Last night, Elon Musk put on a dazzling show with a flying Tesla Roadster. The car launched off a multistory ramp, executed a midair kickflip and landed with cold-gas thrusters. While impressive, this spectacle doesn’t translate into a commercially viable product. Tesla’s announcement that the 'Rocket' configuration is 'invite only' and won’t be approved for public road use underscores the impracticality of the concept.

The Roadster’s flying capabilities are a mere 30-minute flex of engineering prowess. Meanwhile, competitors like BYD and Rimac are already delivering real, track-ready hypercars. Analysts speculate that the Roadster’s release may set the stage for a potential Tesla-SpaceX merger, but this move dilutes the equity of Musk’s fans on X.

In some sense, the car had to fly to make the preceding decade of missed deadlines feel worth it. Tesla has already been lapped several times in the electric hypercar market. The Roadster’s tricks, impressive as they are, are not unique. BYD’s Yangwang U9 Xtreme, for example, boasts a top speed of 308mph, and the McMurtry Spéirling holds the record for quickest acceleration from 0 to 60mph in just 1.35 seconds.

While the demo was a success in terms of PR and cementing Tesla’s brand as a frontier tech pioneer, it’s clear that real, practical solutions for the future of mobility are coming from other corners. The Roadster, despite its wow factor, is a step in the wrong direction.