Tesla Roadster Will Be 'Sentient' And Perform Stunts Autonomously, Musk Says

Elon Musk describes the Tesla Roadster repeating its unveiling tricks autonomously and hints at a looping track at Giga Texas for owners.

Tesla Roadster performs autonomous flying stunts

Photo by: Tesla

Brian Potter

By: Brian Potter

Oct 19, at 2:19am ET

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Elon Musk promised Tesla Roadster owners a car that performs its own stunts. In a reply on X on October 17, two days after the hypercar's unveiling at SpaceX's rocket development and testing facility in McGregor, Texas, Musk said the Roadster "will be sentient" enough to repeat the unveiling's tricks on command.

He also teased a dedicated track at Tesla's Texas headquarters where owners can test those tricks themselves.

Neither claim came with a date, and Tesla has not explained how either feature would work.

Autonomous Stunts: What Musk Promised

Musk's post laid out the pitch directly: "You will be able to ask the Roadster to perform any of the tricks shown autonomously, as it will be sentient. Also, we will have a wild looping track (crazier even than Hot Wheels) at our Texas HQ where you can test out your Roadster."

The tricks in question were shown at the October 15 unveiling, where an unmanned Roadster climbed a steep ramp using suction, drove upside down, flipped through the air and used thrusters to land upright. Tesla says the car used 10 nozzles and ultra-high-pressure air tanks to pull it off.

Tesla has described the hardware behind the stunts as steer by wire paired with cold gas thrusters, the same system SpaceX uses for spacecraft attitude control. That thruster setup can generate four to five times more force than the tires alone, Tesla says, which is what let the demo car fly over a line of parked vehicles and a semi-truck.

None of that explains how "sentient" translates into a button an owner actually presses.

Tesla also hasn't detailed the self-driving system that would have to recognize a ramp, a flip trajectory, and a landing zone without a human at the wheel.

Gallery: 2028 Tesla Roadster

Tesla Roadster performs autonomous flying stunts

Source: Tesla

Tesla's Texas Looping Track

The looping track is just as vague. Musk placed it at Tesla's Texas headquarters, the Austin-area complex also known as Giga Texas, but gave no size, no layout, no cost, and no opening date beyond the "crazier than Hot Wheels" description.

That matters because the Roadster itself still isn't close to being a production car. Coverage now describes production as targeted for the late 2020s, often around 2028 at Giga Texas. The version capable of the flying maneuvers, often called the Rocket package, is reportedly invite-only rather than something every buyer can order.

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The base Roadster, separate from the stunt-capable trims, is still billed as a performance flagship on its own terms. Tesla has previously cited a zero-to-60 mph time near 1.9 seconds, a top speed in the neighborhood of 250 mph, and range estimates around 620 miles. None of that is linked to any confirmed stunt package, and the demo car in its current form is not approved for public-road use.

What's missing is any indication of who gets track access first, whether it opens to every Roadster reservation holder or just Rocket buyers, and how Tesla plans to supervise autonomous stunt runs on a closed loop. Any autonomous stunt mode would still have to operate inside the safety rules that govern closed-course testing, with Tesla carrying the risk if a sentient-mode jump goes wrong.