Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled what he described as a "flying" car, equipped with thrusters, during a livestreamed event at his SpaceX rocket company's facility on Thursday.
Technical and regulatory challenges have so far prevented the much-hyped flying car sector from getting off the ground.
Musk revealed Tesla's new Roadster sports car during a launch event at a SpaceX test facility in Texas.
During the demo, which was livestreamed on Tesla's X account, the car launched from a ramp that curled over so the vehicle was upside down, appearing to defy gravity by clinging to the surface before flying off the end, and then rolled over 180 degrees midair to land on its wheels.
"Flying cars are real," Musk said during the event, adding that the vehicle's "success is not guaranteed" but "it will probably work."
Musk said the car was equipped with "ultra high-pressure air tanks" to propel itself into the air.
The tech billionaire described the development as "what happens when you have a collaboration with the world's best car company and the world's best rocket company," referring to Tesla and SpaceX.
The vehicle would go into production in 2028, he said. Prices were not announced.
Tesla's website notes that the planned flying model is not approved for public road use.
Would-be buyers can place a reservation online, with a $5,000 deposit, for a non-flying model of the Roadster. A limited-edition Thrust model is also promised online but cannot be reserved. Tesla's website says the Rocket model, with its "full flight system," will be offered by invitation only.
"The Roadster will not move the volume or revenue needle, with production likely limited, and investors should not model it as a growth driver," Wall Street analyst Dan Ives of Yorkville Ives said in a research note. "What it does is restore the brand halo at the top of the market and put a spotlight on the engineering stack a week before the FY3Q26 print on October 21st."
It wasn't immediately clear what government agency would have oversight of the vehicle, CBS News senior transportation and national correspondent Kris Van Cleave reports. A senior U.S. Transportation Department official expressed some skepticism to CBS News that the vehicle will actually be able to take off, but acknowledged there wasn't a clear answer.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration typically has regulatory oversight of vehicles but delegates safety certification to the automaker. NHTSA didn't immediately respond to CBS News' request for comment.
The Federal Aviation Administration told CBS News the vehicle doesn't meet the agency's definition of an aircraft.
The concept of flying cars has been around almost as long as motor vehicles themselves, with American aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss debuting the first flying car prototype in 1917. But successful designs have been pursued more seriously only in recent years as electric motors and high-performance batteries have advanced.
Ives said the Roadster shows how Tesla and SpaceX can collaborate. The new vehicle "puts the Tesla and SpaceX relationship on the table in a tangible way, with propulsion, pressure-vessel, and control hardware developed at the rocket company sitting on a Tesla product, which in our view strengthens the case for the two companies operating as one engineering platform over time," he said.
Musk — a major GOP political donor known for an often close but sometimes tumultuous relationship with President Trump — has thrust his companies to the forefront of several major industries, and he continues pushing into new ones.
SpaceX announced a week ago that it had agreed to buy licenses for radio airwaves that will enable its Starlink Mobile satellite business to provide cellular service inside buildings, a move the company said would allow it to "become a major mobile carrier in the U.S."
"This is the last critical piece of the spectrum puzzle needed for SpaceX to provide complete phone coverage in America," Musk said in an Oct. 8 social media post.
