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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?
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- The next-generation Tesla Roadster at Car Classic 2018. [Credit: t35l_4/Instagram]
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- The next-generation Tesla Roadster at Car Classic 2018. [Credit: Dave Kunz/Instagram]
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- The next-generation Tesla Roadster at Car Classic 2018. [Credit: t35l_4/Instagram]
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- 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.”
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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.
Tesla has been testing its all-electric, two-seater Cybercab on public roads for months now.
Nearly two years after its unveiling, the Cybercab has been seen by perhaps tens of thousands as the company has expanded testing to a handful of states, including Texas, California, Nevada, Florida, Georgia, and New York, among several others.
However, nobody has seen one like this quite yet.
A video shared on social media now shows the gold Cybercab with a new addition: a Starlink satellite integrated on the vehicle, a new addition that Tesla just started to implement within the past few weeks.
@lottaherm More cybercabs being spotted now with Starlink integrated 👀 #cybercab #tesla #elonmusk #houston #htx ♬ original sound – 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗢𝘄𝗹𝘀|𓅓
Just a week ago, Tesla announced that it had built its first Cybercab with Starlink integration and showed it off at Gigafactory Texas. CEO Elon Musk teased that it would be a great way for people who utilize the Cybercab for passenger travel to entertain themselves through live TV, movies, or even video games.
Tesla’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, said it is also a huge advantage for Tesla as it will enable constant connectivity between the company and the fleet of Cybercabs it has. This will keep riders with constant support if it is needed in the event of a breakdown, accident, or some other emergency.
Tesla’s reason for Starlink integration on Cybercab might surprise you
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It appears that this particular unit was spotted in Houston, Texas, a location where the company’s Robotaxi platform is already active. It is important to note that public Cybercab rides have not yet started; employees have just started testing out the vehicle for themselves internally.
Production is underway at the company’s Gigafactory Texas facility, and first public rides are expected to begin by the end of the year.
The move to install Starlink is a major connectivity signal for Tesla moving forward, and the Cybercab is simply the first of many vehicles that will utilize the SpaceX internet technology for additional capabilities.
Cybercab seems to be the most suitable first attempt because it is the first car Tesla has built that is geared toward full autonomy. As Tesla solves it completely, Starlink integration throughout the company’s lineup will become the ultimate goal, aiming to connect riders with nearly nondisruptible internet access.
Tesla is building its largest East Coast Supercharger in New York City, planning to bring a 64- to 68-stall station to Queens, New York.
It will end up being tied for the largest Supercharger on the East Coast with this number of stalls. The largest on the Eastern Seaboard is located in Halifax, North Carolina, and is also 68 stalls.
Tesla is currently building a new 64-stall Supercharger station in Queens, New York. This will be the biggest Supercharger station on the East Coast of the U.S.
It will also have two pull-through stalls for EVs with trailers. Thx for the pics @LetsCleanNYC. pic.twitter.com/CCo0dIoHin
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) August 16, 2026
The location is also set to be fitted with two pull-through stalls for EVs with trailers. We’ve seen Tesla implement these types of parking spots at newer locations as EV ownership continues to expand to those who do more than simply drive their cars.
There are plenty of Superchargers in the New York City metro, but they are mostly located in boroughs outside of Manhattan. There are five Superchargers in various neighborhoods of Manhattan, but there are limited plugs; usually only four per location. There are plenty of Destination Chargers in the Big Apple, though.
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Queens, the Bronx, and Brooklyn have become popular locations for companies to build out charging infrastructure for those who live in the highly populated boroughs. There is simply much more real estate to build effective EV charging stations.
The Supercharger will be located in Maspeth, Queens, at 48-26 54th Road. Maspeth has I-495 running through it, so this will be a great location for Tesla owners to hop off the highway on their way to Long Island or to Manhattan to charge up before continuing their journey.
Tesla has done a really great job of expanding its charging footprint throughout the past several years, especially by building large-scale projects that cater to areas that have a high volume of traffic and are main routes of travel to major areas. Tesla is making an effort to make charging less stressful and more widely available in these concentrated regions.
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SpaceX just launched a secret payload from California
SpaceX launched a classified Space Force mission from Vandenberg, revealing almost nothing about its payload.
SpaceX launched a classified Falcon 9 mission for the U.S. Space Force from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Saturday night, and the government released almost nothing about what was on board. The mission, designated USSF-366, lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E with a window that opened at 9:52 p.m. ET and ran into the early hours of Sunday, according to SpaceX’s own mission page, which described the payload only as classified. SpaceX confirmed the launch on its X account and pointed viewers to a livestream that began roughly ten minutes before liftoff.
Watch Falcon 9 launch the USSF-366 mission from pad 4E in California https://t.co/FFEzeYOds1
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 16, 2026
The lack of detail did not stop analysts from filling in the blanks. Independent tracking of the rocket’s stage drop zones matched the pattern SpaceX has used on previous Starlink Group 15 missions, according to reporting from Outer Space Today, which pointed to Starshield as the likely payload rather than a one off government satellite. Starshield is SpaceX’s national security product, a version of the Starlink satellite bus built to Pentagon specifications for earth observation, communications and hosted payloads. Unlike consumer Starlink, government agencies do not have to disclose what Starshield satellites are actually doing once they reach orbit.
USSF-366 is the latest entry in a steady flow of classified and semi classified work between SpaceX and the Space Force. The company picked up a $178.5 million task order in April to launch missile tracking satellites for the Space Development Agency, as Teslarati reported at the time, and followed that in July with a $1.6 billion award covering 18 more Falcon 9 missions from Vandenberg through the end of 2027, also detailed by Teslarati. Add those contracts up and SpaceX’s Pentagon business for 2026 alone tops $8 billion.
SpaceX scores another massive Pentagon deal to support military satellites
The Falcon 9 that flew Saturday landed back near the launch site, producing the sonic booms that have become routine for residents near Vandenberg. What is less routine is how little the public will likely ever learn about what the rocket carried. SpaceX and the Space Force have not confirmed the Starshield connection, and government satellite programs built on commercial buses rarely get identified beyond a mission number and a general orbit. For a company that live streams almost everything else it does, from Starship test flights to Optimus robot demos, USSF-366 is a reminder that some of SpaceX’s busiest work now happens entirely out of public view.
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Tesla starts testing its Starlink-integrated Cybercab on public roads
Tesla is building its largest Supercharger on the East Coast in New York City
