Musk: Tesla Roadster Will Use SpaceX Tech and Have Rocket Boosters

by Chris Teague

Published: March 19th, 2024

musk tesla roadster will use spacex tech and have rocket boosters

Tesla presented the “new” Roadster back in 2017, but the car isn’t expected to officially launch until next year. CEO Elon Musk has made some big promises about the car, including that it could break the one-second 0-60 mph time barrier. We’re now hearing more grandiose claims about the car, with Musk saying that it would feature rocket technology thanks to a partnership with his other company, SpaceX.

Musk made the claims in an interview with former CNN personality Don Lemon, saying that a flying Roadster is “not out of the question.” Though the Cybertruck is having weird rust issues, Musk noted it as Tesla’s best vehicle but said the Roadster will outperform it.

“The only way to do something cooler than the Cybertruck is to combine SpaceX and Tesla technology to create something that’s not really a car. It’s going to be really cool. It’s going to have some rocket technology in it.” It’s worth noting that Musk also claimed the Cybertruck may be used as a boat, so this isn’t the first wild claim about a new Tesla model.

Hopeful buyers can reserve the Roadster with a massive $50,000 deposit, but the final price could exceed $200,000 if Musk’s earlier statements hold true. Before buying Twitter, he tweeted that the car would be available with a SpaceX package that adds 10 “small rocket thrusters arranged seamlessly around the car.” So, a flying, rocket-powered EV that is somehow street-legal. Right.

These are wild claims, and while Tesla has managed to deliver on some of Musk's promises, it has also fallen short in some instances. The Cybertruck did not land with the affordable price tag Musk claimed, and it’s not quite as bulletproof as initially expected. It’s also unclear how Tesla could integrate rockets with a road car and not face immediate lawsuits from YouTube idiots trying to see how quickly it can accelerate.

[Image: Tesla]

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Chris Teague

Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.

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2 of 29 comments

Dr Mindbender on Mar 21, 2024

I'm sure it will be really easy to insure a car with rockets of any kind installed. I heard the boosters were for countering lateral g force during cornering, and possibly for straight line braking. I can't wait to be "blown away" by one of these things! Sideways rocket jets on that thing pointed at ME in my convertible??? I'll slash your fkin tires if I see one on the street with real rockets on it. NOPE.

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ToolGuy on Mar 22, 2024

Elon Musk is a geek. When you make a car with prodigious torque you run into wheelspin so you develop much better traction control. So now we have hit the limits of tire adhesion. Going to 'first principles' and defining the 'problem' as "quicker acceleration" it's a natural step to employ reaction motors and hey why not reaction engines and what if we used air or water vapor and they were not only 'reusable' but 'rechargeable' and oh by the way "acceleration" isn't limited to one direction we could use this for braking or how about a full RCS and hey you know a vertical hop might come in handy because the roads are crumbling.
This is what you get when geeks have money and other geeks to bounce ideas off of.

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