Tesla's Roadster went up. The stock went down.
SummaryTesla showed a new Roadster lifting off on SpaceX thrusters on Thursday night. On Friday its shares fell 2.1 percent, and the FAA said the car is not an aircraft.
· MODEL Editors · 1 min read
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On Thursday night, at a SpaceX facility near Waco, Texas, Tesla showed its redesigned second-generation Roadster doing something cars do not usually do. TechCrunch reports the car used fans and thrusters to drive up an inverted ramp, then lifted itself over a Cybercab, a Cybertruck, a Semi, a Model Y and a Model 3 before landing. WIRED notes there was no one inside during the demo.
Tesla says the car will be built in 2028 in three trims. The top "Rocket" trim, the one with 10 cold-gas thrusters, is invite-only. Tesla did not give a price, though reservations cost $50,000 for the Performance trim and $250,000 for Thrust, according to TechCrunch.
The market was less airborne. CBS News reports Tesla shares fell 2.1 percent on Friday, the same day the Nasdaq dropped 2.1 percent on worries about debt-funded AI spending.
Then there is the paperwork. "The Tesla vehicle does not meet the FAA's definition of an aircraft," the Federal Aviation Administration told POLITICO. Aviation experts quoted by WIRED expect that flying one legally would still involve federal and local permissions.
MODEL has not seen the car in person. Everything above comes from the reporting listed below, read on October 17.
Not investment advice.
— MODEL Editors
Sources
- Tesla reveals SpaceX-powered Roadster that flies and falls with style
TechCrunch
- A Tesla Flying Car? I Don't Know, Man
WIRED
- See how a Tesla car took flight after the company strapped SpaceX rockets to it
The Washington Post
- Tech stocks tumble as AI debt fears rattle Wall Street
CBS News
- FAA: Musk's flying car not our responsibility
POLITICO
Not investment advice.
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