Markets · Summit Post
By Aditi Bharade You're currently following this author! Click to unsubscribe from email alerts. and Katherine Li You're currently following this author! Click to unsubscribe from email alerts.
Tesla unveiled a new iteration of the Roadster that can travel upside down. Tesla Tesla’s long-delayed Roadster finally made an entrance — by flying off a ramp. At a livestreamed event Thursday night, the sports car climbed a curved ramp until it was upside down, launched into the air, flipped, and landed on its wheels, apparently aided by thrusters beneath the vehicle.
“Well, it worked,” Elon Musk said during the livestream. Musk said Tesla and SpaceX engineers collaborated on the car, which uses high-pressure air and thrusters to lift itself off the ground. Tesla also showed a recorded demonstration in which the Roadster reached 60 mph in 0.81 seconds.
While the legality of such a device on public roads remains in question, the tech world is reacting to Musk's new creation with awe. Here is what the leading voices in business and tech are saying about the new Roadster. Jason Calacanis Bloomberg/Getty Images Angel investor Jason Calacanis said in an X post that the videos of the flying car looked like "science fiction," and they're real, although they don't seem to be.
He seemed enthused by the demonstration, asking that while the car was only airborne for a couple of seconds, "what if it could keep you in the air for five minutes? Or ten? Or 30?" Gene Munster Brian Ach/Getty Images for LocationWorld 2016 Gene Munster , the managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management and a longtime tech analyst, wrote his two takeaways from the Roadster event on X.
First, that "it was an engineering flex with no commercial value beyond embarrassing traditional car makers." And the second, that it signaled Musk's ambition to merge his two publicly traded companies, SpaceX and Tesla. John Carmack credit should read GABRIELLE LURIE/AFP via Getty Images John Carmack , the former CTO of Meta's virtual reality division, politely rejected the flying car. "That demo involved a non trivial chance of embarrassing failure!" he wrote on X.
He added, "I'm only going for the baseline model. At this point in my life, rocket bunny hops are out of my comfort zone." Read next Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Aditi Bharade You're currently following this author! Click to unsubscribe from email alerts.
Aditi is a news reporter at Business Insider’s Singapore bureau. She covers hustle culture and the future of work, focusing on how AI and technology are reshaping jobs, careers, and workplaces. She previously worked for The Straits Times, where she wrote breaking news stories for the Singapore desk.
She studied communications and business at Nanyang Technological University. Katherine Li You're currently following this author! Click to unsubscribe from email alerts.
Katherine Li is a reporter on Business Insider's West Coast business news team. She covers career, the future of work, and how AI is changing hiring practices and workplace trends. Previously, she was a newsroom fellow who wrote international breaking news and produced newsletters for Semafor.
Before that, she wrote about climate policies for The Lever, covered the AAPI community for the SF Chronicle as a freelancer, and wrote about the 2019 Hong Kong protests as an intern for The New York Times. She is an alumna of the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley and a graduate of the international journalism program at Hong Kong Baptist University with minors in French and English literature. Email Katherine at katherineli@insider.com and follow her on Bluesky @ katherineli.bsky.social .
Tesla Elon Musk
Source: Business Insider
