Yes, it's a flying car, but it's really not for sale.
Yes, it's a flying car, but it's really not for sale.
One of the longtime critiques of big tech companies goes something like, "If they're really so good at making technological advancements, why don't we have flying cars yet?"
Well, last night, Tesla (TSLA -2.13%) stepped up to the challenge at the unveiling of its rebooted Roadster, which did, in fact, fly.
This jaw-dropping engineering feat, however, seems to have done less to spark interest in the Roadster than it has to spark interest in a Tesla merger with CEO Elon Musk's other company, Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX -1.74%), or SpaceX.
Here's what happened at the unveiling and why "Flying Car!" isn't the biggest news to come out of last night's spectacle.
A one-of-a-kind show
Although the unveiling had originally been scheduled for two weeks ago, Tesla had to call it off due to bad weather at the demo site, SpaceX's Rocket Development and Testing facility in Waco, Texas. The blaming of bad weather fueled speculation that the Roadster would use SpaceX's cold-gas thrusters to hover or fly.
The rumors were correct, but that wasn't all that happened.
First, the white, wedge-shaped demo Roadster drove up a multi-story vertical ramp, reminiscent of an inverted roller coaster. It was able to cling to the ramp using a vacuum fan system.
Then it launched upside-down, did a midair barrel roll, and used the aforementioned cold-gas thrusters to right itself and land. Later, it performed a powered jump over a lineup of other Tesla vehicles, including a Semi, while performing another airborne rotation and a thruster-assisted landing. "It can basically fly like a rocket," Musk commented.
Averytin News Financial update.