leap across the Grand Canyon.

Musk said the Roadster is due to go into production in 2028, and he told the crowd, “This will be an actual car that’s on the roads … an actual car that someone can own.”

The Roadster was tipped to be the fastest mass-produced electric car ever made when it was first unveiled in 2017, with Elon Musk bragging that it would set a quarter-mile time of just eight seconds. He also claimed it would use a “SpaceX gold cas thruster system with ultra-high-pressure air”, with the equipment fitted instead of rear seats.

Around three years after the concept was revealed, Musk announced it had been hit by a delay and was sitting at the back of a long queue of products. The Cybertruck was a bigger priority than the road rocket, and so were refreshes for vehicles like the Model S. “Roadster is kind of like dessert. We’ve gotta get the meat and potatoes and greens and stuff,” Musk said.

When it was first teased, Tesla claimed the Roadster’s top speed would be in excess of 400km/h and it would make almost 900Nm of torque at the wheels. That would supposedly enough to see it scorch the 0-100km/h sprint in just 1.9 seconds as two electric motors drove the rears, with one e-motor for the front axle, and a claimed range of approximately 1000km.