Tesla's Flying Roadster Is Real: 9 Years of Delays Explained

In late 2017, Tesla promised the world an electric hypercar that would decisively conquer gas-powered speed records by 2020. Nine years later, Elon Musk stood inside a Texas rocket testing facility to reveal a vehicle redesigned to defy gravity with cold-gas thrusters—only to officially push customer production all the way back to 2028. From collecting millions in interest-free customer deposits to completely restarting development alongside SpaceX aerospace engineers, the second-generation Roadster has evolved into one of the wildest sagas in automotive history. Is this airborne machine an unprecedented engineering breakthrough, or the industry's most expensive corporate distraction? 🔔 Subscribe to Paper Empires for a new business story every week:    / @paperempires542   Chapters: 0:00 Intro 1:33 Tesla's Flying Roadster is Real: 9 Years of Delays Explained 3:11 Pushed to the Backburner 5:07 Rethinking the Machine 6:40 The McGregor Spectacle 8:39 The Legal Minefield 10:19 Ground Clearance Sources: dubicars.com, getevcar.com, clarin.com, wikipedia.org, teslaoracle.com, dezeen.com, qz.com, carscoops.com Image credits: Steve Jurvetson from Menlo Park, USA (CC BY 2.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tesla_Roadster_2.0_(47619421652).jpg Mr.choppers (CC BY-SA 3.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2024_Tesla_Cybertruck_Foundation_Series,_front_left_(Greenwich).jpg Larry D. Moore (CC BY 4.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gigafactory_Texas_Building_1_June_2022.jpg Steve Jurvetson / Steve Jurvetson (CC BY 2.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Franz_von_Holzhausen_(cropped).jpg Matti Blume (CC BY-SA 4.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IAA_Transportation_2026,_Hanover_(20260914-P1086985).jpg Ank kumar (CC BY-SA 4.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tesla_Roadster,_Grand_Basel_2018_04.jpg Ank kumar (CC BY-SA 4.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tesla_Roadster,_Grand_Basel_2018_02.jpg Steve Jurvetson from Menlo Park, USA (CC BY 2.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stamp_and_Repeat_(6858564222).jpg Steve Jurvetson (CC BY 2.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_Teslas_at_the_factory.jpg LuvsMG481 (CC BY-SA 4.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2024_Tesla_Model_Y_RWD_front.jpg Debbie Rowe (CC BY-SA 3.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elon_Musk_Royal_Society_(crop2).jpg Dllu (CC BY-SA 4.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Foundation_series_Cybertruck_at_dusk_in_San_Jose_dllu.jpg Sikander (CC BY-SA 4.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Optimus_bot_at_Tesla_showroom_-_20251118_-_01.jpg Gage Skidmore (CC BY-SA 4.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elon_Musk_(3x4_close_cropped).jpg Bruno Sanchez-Andrade Nuño from Washingt (CC BY 2.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Entrance_to_SpaceX_headquarters.jpg Vauxford (CC BY-SA 4.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2018_Tesla_Model_S_75D.jpg Steve Jurvetson (CC BY 2.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Inside_the_new_Tesla_Roadster.jpg Raimond Spekking (CC BY-SA 4.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stick_blender_Electrolux_AEG_HB_9807_-_rotor_of_the_electric_motor-4313.jpg NearEMPTiness (CC BY-SA 4.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bugatti_Vision_auf_der_IAA_2015.JPG Hugh Lunnon from Brighton, UK (CC BY-SA 2.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chaparral_2J.jpg Editor928111 (CC BY-SA 4.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NextGenTeslaRoadster_(cropped).jpg AgnosticPreachersKid (CC BY-SA 3.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USDOT_headquarters_-_Navy_Yard.jpg Wolfmann (CC BY 4.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BLAAFARVEV%C3%86RKET_(Cobalt_Works_Blue_pigment_factory_koboltmalm_1773-1893)_museum_Modum_NORWAY_2025-08-13_NEDRE_FARVEM%C3%98LLE_Glasshuset_Utstilt_ELBIL-BATTERI_Li-ion-pakke_16_kWh_mindre_eldre_type_inneholder_kobolt_electric_car_EV_battery.jpg Steve Jurvetson (CC BY-SA 2.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elon_Musk_Presenting_Tesla%27s_Fully_Autonomous_Future.jpg Ivan Radic (CC BY 2.0): commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TESLA_badge_on_a_car.jpg Music: original, made for Paper Empires. #PaperEmpires #Tesla #TeslaRoadster