# Tesla Roadster demo AI & tech · Heat 4.1 / 10 · 10 shows · 3h 2m airtime Tesla demonstrated a Roadster that goes airborne in a public demo on October 16. Reporting established that the prototype used cold gas thrusters built with SpaceX engineers, that production is not expected until 2028, and that the flight model is invite-only with pricing unknown. Reservations run from a $5,000 deposit on the base car to $250,000 for the thrust trim, and Tesla's fine print cannot guarantee delivery. The discussion now weighs the demo against Tesla's falling deliveries in 2024 and 2025 and BYD's lead in EV sales, and notes that a separate fan system, not the thrusters, creates the downforce for the vertical ramp and upside-down driving. Page: https://boilpoints.com/point/tesla_roadster_demo_3311700730 ## Segments - [The Dan Bongino Show](https://boilpoints.com/u/thedanbonginoshow), 2026-10-16, 1:07 to 12:19: **Reacts to the airborne Roadster footage**. Bongino reacts to footage of a Tesla Roadster going airborne, says he had it triple-checked because he thought it was AI, and pairs it with SpaceX's chopstick rocket catch as proof of American innovation. New angle: Tesla demonstrated a Roadster that goes airborne. - [The TMZ Podcast](https://boilpoints.com/u/thetmzpodcast), 2026-10-16, 13:44 to 17:04: **Reacts to the Roadster jump footage**. Reacts to footage of a Tesla Roadster jumping and flipping over cars, treating the stunt as real per Fox Business and other outlets. Stays with jokes about landing on traffic and a quick note that Tesla stock rose about $5. New angle: Tesla stock rose about $5 on the day of the Roadster event. - [Bloomberg Tech](https://boilpoints.com/u/bloombergtech), 2026-10-16, 12:03 to 16:05: **Adds the SpaceX thrusters behind the demo**. Adds the engineering behind the demo: the prototype used cold gas thrusters developed with SpaceX engineers, Tesla claims a sub-one-second zero-to-60, and production is not expected until 2028. Chafkin reads the whole thing as a promotional event and a sales pitch for a possible Tesla-SpaceX merger. New angle: The Roadster prototype used cold gas thrusters built with SpaceX engineers; production is not expected until 2028. - [TBPN](https://boilpoints.com/u/tbpn), 2026-10-16, 7:30 to 29:57: **Lays out the Roadster reservation terms**. Walks through the reservation terms for the Roadster: a $5,000 deposit with $45,000 due within ten days, and $250,000 total within ten days for the thruster model. Also notes the 10,000 psi cold gas tank and the kickflip demo. New angle: The base Roadster takes a $5,000 deposit with $45,000 due in ten days; the thruster model takes $250,000 total in ten days. - [TBPN](https://boilpoints.com/u/tbpn), 2026-10-16, 30:10 to 59:36: **Calls the demo a parlor trick and urges a merger**. Isaacson's Roadster reaction: he calls it a parlor trick, credits Franz von Holzhausen's design, and reads the thrusters as proof Tesla and SpaceX should merge. Mostly biography and Cybertruck history, with no new reporting on the demo itself. - [TBPN](https://boilpoints.com/u/tbpn), 2026-10-16, 1:24:47 to 2:06:00: **Calls the Roadster an impractical showcase**. Tavarish spends the segment on the Roadster demo and the Mission S unveiling, calling the Roadster an impractical technology showcase that will never reach production and praising the Mission S as a driver's car. Reaction and car-culture talk, no new development in the story. - [The Information's TITV](https://boilpoints.com/u/theinformationstitv), 2026-10-16, 0:23 to 1:16: **Recaps the Roadster demo and past delays**. Opens the show with the Roadster demo: the wall climb, the side-flip over five cars, the 2028 production date and Tesla's history of Roadster delays. A recap of the demo and the reporting already on the record, plus a nod to the SpaceX merger case. - [TBPN](https://boilpoints.com/u/tbpn), 2026-10-17, 6:37 to 28:47: **Adds the invite-only flight model**. Long Roadster segment that adds the invite-only flight model with unknown pricing, then spends most of its time on use cases, track records and the Mission S contrast. The deposit structure is a recap of TBPN's own earlier reporting. New angle: The flight model of the Roadster is invite-only and its pricing is unknown. - [This Week in Startups](https://boilpoints.com/u/thisweekinstartups), 2026-10-17, 1:13:27 to 1:14:58: **Recaps the unveiling and adds the venue**. Recaps the Roadster unveiling - the mid-air flip, the jump over other Teslas, the sub-one-second 0 to 60, the 2028 production line from Musk. Adds the McGregor, Texas venue and the ten-nozzle air tank, but stays inside the demo coverage already on the record. - [This Week in Startups](https://boilpoints.com/u/thisweekinstartups), 2026-10-17, 1:14:58 to 1:21:07: **Recaps the demo and debates flying cars**. Recaps the Roadster unveiling at the SpaceX site in McGregor - the mid-air flip, the sub-second zero to 60, the ten nozzles - then argues about whether flying cars are practical and whether Tesla and SpaceX will merge. Stays inside the demo coverage. - [The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon](https://boilpoints.com/u/thetonightshowstarringjimmyfallon), 2026-10-20, 5:16 to 6:20: **Plays the unveiling and mock reviews**. Plays the unveiling clip and reads mock reviews from Car and Driver, Motor Trend and Newark Air Traffic Control, all in service of Tesla-owner and Uber-driver jokes. New angle: Tesla unveiled a flying car, the Roadster. - [Pivot](https://boilpoints.com/u/pivot), 2026-10-20, 14:57 to 21:53: **Pans the demo and adds the deposit figures**. Recaps the Roadster demo and pans it as an engineering stunt with no commercial value, timed to distract from Q3 earnings. Adds the reservation tiers, the delivery fine print, and the $250 million Tesla has held in customer deposits since 2017. New angle: Reservations are $50,000 for the performance trim and $250,000 for the thrust trim, and Tesla's fine print cannot guarantee delivery. - [Pivot](https://boilpoints.com/u/pivot), 2026-10-20, 53:55 to 56:28: **Pivots from the demo to falling deliveries**. Names the Roadster its fail of the week, then pivots from the demo to Tesla's core business: deliveries fell in 2024 and again in 2025, and BYD has passed Tesla in EV sales. The stunts, they argue, are cover for a shrinking auto business. New angle: Tesla deliveries fell in 2024, the first annual decline, and fell again in 2025; BYD has passed Tesla in EV sales. - [The Vergecast](https://boilpoints.com/u/thevergecast), 2026-10-22, 3:15 to 5:05: **Recaps the wall climb and upside-down run**. Opens the episode with a recap of the Roadster event: the wall climb, the upside-down run, the flip over other cars. Pierce notes the demo revealed little about the car that may or may not ship, then hands off to Andy Hawkins. - [The Vergecast](https://boilpoints.com/u/thevergecast), 2026-10-22, 4:47 to 8:13: **Recaps the Roadster's history and slipped dates**. Walks the Roadster's history from Tesla's first car through the 2017 second-generation reveal, the sub-one-second and 600-mile promises, and the 2020 date that slipped repeatedly. Background that stays inside the record already built around the demo. - [The Vergecast](https://boilpoints.com/u/thevergecast), 2026-10-22, 8:13 to 10:58: **Explains the nine-year Roadster slip**. Explains the nine-year Roadster slip: Musk kept raising the promised specs as deadlines passed, reservation money worked as an interest-free loan, and Tesla's focus moved to the Model 3, Model Y, Cybertruck, Cybercab and Optimus while Rimac and Bugatti filled the electric hypercar space. Analysis and history, no new development. - [The Vergecast](https://boilpoints.com/u/thevergecast), 2026-10-22, 10:47 to 12:25: **Recaps the launch as a party trick**. Recaps the launch event as razzle dazzle and a party trick, noting it was supposed to happen a month earlier and that people started realizing things about the demo the next day. Framing and reaction, no new development. - [The Vergecast](https://boilpoints.com/u/thevergecast), 2026-10-22, 12:25 to 14:48: **Singles out the downforce fan system**. Walks through the demo's specs and singles out the fan technology: downforce fans, separate from the cold gas thrusters, are what let the car climb the vertical ramp and drive upside down. Notes fan cars have precedent as proof-of-concept racers. New angle: A separate fan system, not the thrusters, creates the downforce for the vertical ramp and upside-down driving. - [TBPN](https://boilpoints.com/u/tbpn), 2026-10-26, 55:56 to 58:30: **Riffs on the Roadster's missing mirrors**. Notes the Roadster concept was displayed at the Peterson Museum in Los Angeles and that it has no mirrors, then drifts into a riff on folding mirrors and camera-based mirror laws. Reaction and opinion, no new development in the demo story. - [The Bonfire with Big Jay Oakerson and Robert Kelly](https://boilpoints.com/u/thebonfirewithbigjayoakersonandrobertkelly), 2026-10-28, 16:53 to 19:26: **Calls the jump-and-flip demo marketing spin**. Reacts to Tesla's Roadster unveiling, with Jay and Bobby calling the jump-and-flip demo marketing spin rather than a flying car. Notes the 2028 sale date and three levels, then riffs on half pipes and bridge scenarios. New angle: Tesla's Roadster demo showed the car jumping and flipping, with sales slated for 2028 in three levels. - [The Bonfire with Big Jay Oakerson and Robert Kelly](https://boilpoints.com/u/thebonfirewithbigjayoakersonandrobertkelly), 2026-10-28, 22:07 to 24:06: **Keeps riffing on the falling car and Jetsons jokes**. Keeps the Roadster argument going: Jay and Bobby call it a falling car, joke about plutonium and Jetsons, and bring up a Model Y that survived a 400-foot drop off the Palisades. Reaction and riffs, no new development. - [The Bonfire with Big Jay Oakerson and Robert Kelly](https://boilpoints.com/u/thebonfirewithbigjayoakersonandrobertkelly), 2026-10-28, 29:15 to 32:13: **Runs through the Roadster's specs and invite-only sale**. Runs through the Roadster's claimed specs and the buying process: 400 mph, roughly a million dollars, invitation only. Also detours into SpaceX's chopstick booster catch and a joke about jumping the Grand Canyon. New angle: The Roadster is invitation-only for now, with a claimed 400 mph top speed and a price near $1 million. - [The Bonfire with Big Jay Oakerson and Robert Kelly](https://boilpoints.com/u/thebonfirewithbigjayoakersonandrobertkelly), 2026-10-28, 32:13 to 39:21: **Debates whether the Roadster flew or jumped**. Long comic argument over whether the Roadster demo was flying or jumping, landing on 'a jumping, falling car' and the nickname Frogger. Notes the run was driverless and covered four cars, but stays inside the demo already on the record.