'Something extraordinary': Tesla Roadster wows with compressed air thrusters for limited flight

After a two-week delay, the Tesla ( TSLA ) Roadster event went off with a massive bang — a flying one.

The wedge-shaped, cyberpunk-looking Roadster EV appeared in front of an inverted half roller coaster ramp erected at SpaceX's facility in Waco, Texas. The Roadster cruised halfway up — glued to the ramp using a vacuum fan system — then launched off the ramp upside down and performed flips in the air, using air thrusters to right itself and land on the tarmac.

Then the Roadster performed a similar stunt, jumping over several Teslas (including a semi), inverted itself, and then used its thrusters to land — an automaker first.

"Well, it worked," CEO Elon Musk deadpanned.

The Roadster also went 0-60 mph in less than 1 second (0.81 seconds) during a test Tesla conducted at the event. While Tesla claimed the car could hit a top speed of 230 mph, Musk boasted that the production version could target half the speed of sound, or Mach 0.5 (383 mph).

So when can you expect to get one? "We enter production in 2028," Musk said.

Tesla said the car comes in three configurations:

Performance: road-ready, seats 2, with multi-mode suction system for next-level performance on and off track;

Thrust: race-ready, seats 2, with multi-mode suction system and rear-mounted cold-gas thrusters that enable 0–60 in <1 second

Rocket: air-ready, seats 1, with multi-mode suction system, plus perimeter-mounted cold-gas thrusters for forward, upward acceleration and lateral rotational movement. So ... yes, it can fly.

Tesla said the three versions had a range exceeding 300 miles, with a top speed of up to 230 mph for the Rocket version. Officially, in terms of performance, 0- 60 mph across the range is <1.6 seconds for Performance, <0.9 seconds for Thrust, and <0.59 seconds for Rocket.

No word yet on how the Rocket version, with its thrusters that allow short flights, would be allowed on public roads.

The event came two weeks after the initial Oct. 1 reveal date. Tesla said the reveal was pushed back due to weather conditions at the demo site, SpaceX's ( SPCX ) Rocket Development and Testing facility in Waco, Texas .

Tesla is asking prospective buyers to put down a $5,000 deposit, followed by a $45,000 wire transfer due within 10 days of the initial deposit for the performance version, and a $250,000 deposit for the thrust variant. The rocket version is invite-only; no MSRP amounts were released.

" There were hints that the Tesla Roadster might do something extraordinary, but I think what happened in Texas on Thursday evening far exceeded everyone's expectations," said Henry Catchpole, host of Hagerty's "The Driver's Seat," who was in attendance at the event. "How it all translates into a finished, usable, enjoyable road car for enthusiasts remains to be seen. For now, it seems like an incredible engineering achievement ."