🛞 Tesla's flying car impresses, but does not solve the real problem

An electric car that drives upside down, launches into the air, performs a rotation and lands back on its wheels. This was the demonstration carried out by Tesla on October 15, 2026, local date, or the 16th in Europe, at a SpaceX site in Texas. Behind these spectacular images lies a genuine engineering feat. But is this technology really suited to our transportation needs?

The vehicle presented is a new version of the Roadster, the electric sports car announced by Tesla as early as 2017. For its demonstration, the manufacturer used a prototype with no driver on board, capable of performing several aerial acrobatics. In particular, it cleared a row of five vehicles using its thrusters.

Elon Musk now speaks of a flying car. Yet what Tesla is showing looks more like controlled jumps than genuine flight enabling movement through the air.

Impressive engineering borrowed from rockets

To perform these acrobatics, Tesla and SpaceX engineers combined two distinct technologies.

The first relies on powerful fans placed beneath the car. These suck in the air between the vehicle and the ground, creating a low-pressure area that presses the tires against the road. This system works even at low speed, unlike conventional spoilers, which need air movement.

The suction would be powerful enough to hold the Roadster on an upside-down surface. This is how the prototype was able to travel along a curved ramp without falling.

The second technology comes from aerospace engineering. Ten nozzles distributed around the vehicle eject compressed gas at very high pressure. In reaction, each jet produces thrust in the opposite direction.

By precisely adjusting this thrust, the engineers can lift the vehicle, change its orientation and slow its fall. The principle is comparable to that of small thrusters used to orient certain spacecraft.

According to Tesla, the system includes two tanks totaling 600 liters and containing approximately 250 kg of compressed air. Their use requires particularly precise control of the different nozzles, especially to prevent the car from tipping over.

Why this car cannot fly like an airplane or helicopter

This demonstration does not show that the Roadster could make an aerial journey. The main problem is the amount of energy required to keep a car in the air.

Unlike an airplane, which uses its wings to remain airborne, the Roadster depends on the thrust of its thrusters. To remain suspended, this thrust must constantly counteract the vehicle's weight. Here, there is no concept of gliding flight, in which the aircraft could maintain a controlled trajectory by using its own altitude and previously acquired speed to stay in the air.

Even a helicopter can, thanks to autorotation, the inertia of its blades and adjustments to their pitch, manage to land without an engine. In such a case, the Tesla Roadster would become a simple mass in free fall.

Here, the compressed-air reserves are limited. Extremely limited, in fact, lasting only a few seconds. And filling the tanks requires a great deal of energy and time: the exact opposite of what is expected from a vehicle. Compressing such a quantity of air again also requires suitable infrastructure. The system takes up considerable space as well: the version equipped for flight even loses its passenger seat.

It would have been far more impressive if the demonstration had shown a stationary or controlled flight lasting several dozen minutes. But as you can see, it lasted only a few seconds.

Another difficulty is that the gas jets are extremely powerful. If the road is not perfectly clean, they will send various debris flying, injuring people nearby. In the other direction, the suction that presses the vehicle to the ground pulls in everything on and around the track with a force necessarily greater than the vehicle's weight: the slightest pebble becomes a bullet fired into the blades, and grandma's chihuahua becomes finely chopped steak tartare.

Impressive though it is, the Roadster presented remains a machine designed for occasional performances, and absolutely not an aerial transport vehicle.

NASA was already using this principle to land on Mars

The idea of controlling a flying vehicle using several independent thrusters is far from new.

In 2012, NASA was already using a particularly impressive system to place its Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars. Called Sky Crane, this flying crane was equipped with eight rocket engines. The platform controlled its speed and position above the Martian ground. It then lowered the rover, suspended from cables, before moving away once the landing was complete.

This fully automated operation was repeated in 2021 with the Perseverance rover, which is the size of a car.

The propulsion technologies are different, but the control principle is similar: adjusting multiple thrusts to stabilize a vehicle and control its movements.

Flying cars already exist and have been used for a long time, but not as we imagine

The real obstacle to the development of flying cars is not solely technological.

Vehicles capable of carrying one or two people through the air have existed for decades. Some ultralight aircraft, autogyros and small helicopters are even comparable to a car in size. But no one can use them like an ordinary automobile, and their use is regulated.

It is not the shape of a car or the technology used that eliminates regulations governing its use.

To fly an ultralight aircraft in public airspace, you must obtain a certificate and a pilot's license. This training teaches you, among other things, how to manage weather, other aircraft and emergency situations. Every aerial journey requires preparation.

The pilot must know the route, restricted areas and weather conditions. Unless flying in an unrestricted area—in other words, in the middle of nowhere—they must file a flight plan and communicate with air traffic control.

Unlike an automobile, an aircraft cannot take off and land just anywhere either. Even with vertical takeoff, a clear area and safe conditions remain essential.

These constraints address very real dangers.

A broken-down car can generally stop on the side of the road. A flying vehicle in trouble risks falling onto a home, a pedestrian or another vehicle.

Flying over built-up areas is therefore strictly regulated, with minimum altitudes and numerous restrictions. Even small recreational drones weighing more than a few hundred grams are prohibited from flying in public airspace over urban areas. So when you consider the weight of an electric car...

Noise, turbulence and powerful jets directed toward the ground would also have to be managed. A vertical takeoff in the middle of a street would directly expose people, other vehicles and nearby objects, guaranteeing injuries and damage.

A perfectly executed publicity stunt

Tesla nevertheless managed a remarkable technical demonstration. The images are spectacular and illustrate the expertise of its engineers, particularly their ability to integrate space technologies into an automobile.

The presentation is also an effective publicity operation for the manufacturer. It puts a Roadster announced nine years ago back in the spotlight; according to Elon Musk, production is now scheduled for 2028.

The Roadster demonstrates that a car can perform acrobatics using thrusters, but certainly not that flying cars could replace automobiles. And in the end, customers will buy "the car capable of flying," even if, once certified, it will very likely lose its "flying" capabilities.