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Tesla Delayed the Roadster Demo for Weather. Musk Has Said the Car Can Fly.

Red Tesla Roadster tilted in a crimson and black graphic with speed streaks and the headline Weather Delay: Musk said it can fly
09/29/2026 | The RED Review |

Tesla says the event can only be held outdoors. Musk has said the car can fly. Tesla has not said it will fly on Oct. 15.

Tesla moved its next-generation Roadster event from Oct. 1 to Oct. 15 after a severe weather forecast, the company said Monday on X, because the event “can only be held outdoors.”

Car launches do not usually need a clear sky. This one does, and Elon Musk has said for years that the Roadster can fly. Tesla has not said that is what it will show on Oct. 15. It has said only that the event cannot move indoors.

What to know

Here is what Tesla has confirmed and what it has not:

  • Tesla’s new date is Thursday, Oct. 15, and it said additional details will follow.
  • Tesla told invitees the event “features a unique experience that must be held outdoors.”
  • Musk wrote on June 15, 2024, “The new Tesla Roadster can fly,” and Tesla’s delay post does not mention flight.

Tesla’s “Roadster event update” said it had been “tracking the weather closely with local meteorologists,” but “given the severe conditions predicted & because this event can only be held outdoors, we’ve made the difficult decision to reschedule.” TechCrunch reported the event was originally slated for Oct. 1 in Waco, Texas. Tesla’s post does not name a venue, a start time, or a rain date.

Tesla had warned guests a day earlier. Its email, titled “Important: Roadster Event Weather,” said the event “features a unique experience that must be held outdoors” and that Tesla might need to reschedule. Brooks Weisblat of DragTimes shared the email on X, according to eletric-vehicles.com.

Red second-generation Tesla Roadster prototype parked outdoors beside a Cybertruck and Cyberquad at the 2020 Tesla Annual Shareholder Meeting and Battery Day
Steve Jurvetson / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

On Sept. 12, Tesla posted a teaser captioned “Go for launch.” HotCars described the image as showing four white plumes behind a low car, with the words “Where we’re going” visible when the contrast is raised. Tesla has not explained the image.

What Musk has already said

The flight talk is not new, and it is Musk’s, not Tesla’s:

  • On Nov. 19, 2017, Musk wrote on X, “Not saying the next gen Roadster special upgrade package will definitely enable it to fly short hops, but maybe … Certainly possible. Just a question of safety.”
  • On June 9, 2018, Musk wrote that a SpaceX option package “will include ~10 small rocket thrusters arranged seamlessly around car” and added, “Maybe they will even allow a Tesla to fly …”
  • In January 2019, after Marques Brownlee said he did not think Musk was joking about a flying Roadster, Musk replied, “I’m not. Will use SpaceX cold gas thruster system with ultra high pressure air in a composite over-wrapped pressure vessel in place of the 2 rear seats.”
  • On June 15, 2024, Musk wrote on X, “The new Tesla Roadster can fly.”

The Information reported on Aug. 14 that Tesla planned a hover stunt with a remotely operated, limited-edition Roadster on SpaceX cold-gas thrusters, and that the demonstration could take place at SpaceX’s McGregor, Texas, rocket test site, as summarized by eletric-vehicles.com. We covered that report in Is Tesla Demoing a Flying Roadster This Month? Tesla has not confirmed the venue or the stunt.

TechCrunch drew the link between the weather and the thrusters. It wrote that the event “presumably needs to be held outdoors because Tesla has been working on integrating cold gas thrusters from SpaceX that are supposed to make the Roadster fly in some capacity.” That is TechCrunch’s inference. Tesla has not made it.

The delay post gives no price and no production date. Tesla has said only that more details are coming.

Answers

Did Tesla say the Roadster will fly on Oct. 15?

No. Tesla said the event can only be held outdoors and gave no details of what it will show. Musk has separately said the car can fly.

Why was the Roadster event delayed?

Tesla cited severe weather in the forecast and said the event can only be held outdoors, so it moved the date from Oct. 1 to Oct. 15.

Where is the Roadster event?

Tesla’s post does not name a venue. TechCrunch reported it was originally slated for Waco, Texas, and The Information reported the demo could be at SpaceX’s McGregor site.

Is this a flying car you can buy?

Tesla has not said so. Musk described a SpaceX option package in 2018, and reporting on the hover demo says the thruster version would be a limited edition not expected to be street legal.

Sources

Also in The Brief: Is Tesla Demoing a Flying Roadster This Month? · Tesla Semi Deliveries Just Started. 500 Miles Loaded. $260K–$290K. · Tesla Still Has No Weekly Optimus Rate. The Hands Are Still Hand-Built.

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