[AUSTIN, TEXAS] Tesla is hoping a flight demonstration can give its ground-bound auto business a lift.

The electric vehicle maker unveiled its long-delayed new Roadster sports car Thursday (Oct 15) in Texas, reviving and refreshing a model that Tesla stopped producing more than a decade ago. When it goes on sale, the high-end vehicle will give the company another offering in a slimmed-down lineup revolving primarily around a pair of mid-priced consumer models.

The showcase was not a typical pull-the-sheet-off-the-car reveal, though. Tesla made the Roadster fly. Sort of.

Powered by air thrusters developed in partnership with SpaceX engineers, the prototype vehicle drove up a ramp and did a controlled flip before descending to the ground. It then used the system to jump and flip over Tesla’s vehicle lineup, including the Tesla Semi, and performed other stunts including “jumping” and flipping over in mid-air using the thrusters.

The demonstration, held at a SpaceX rocket testing facility near Waco and livestreamed online, came after years of promises to bring back the Roadster model. Elon Musk, the chief executive officer of both Tesla and SpaceX, has been hyping up the return, saying it “might be one of the most spectacular demos ever”.

“We need an audience to prove that it’s not AI or SI,” Musk said on stage Thursday. “You’re going to see the results of what happens when you have a collaboration with the world’s best car company and the world’s best rocket company.”

The vehicle, which is designed to lean into aerospace aesthetics, features two seats and Cybertruck style steer-by wire-system. Tesla showed a video of the vehicle accelerating from zero to 60 miles (96.6 km) per hour in under one second.Â

Invite only

Still, the long-overdue vehicle is not expected to start production until 2028, and frustrated commuters will not be able to fly over traffic jams just yet.

The Roadster website allows reservations for the performance road-ready version of the vehicle, and a limited-release “thrust” race-ready package that adds the acceleration thrusters and multi-mode suction system.

The flying version is reserved for the invite-only “Rocket” package, and that single-seat is not approved for public roads.

Tesla’s auto business could use a boost, after consecutive annual sales declines and criticism over a stagnant product lineup. While Musk is working to reorient the company around futuristic business lines such as artificial intelligence and robots, EV sales still account for the majority of the company’s revenue and profit.

Prior to the event, Andrew Rocco, a stock strategist at Zacks Investment Research, said the demonstration could generate enthusiasm for Tesla, but ultimately a high price tag and small total addressable market mean the Roadster will likely do little to change Tesla’s sales or earnings prospects.

“It’s going to be an exciting product. Likely, it’s going to build a lot of hype, but I don’t think that it’s going to be a needle mover,” Rocco said. “Musk loves to build hype around the brand.”

The flashy stunt brings attention to the company and underscores Tesla’s efforts to be seen as a boundary-pushing, tech-forward company. Executives have also emphasised that the Roadster is an ode to manual driving, even as the company increasingly focuses on autonomy.

The vehicle has been subject to numerous delays since it was first announced in 2017. The original Roadster, Tesla’s first product, was launched in 2008 and discontinued in 2012.

Garrett Nelson, a senior equity research analyst at CFRA, said the revived Roadster is “long overdue” and the Tesla brand could use a buzzy new model.

“They’ve had this lull in their product pipeline for years now,” Nelson said.

The new version adds to Tesla’s limited consumer vehicle lineup, which currently consists of the Model 3 and Model Y, as well as the slow-selling Cybertruck.

Tesla, which discontinued two consumer models earlier this year, also makes the commercial Semi truck and is producing a two-person robotaxi known as the Cybercab, which is not yet for sale to outside customers.

Tesla has suggested for years that the next Roadster could include a SpaceX option package. Some investors and analysts have cited overlap between the companies as justification for a merger.

Musk has talked recently about the ways that his two largest companies interact, including on a recent earnings call when he said Tesla overlaps “on so many fronts with SpaceX”. He pointed in particular to Terafab, a joint effort by the companies to build a semiconductor plant.

“We’ve seen the companies grow closer and closer,” Nelson said. “It’s approaching the point where Musk can make the argument that the companies collaborate so closely that it just makes sense to merge.” BLOOMBERG