You Can Believe Everything

It was fitting that, just hours after the first public screenings of the Elizabeth Holmes documentary began last Thursday, Elon Musk put on a show of his own.

That night, in Texas, Musk unveiled the company’s new Roadster prototype, a car that would defy gravity.

Tesla built what was roughly one-half of a roller-coaster loop, which the Roadster climbed before momentarily hanging upside down and then executing a controlled flip and gliding down to Earth.

The demo worked.

In another stunt, it did a barrel roll over a semi-truck.

Each maneuver was powered by air thrusters that guided the car to a soft landing.

The demo was impressive.

But watching the clips, I could feel my brain struggling to process what I was being shown.

Was this real? The car did climb vertically, flip, and land.

But Musk, who has built wildly successful companies, is also famously prone to outlandish claims that don’t always pan out.

I couldn’t help but wonder what, if anything, Tesla’s demonstration or Musk had elided.

“This will be an actual car that’s on the roads,” Musk said.

He got the flying-car headlines he wanted, but will this car actually be released? There are already reasons to doubt it: The car displayed on Thursday won’t be in production until at least 2028, and it features 10 thrusters powered by 600 liters of compressed air.

The flying version of the Roadster will be sold “invite-only.” Its price tag is likely to be astronomical.