Tesla has unveiled and successfully demonstrated its new flying sports car, the Roadster, which it has been teasing since last year.

On the 15th local time, Tesla showcased the two-seater Roadster equipped with gas thrusters at SpaceX's test facility in McGregor, Texas, with CEO Elon Musk and Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen in attendance.

Before the demonstration, Musk joked, "Success is not guaranteed, but fun is 100% guaranteed," but the demonstration proceeded flawlessly without any mistakes or failures.

During the test, the Roadster drove halfway up a vertical circular track similar to a roller coaster, flipped upside down, and safely landed on the ground using its thrusters.

In the subsequent demonstration, the vehicle raced toward a line of five cars, including a large truck, blasted gas to lift off, leaped over the vehicles, and landed safely.

"We call that a kickflip," Musk declared. "Flying cars are real."

Recalling that his friend Peter Thiel (founder of Palantir) once said, "People used to say that by the future we'd have flying cars, and all we got was 140 characters [on X]," Musk added, "Not anymore."

Describing the Roadster, Musk explained, "It has attitude thrusters and a main rear thruster, allowing it to fly like a rocket."

He added, "Engineers at Tesla and SpaceX worked closely to build something you've never seen in any movie, something better than a James Bond car."

He also emphasized that the car features a suction system powerful enough to hold it upside down in the air, allowing it to corner tightly against the ground as if defying the laws of physics.

He even joked using slang, saying, "I mean, this car really sucks," highlighting its strong suction power.

However, he added that he was unsure whether a Roadster with such features would be street-legal on all roads.

In the zero-to-sixty test—accelerating from a standstill to 60 mph (approx. 97 km/h)—the Roadster clocked 0.81 seconds, achieving Musk's previous goal of under one second.

Musk projected that the top speed would exceed 230 mph (approx. 370 km/h), with the potential to reach Mach 0.5, half the speed of sound, in the future.

Tesla also demonstrated the car transforming into a high-speed configuration by raising a wing (spoiler) at the rear, much like a racing car.

For safety reasons, the Roadster demonstration was conducted autonomously without a driver onboard, but the actual commercial Roadster will be sold as a human-driven car.

Musk predicted, "In the long term, this car will be the only manually driven vehicle Tesla makes."

Musk announced that mass production of the Roadster is scheduled to begin in 2028.

While widespread speculation suggested the Roadster demonstration would take place without an audience, invited guests chosen by Tesla were present at the site.

Musk explained, "We needed an audience to prove that this demonstration wasn't artificial intelligence or superintelligence."

The Roadster demonstration, which Musk had previously promised to hold "within the year" last year, finally took place after being postponed several times.

The original Roadster was the first vehicle commercialized by Tesla in 2008 and the world's first electric sports car, a subject of deep affection for CEO Musk.

During the launch of a SpaceX rocket in 2018, he even sent his own Roadster into space.

That vehicle is currently orbiting the Sun.

However, CEO Musk has not escaped criticism over the indefinitely delayed commercial release of the new "flying car" Roadster.

Tesla first unveiled the new Roadster in 2017 and took orders with a $50,000 deposit, but it has not been released even after nine years.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, a known rival, traded barbs with Musk last November by publishing a 2018 Roadster purchase reservation email, mocking him by saying, "7.5 years is too long to wait."

(Photo: Capture from Tesla official YouTube video, Yonhap News)