Catch today’s Wall Street Breakfast: Tesla’s thruster Roadster reveal, Netflix shakeup, KFC’s Coke switch, MSCI Indonesia risk, plus markets—listen now.
Catch today’s Wall Street Breakfast: Tesla’s thruster Roadster reveal, Netflix shakeup, KFC’s Coke switch, MSCI Indonesia risk, plus markets—listen now.
Listen on the go! A daily podcast of Wall Street Breakfast will be available by 8:00 a.m. on Seeking Alpha, iTunes, Spotify.
Up for a challenge? Test your knowledge on the biggest events in the investing world over the past week. Take the latest Seeking Alpha News Quiz and see how you stack up against the competition.
It's a bird, it's a plane... it's a flying Roadster! After nearly a decade of delays, Elon Musk took the wraps off the newest, highly anticipated Tesla (TSLA) featuring perimeter-mounted cold-gas thrusters. The new model was made possible by working with the other crown jewel in Musk's empire, SpaceX (SPCX), which went public this past summer.
The demo: The show began with the next-gen Roadster driving up a steep ramp to an upside-down position using 2G suction technology and then engaging thrusters to spin around in the air and land flawlessly. In a follow-up demo, the Roadster jumped over a Tesla Semi and the rest of its auto lineup utilizing the same barrel roll. Musk said it's not just theatrics, but the fans and thrusters will help "break physics" by dramatically improving performance metrics like speed and cornering.
In fact, the Roadster was shown accelerating to 60 mph in 0.81 seconds, with the hope that the car will reach 0.5 Mach speed (~383 mph). Tesla plans to have a follow-up demonstration, with Musk joking that the Roadster should jump the Snake River like Evel Knievel. As for sales, Roadster production, including the Performance and Thrust variants, is scheduled for 2028. Tesla shares are ahead by 4.4% in premarket trading.
"This will actually be, long term, the only manually-driven car that Tesla makes," Musk declared at the show, as the company goes all in on self-driving technology and robotics. "I'm not sure it’s necessarily legal in all jurisdictions, but there will be such a car that someone can own. They can have a rocket car. We're going where you don't need tires."
Some history: Tesla (TSLA) introduced its first Roadster at Santa Monica Airport in July 2006, with production beginning in 2008. Built on a Lotus Elise–based chassis, the two-seat sports car combined a lightweight design with an all-electric powertrain. Its lithium-ion batteries delivered more than 200 miles of range per charge, while early production versions could accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in about 4.6 seconds. Its introduction is credited with showing electric cars could be exciting and have range, paving the road for the modern electric vehicle market. (118 comments)
Here's the latest Seeking Alpha analysis
The Bull Case For The Final Stretch Of 2026
Averytin News Financial update.