Elon Musk unveils ‘flying’ Tesla Roadster that looks ‘straight out of a sci-fi movie’

While the rest of us are worrying about rising fuel prices or building emergency stockpiles of food, Elon Musk appears hell-bent on turning modern life into a sci-fi movie.

For his latest passion project, the world's richest man has turned a prototype for a Tesla Roadster into a flying car.

Confirming the move on X, Musk shared a clip of a Tesla doing a flip over several other vehicles, captioning the post: "Turns out the future does have flying cars."

Musk did not reveal any further details about the car or how it's able to fly, but a report from The Independent says the car is able to become airborne through the use of rocket thrusters, which explains the massive cloud of smoke emitted from the vehicle during take-off and landing.

Pretty cool, but not something I imagine we'll be able to drive on the roads anytime soon.

Initial reactions to the post were mixed, with several people pointing out that the car didn't actually do that much flying.

"That at best glided. It’s more of a landing system than a flying system," read one reaction.

"Perfect for when I need to drive upside down, which is all the time yay," a second person penned, while a third person stated bluntly: "I've gotten more airtime on a trampoline than whatever that was."

Musk himself acknowledged the experimental nature of the car, telling attendees at the car's product showcase that success was 'not guaranteed' prior to the demonstration.

"I mean that. It’ll probably work, but if it doesn’t work, we’re at a safe distance," he told the crowd, per Interesting Engineering.

The test is also understood to have run autonomously for safety reasons, as one can only imagine the sort of seatbelt you'd need to stay strapped into a car which flips itself upside down in mid-air.

When will the Tesla Roadster be available to buy?

The car is currently scheduled to begin production in 2028.

With the ability to go from 0 to 60 mph in 1 second, the new Roadster isn't going to be cheap, with reports suggesting it will cost in the region of $200,000 (£150,257) when it comes to market.

But I wouldn't get your hopes up too much, as Musk himself acknowledged the likelihood that the car won't be legal everywhere in the world.

"This will be an actual car that's on the roads. I'm not sure it's necessarily legal in all jurisdictions, but there will be such a car that someone can own," he said. "So, it's going to be pretty wild that you can have a rocket car."