Overview
- Tesla reopened global reservations and added a UAE booking page after last week’s McGregor, Texas demonstration, requiring deposits of Dh210,000 for the Performance model and Dh1.02 million for the Thrust model.
- The lineup includes Performance, Thrust and an invite‑only Rocket, which Tesla describes as fitted with SpaceX‑linked cold‑gas thrusters and declares can fly, though the Rocket is not available for UAE reservation.
- Tesla’s reservation agreement stresses that deposits are not orders, that no delivery date is guaranteed, and Elon Musk has said production is targeted to begin in 2028.
- Regulators and observers have raised safety and certification questions because the flying demonstrators were remote‑operated prototypes with spectators kept far back, and there is no established road‑and‑air approval pathway from aviation and vehicle authorities.
- Independent engineers and commentators have cast doubt on the demo’s practicality and representativeness, noting possible stripped‑down prototypes, likely short thruster burn times from compressed‑air systems, and unresolved packaging trade‑offs that would affect real‑world use.