Tesla Reveals Fighter Jet-Inspired Roadster UI With Track Mode [VIDEO]

Tesla Reveals Fighter Jet-Inspired Roadster UI With Track Mode [VIDEO]

Tesla has offered its most detailed look yet at the new Roadster’s in-car interface. In a post on X, Tesla shared a walkthrough of the UI, describing it as “inspired by fighter jet cockpits” and “designed around the pilot.”

A Red, Sci‑Fi Cockpit

The Roadster’s interface renders in bright red on a black background. Elements include a PRND gear indicator and battery percentage along the top, plus a dotted grid “floor” beneath a wireframe Roadster in the main vehicle visualization.

The primary menu is organized into Home, Vehicle, Listen, Climate, and Navigate. The Vehicle section includes controls for Dynamics, Lights, Display, and Charging. Drivers can choose Comfort, Balance, Sport, or Custom modes, which adjust acceleration, ride and handling, and ride height. There is also a dedicated Track Mode.

Beyond the center touchscreen, there will also be a small red display near the windshield for speed and lap times.

The Car Shows You What’s Moving

The visualization responds to the control you open. Selecting Dynamics highlights the suspension in gold. Choosing Charging brings up the battery pack above a charge limit slider. Tapping the rear wing lets you select Stowed, Low Drag, or High Downforce, and the barge boards and thrusters receive similar callouts. With many active components, from the hood vent to pop-down headlights, the UI shows what each setting affects.

Track Mode replaces the car visualization with a data-dense dashboard. It displays brake and throttle inputs, battery and motor temps, brake temps and tire pressures at each corner, a G-meter, a live track map with sector times, and a lap log. Users can adjust aero balance, brake balance, and the suction fan, and they can toggle ESC and traction control. The Thrust and Rocket trims also show cold-gas pressure and whether the thruster system is ready to boost.

Will It Survive to Production?

Beneath the styling, the layout is familiar: climate controls in the bottom-left, volume in the bottom-right, and media controls along the bottom. That points to a customized skin over Tesla’s standard software, similar to the Cybertruck’s.

There is relevant precedent. The Cybertruck’s early prototype interface merged the map and vehicle visualization into one view before production software moved closer to the rest of the lineup. The Model 3’s 2016 prototype UI, with a map-forward layout and an overlaid speedometer, also ended up looking markedly different from what shipped.

With production not slated to begin until 2028, the Roadster’s details could still change, and the UI is no exception. Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) shared an earlier hands-on with the Roadster’s UI, praising its “retro-futuristic design aesthetic” after spending time with the car at this month’s reveal event.

The new Roadster is on display at LA’s Petersen Automotive Museum through Tuesday, although it is roped off, so the UI is not accessible to try in person.