On the day Elon Musk unveiled a Tesla Roadster that appeared to leave the ground on high-pressure air thrusters, Alef Aeronautics answered with a video of its own electric flying car soaring over the new Roadster, billing the clip as a welcome to the “flying car race.”
Musk showed off the car at a SpaceX test facility in Texas on Thursday, in an event livestreamed on Tesla’s X account, CBS News reported. The Roadster launched from a ramp that curled over so the car clung to it upside down, flew off the end and rolled 180 degrees in midair to land on its wheels.
“Flying cars are real,” Musk said, adding that the vehicle’s success “is not guaranteed” but that “it will probably work.” He described the project as a collaboration between “the world’s best car company and the world’s best rocket company,” and said the Roadster would go into production in 2028.
Two ways to get airborne
Musk said the car uses “ultra high-pressure air tanks” to propel itself. Alef’s vehicle takes a different route with distributed electric propulsion, a wing-forming body, a rotating cabin and liftoff powered by air rather than stored compressed gas. Alef says its lighter design allows a full-vehicle ballistic parachute.
Turns out the future does have flying cars pic.twitter.com/6fexPp6SXI
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 16, 2026
The two cars share electric powertrains, all-wheel drive and an early investor, Tim Draper. A flying car also differs from an eVTOL, or electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, because it can drive, park and be used like any other car.
A jab with a date on it
Alef said the Roadster “became the second flying car in history, following Alef.” CEO Jim Dukhovny put it this way: “Welcome, Tesla, to the flying car race; we’ve been here alone for eleven years.” Electrek reported the flyover as Alef’s 1,000th logged flight.
History complicates any claim of firsts. CBS News noted that American aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss debuted a flying car prototype in 1917.
Dukhovny called Tesla’s arrival good for the industry. Competition, he said, proves the market, creates a separate flying car category, helps push for specific regulations, brings investor focus and gives companies a benchmark to measure against.
Certification and customers
Regulation could decide who sells first. Alef’s car received an FAA Special Airworthiness Certification in 2023, making it the first flying car recognized by the U.S. government. The Roadster still has to complete FAA Type Certification, which can take several years. CBS noted that technical and regulatory challenges have so far kept the sector grounded.
Alef, based in California, says it has more than 3,600 pre-orders worth $1 billion and began hand-building its first cars in Silicon Valley last December. The first batch is due with a limited group of early buyers by the end of 2026 for testing under tightly controlled conditions, with production ramping in 2027. The first car is expected to start at $299,999. Its Model A, unveiled in 2022, has a 220-mile driving range and a 110-mile flight range.