Tech • AI • Robotics • Game
Tesla Reveals Major New Roadster Update
9.4/10TL;DR
Tesla outlined an extreme new Roadster lineup built with technology from across Musk-led companies, while The Boring Company advanced a major accessibility tunnel in San Antonio and SpaceX sought approval for a dramatic increase in Starship launch activity in Texas.
KEY POINTS
Roadster split into three versions
Tesla is positioning the next Roadster as three distinct vehicles: a street-focused Performance model, a limited-run Thrust edition, and an invite-only single-seat Rocket variant. The company says the Performance car can reach 60 mph in under 1.6 seconds, the Thrust in under 0.9 seconds, and the Rocket in under 0.59 seconds, with the top version also capable of brief flight-like hops using additional thrusters.
A showcase of shared technology
Much of the car’s headline hardware comes from technologies already developed elsewhere. The compressed-gas thrusters are based on SpaceX cold-gas systems, the high-pressure carbon-fiber-wrapped tanks are rated to about 10,000 psi, the movable wing uses an actuator derived from Optimus, and the steer-by-wire and 800-volt architecture build on systems used in the Cybertruck and Semi.
Why the thrusters matter
The goal is to bypass the traction limits that constrain even the quickest road cars. Tesla says the thrusters can push with roughly four to five times the force that tire grip alone can support, enabling sub-second launches, but engineers indicate a full tank provides only about five seconds of maximum thrust, making those runs short and infrequent.
Most buyers will not get the flying version
Reservation holders appear to be moving into the Performance trim, which uses fans for suction-based downforce rather than rocket-style acceleration thrusters. The more extreme Thrust is described as limited edition, and the Rocket as invite only, suggesting the vast majority of customers will receive a very fast but more conventional road car.
Specifications are still in flux
Several published performance figures remain targets rather than final certified numbers. Public material has listed the Rocket at over 230 mph, while engineering discussions have pointed to ambitions above 330 mph, and acceleration references have ranged down to 0.55 seconds with rollout. Only about four or five prototypes have reportedly been built so far, with production targeted for 2028, fully 11 years after the model’s original unveiling.
Rear-drive megawatt powertrain and new battery
The car uses two rear motors, one per wheel, with no conventional differential. Tesla says combined output exceeds 1 megawatt, or roughly 1,500 horsepower. The battery uses custom high-power 4680 cells with aluminum cans and cooling on both sides, with a target of charging from 15% to 80% in about 10 minutes while still delivering more than 300 miles of range.
Suction system revives an old racing idea
Four rear fans and deployable side skirts create suction under the car to increase grip, a concept that echoes the Brabham fan car that won the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix and the recent McMurtry Speirling electric hypercar, which also demonstrated upside-down running. Tesla’s novelty lies in combining suction, compressed-air thrusters and street-car packaging in one vehicle.
The Boring Company brings Proof Rock 5 to San Antonio
Proof Rock 5, a tunnel boring machine weighing 900,000 pounds, has arrived at Morgan’s Inclusion Campus in San Antonio. It is intended to dig a 0.8-mile tunnel that would provide a weather-protected and accessible route across the campus once final permits are approved.
Accessibility project has unusual significance
The campus is part of the nonprofit network created by Gordon Hartman, who opened Morgan’s Wonderland in 2010 as an accessibility-first theme park inspired by his daughter Morgan. The broader organization now operates seven businesses on more than 150 acres and has welcomed over 3 million visitors from all 50 states, making sheltered transportation especially valuable in the Texas climate.
Proof Rock reflects a reusable-tunneling strategy
The machine is part of an effort to solve three longstanding tunneling problems: low excavation speed, dangerous underground labor exposure, and the high cost of leaving machines buried after a job. The Boring Company says its machines dig themselves back out for reuse and upgrades; Proof Rock 4 weighed 797,000 pounds, stretched 38 feet, and could exert 4.7 million pounds of thrust before the larger fifth-generation machine arrived.
SpaceX seeks 18-fold Starship expansion
SpaceX has asked the Federal Aviation Administration to raise its annual Starship launch limit at Starbase from 25 to 456. Because each mission includes a returning Super Heavy booster and a returning ship, the request also covers up to 912 landings per year, up from the current cap of 50.
Near-daily launches would reshape Starbase
The proposed expansion would occur in two phases, with an initial allowance of 100 launches and 200 landings on any day and a later phase reaching the full rate on weekdays. With roughly 260 weekdays in a year, the top-end schedule implies nearly two Starship launches every weekday, reflecting the scale required for rapid reusability, a vastly larger future Starlink network, and broader long-term launch ambitions.
CONCLUSION
The developments underline how Tesla, The Boring Company, and SpaceX are pushing increasingly experimental hardware toward commercial use. The central question is no longer whether the concepts are dramatic, but whether production, regulation and repeatable operations can catch up.
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