Source: Marques Brownlee
MKBHD Tesla Roadster reaction: What You Need to Know
THE TL;DW
- In his MKBHD Tesla Roadster reaction video, Marques Brownlee breaks down Tesla’s October 15 event where the new Roadster used SpaceX thruster tech to flip, hover, and land.
- He questions the believability of the demo, noting the car’s claimed 4,000+ pound weight paired with a 380+ mph top speed and a 2028 ship date.
- Brownlee argues the high-end “Rocket” trim will likely never become a real deliverable product, calling the Roadster “by far” Tesla’s least important product right now.
The Jupiter Take
This isn’t a routine car review — it’s Marques Brownlee, a nearly decade-long Roadster reservation holder, publicly calling out Tesla’s own reveal as borderline unbelievable. His skepticism carries extra weight given his history of friction with Tesla over Roadster delays and canceled deposits.
Context
Tesla first teased this second-generation Roadster back in 2017, and the October 15, 2026 event — livestreamed from a SpaceX test site in Texas — was meant to finally prove the car is real after years of slipped deadlines. At the event, Elon Musk and his team showed a white sports car racing up a ramp, clinging upside down, flipping off it mid-air, and hovering before landing, with production still not slated until 2028 and no price announced.
Brownlee’s skepticism is personal as much as professional: he put down a $50,000 deposit on a Roadster in 2017 and only canceled it roughly a year ago after growing frustrated with Tesla’s customer service and lack of progress. He’s also said publicly that Tesla “stopped talking” to him ahead of a recent Model Y review, suggesting the company’s relationship with its most influential tech reviewer has cooled. That history frames why his reaction leans toward “prove it” rather than hype, especially with Tesla declining to confirm pricing or street-legal status for the flashier Roadster variants.
