Tesla's rocket-powered Roadster flies, but isn't approved for roads

The Washington Post's clip pairs a smoke-filled Texas demonstration with Tesla's warning that the car is not approved for public road use.

Channel: Washington Post Story of October 18, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 73,549 views a day, 15 times a normal first day on this channel (4,928).

Tesla unveils flying Roadster powered by SpaceX rockets

A white Roadster climbs an inverted ramp at night, leaves the edge and fires its thrusters downward. Smoke fills the space beneath it. The Washington Post's short report delivers the flying-car spectacle, then adds a rather earthbound qualification: Tesla says it isn't approved for public roads.

The footage, credited to Tesla via Reuters, shows a demonstration at a SpaceX facility in McGregor, Texas. An overhead view catches the car leaving the curve and descending, while a later side view shows rear thrusters firing during acceleration tests. There is no spoken commentary, just the machinery and captions explaining what Tesla is presenting.

The Short reached about 86,000 views in a little over a day, with its estimated opening-day audience nearly fifteen times the Post's usual Shorts start. Its comment section was also much busier than usual.

Viewers supply the pop-culture soundtrack the clip doesn't have: Batman, Knight Rider and Rocket League all come up. Alongside those comparisons is a straightforward question about practicality.

That question has a concrete limit in the report itself. This is demonstration footage, not a car cleared for everyday driving, and the captions attribute the production timetable to Elon Musk: he expects it to begin in 2028.

Published on Trari

Share this story

A ready picture for an Instagram story or a WhatsApp status.

Share the pictureSend the link

×Share the picture

Where next?

More from Washington PostVideo taking off 29x its usual first dayEl-Sayed defends religious freedom as Rogers questions his loyaltyWashington Post's excerpt from Michigan's final Senate debate draws an unusually large audience for the channel's Shorts.Channel: Washington Post · Story of October 23, 2026 Also in News networks and broadcastersVideo taking off 10x its usual first dayA Putin headline leads to Lavrov's "World War Three" claimTimes Now World's fast-starting broadcast attributes its central statement to Russia's foreign minister in the description, despite naming Putin in the title.Channel: Times Now World · Story of October 24, 2026 A different discovery todayVideo people are talking about 11x its usual commentsZelenskyy tells Steven Bartlett why he needed "ammunition, not a ride"In a nearly two-hour conversation, Ukraine's president moves from sleepless nights and grieving parents to Bucha, Paddington Bear and the morning the invasion …Channel: The Diary Of A CEO · Story of October 24, 2026

Or follow us on Telegram

Is this your channel?For the channel's owners and team: a ready picture, text and badge for your audience

Share the story with your audience. Everything is ready:

For a community post or your channel's description

Tesla's rocket-powered Roadster flies, but isn't approved for roads The full story on Trari: https://trari.com/en/story/washingtonpost-12611/?from=kit

Copy the text

For your website

You may use the picture, the badge, and link it to this story.

The numbers

The Roadster clip drew a much larger opening-day audience than the Post's usual Short, with comments rising sharply too.

the video's first day

usual first day here

4,928

this video

73,549

subscribers

2,860,000

no significant change in the last 7 days

total views

1,715,992,755

views per day

460,149

typical day: 341,301

the video

views

85,928

likes

469

comments

97

days online

1

subscribers: this channel and similar channels

CBN News

2,880,000

Washington Post

2,860,000

NewsNation

2,780,000

The Guardian

2,640,000

ABC News (Australia)

2,630,000

New York Post

2,600,000

As of October 18, 2026 · Data source: Trari Social News, Trari Traffic Trends and Ranking Platform, Google YouTube

Subscriber, view, like and comment counts are YouTube's. Rates, usual days, rankings, comparisons and categories are Trari's own calculations.