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Elon Musk hints at Tesla Roadster’s “hovering” abilities in SpaceX package
Tesla CEO Elon Musk might not think too highly of flying cars, but hopping and hovering cars? Apparently, it may just be fair game. Oh, and you also need a next-generation Roadster with a SpaceX option package to do that. Responding with a tweet comment in a thread lauding Tesla’s impressive technology improvements over the years, the innovative tech entrepreneur teased today the next-gen Roadster may be able to hover “something like” the animated DeLorean from Back to the Future fame. Combined with his past mentions of using cold gas thrusters to enable short flight “hops” with a Roadster, one can certainly look forward to all the potential fun when first Tesla Roadster test drives begin in a presumed 2020.
The new Roadster will actually do something like this https://t.co/fIsTAYa4x8
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 9, 2019
The responses to the hover comment on Twitter immediately pointed to Musk’s colorful descriptions of flying car dangers expressed in the past:
“There will be zillions of these things flying all over the place and, inevitably, somebody’s not going to service their car properly and they’re going to drop a hubcap and it’s going to guillotine somebody…And it’s going to be noisy like a hurricane,” he said at a Boring Company event in May of last year.
Of course, the entrepreneur who always gives fun a serious focus with his products is not reneging on his concerns. He simply seems to have car performance and customer satisfaction in mind. He’d also like to continue adding features to completely ensure that the next generation Roadster is a “hardcore smackdown” to gasoline cars. Part of that secret sauce is owning a rocket company that’s engineered some amazing technology of its own. Why not use what’s available?
- The next-generation Tesla Roadster at Car Classic 2018. [Credit: t35l_4/Instagram]
- The next-generation Tesla Roadster at Car Classic 2018. [Credit: Dave Kunz/Instagram]
- The next-generation Tesla Roadster at Car Classic 2018. [Credit: t35l_4/Instagram]
- Credit: Tesla
Tesla enthusiasts have been familiarized by Musk for some time now with his and the company’s plans for a “SpaceX option” package to be offered as an upgrade for the new Roadster. That package is said to include about 10 rocket thrusters “arranged seamlessly around (the) car” which would theoretically add to the vehicle’s braking ability (thrusters in front), speed acquisition (in back, to perhaps supersede “Plaid” and “Ludicrous” modes), and cornering (side thrusters). With the hovering capabilities, perhaps struggles with parallel parking will be a thing of the past for even the most hopeless at the task.
“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. Rocket tech applied to a car opens up revolutionary possibilities.” – Elon Musk, via Twitter
The SpaceX label on the Roadster option package is not just a nod to rocket thrusters, either. The high-pressure canisters used for the thruster propulsion will potentially be miniature Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels (COPV), the types of fuel containers used by SpaceX’s first-stage rocket boosters during re-entry and landing. Musk has also clarified that, if used, these COPV bottles would contain ultra-high pressure air that would “immediately be replenished whenever the vehicle pack power draw allowed operation of the air pump, which is most of the time.”
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.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 9, 2019
Even without space-faring options, the next generation Roadster is going to be impressive. It boasts a top speed of 250+ mph, a 0-60 mph time of 1.9 seconds, a quarter-mile time of 8.9 seconds, a 200 kWh battery pack that gives 620 miles of range, and 10,000 Nm of torque from the electric hypercar’s three electric motors. It also seats four passengers, thanks to its 2+2 seating arrangement, although 2 of those seats will be sacrificed if the SpaceX option is selected to make room for, you know, rocket thrusters – or at least their hardware.
Even better for those whose car-buying budget is in the range is the starting price point – $200-$250k. Compared to the $1 million-plus for gas guzzlers with similar performance specs, you might just say that’s a bargain. The whole deal would make great advertising, only Tesla doesn’t have to do that. Oh, well. We’ll just have to get by with Musk’s Twitter feed and the occasional company announcement, some way, some how.
Elon Musk
Tesla Roadster owners to get “Flying Stunt Mode” and looping track access
Musk says Roadster owners can command the unveiling stunts autonomously, with a Texas looping track.
Elon Musk says owners of the new Tesla Roadster will be able to ask the car to perform the stunts Tesla showed at its unveiling, with the car doing the driving itself. Musk made the comment Saturday in a reply on X to tech blogger Robert Scoble, and he added a promise of a looping track at Tesla’s Texas headquarters.
Scoble had argued that the person in the Roadster is not really driving it. In his description, the driver operates a computer that tells another computer what to do, with steering, braking and acceleration all handled by wire. Musk answered, “True. You will be able to ask the Roadster to perform any of the tricks shown autonomously, as it will be sentient. Also, we will have a wild looping track (crazier even than Hot Wheels) at our Texas HQ where you can test out your Roadster.”
@Scobleizer True.
You will be able to ask the Roadster to perform any of the tricks shown autonomously, as it will be sentient.
Also, we will have a wild looping track (crazier even than Hot Wheels) at our Texas HQ where you can test out your Roadster.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 17, 2026
At the October 15 event outside Waco, the car drove up a curved ramp until it was upside down, flew off on cold gas thrusters, flipped and landed. It also hovered over a Cybercab, Cybertruck, Semi, Model Y and Model 3 while moving. As we noted in our breakdown of the three Roadster configurations, Musk said at the event that the car “literally is just going to puff itself up” to perform the maneuvers whenever an owner wants. Saturday’s reply adds that the car would run them on its own.
Tesla has described some of the hardware that would make that possible. The Roadster uses steer by wire with a yoke, and its cold gas thrusters rely on electric actuators for small adjustments in flight. A fan system under the car creates suction, which Tesla says is strong enough to hold it upside down, a setup we covered in our look at the Roadster’s fan system and thrusters.
Musk did not say when an autonomous stunt feature might arrive, how it would work, or what he means by sentient. He also gave no size, location or opening date for the Texas track. Production is planned for Giga Texas in 2027 or 2028, and Tesla says the car is not approved for public road use. The Rocket version, the one built to fly, is invite only.
The comment follows a week of Musk teasing the event, including his claim that the demo would be a banger, which we covered before the stream. Tesla reports third quarter earnings on October 21, and shareholders can submit and vote on questions through the Say portal until 4 p.m. EDT on October 20, according to our earnings Q&A preview. A question about autonomous Roadster stunts and the Texas track would be a quick way to get specifics from management.
Elon Musk
How to use Grok Bot to block spam calls and texts
Musk told users to ask Grok Bot to scrub their phone numbers from spam lists.
Elon Musk has a new use case for Grok Bot, and it is the spam call. On Thursday he replied to an X user named Arash with a short instruction: “Ask your @Grok @Bot to remove your phone number from spam call & text lists!” Arash had said he got tired of the calls, had an AI bot find his number on listing sites and file removal requests, and packaged the process as a free skill for others.
The skill is called Spam-Call Scrubber, which is described to find a phone number on people search sites and data brokers, submits the opt outs, completes the confirmation emails those sites send back, and rechecks on a schedule the user picks. Using it requires the Grok Bot app. The pitch is time saved, since most broker opt outs sit behind separate forms on separate sites.
Ask your @Grok @Bot to remove your phone number from spam call & text lists!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 15, 2026
Musk said Grok Bot now gives each bot its own email address, and that it can detect scam emails. On Thursday he also said SpaceX would make users whole if the bot botches a purchase or leaks a card, then told users to shop away from Amazon after the retailer blocked the agent, as Teslarati reported. The terms of service we reviewed at the time put responsibility for what an agent does on the user.
For Tesla owners, Grok Bot is not just a phone app. Tesla brought Grok Bot into its vehicles on September 22, and we argued earlier this week that the Cybercab’s real advantage may be the errands it runs during a ride. Every Cybercab and the rest of the Model Y Robotaxi fleet has it enabled. The more routine tasks like this one become, the more a rider has reason to hand over something personal in the back seat.
The new Spam-Call Scrubber skill can be downloaded for free and works on sites that honor removal requests, while noting that listings can reappear, and illegal robocallers do not check any registry. Whether Spam-Call Scrubber cuts anyone’s call volume is something the first wave of users will find out, and Musk’s endorsement guarantees that wave is coming.
Investor's Corner
Tesla’s flying Roadster just revealed something bigger than the car
Analysts say the Roadster demo puts a Tesla and SpaceX merger back on the table.
The Roadster unveiling near Waco ended Thursday night, and by Friday morning much of the investor reaction had less to do with the car than with who owns the rocket technology inside it.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the event “puts the Tesla/SpaceX relationship on the table in a tangible way,” pointing to the propulsion, pressure vessel and control hardware sitting on a Tesla product. Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management called the demo “a ridiculous display of engineering” with “no commercial value” beyond embarrassing traditional automakers, though he said it showed Musk wants the two companies together.
The more specific forecast came a day earlier from Barclays. Analyst Dan Levy told clients a deal could be announced before Tesla’s annual meeting, which must happen by December 6, and that an announcement in late October or early November could make shareholder approval harder. Barclays expects SpaceX to be the buyer in an all stock deal, with Tesla holders receiving SpaceX shares at a premium, based on market values of roughly $2.1 trillion for SpaceX and $1.5 trillion for Tesla. If nothing lands around the meeting, the bank still sees an announcement within 6 to 12 months.
The Roadster demo just added more weight to merger speculations. Tesla’s demo used cold gas thrusters and pressure tanks of the kind SpaceX uses on Falcon 9, and Musk described the car as a collaboration between Tesla and SpaceX engineers, as we mentioned in our breakdown of the three Roadster configurations.
Musk has not publicly addressed a deal since the event, as far as we have seen. His most direct answer remains the one he gave at the All In Summit, when he said that with so much collaboration, “who can imagine what action one might take” without ruling anything out. Ives has held to a 2027 timeline since his March note, and Musk pushed back on the China piece of the speculation when ARK floated a year end announcement in August.
The next test is Tesla’s third quarter earnings call on October 21. However, we recall in July that Musk told analysts, “we can’t talk about combining companies and that kind of thing on an earnings call,” so a clear answer wouldn’t be expected.





