Tesla share price drops after unveiling Roadster Sports Car: Check Elon Musk's SpaceX backed flying car's features, available timeline

Elon Musk-owned Tesla has unveiled its new Roadster sports car. The new generation vehicle can thrust itself in the air, among other engineering bells and whistles. But drivers shouldn't expect to take it for a spin anytime soon. Elon Musk's electric car company rolled out its second-generation Roadster at a Thursday event, showing off a set of cold gas thrusters and a “multi-mode” suction system that can fling the car in the air for short spurts and spin the vehicle mid-flight.

This week's launch arrived after years of delays and anticipation around the new Roadster — and Tesla shares climbed in morning trading on Friday before falling amid a sell-off in companies tied to artificial intelligence. Tesla stocks dropped 3.1 per cent after the electric-vehicle maker unveiled a redesigned Roadster, powered by rocket-style thrusters, developed in collaboration with SpaceX.

In second-quarter earnings reported over the summer, Tesla's profits fell as the company spent more on research and development for its robotaxi and robotics businesses — which cut into money made from an otherwise sharp increase in vehicle sales. Net income totalled USD 1.11 billion for the period, while revenue climbed to USD 28.24 billion.


Tesla Roadster Sports Car Available Date

Musk said production for consumers won't begin until 2028. Tesla also didn't immediately set a price tag on its latest EV.

Tesla's first Roadster was launched back in 2008. And in 2018, Musk went as far as placing one on a rocket — with a mannequin dubbed “Starman” in the driver's seat — and launching it into space. Again, the second-generation Roadster isn't immediately hitting the market. And whether the ambitious new vehicle boosts the company's bottom line remains to be seen.

Tesla Roadster Sports Car Features

Thursday's event was hosted at the Texas rocket testing and development center for SpaceX — Musk's publicly-traded rocket company — and Tesla's executives noted that they “borrowed” some SpaceX technology to get the new Roadster in the air. Beyond quick jumps and flips, Tesla also said the car can accelerate from zero to 60 miles (96.6 km) an hour in less than a second.

Tesla was taking reservations for Roadster “rocket” car purchases on its website Friday morning, though the fine print said there was no guarantee when the vehicle would be delivered — or whether it would be delivered at all.

Musk has repeatedly said that the future of driving will be autonomous — and Austin-based Tesla has focused much of its business on building out self-driving features for its vehicles and, more recently, launching its own (still limited) robotaxi business.

But the company maintains that the Roadster will be made to have humans behind the wheel, calling the EV the “best of the last human-driven cars.”