The Tesla Roadster was only just announced with stunning specs like a 0-60mph time of just 1.9 seconds and an electric car range of a whopping 650 miles - now it could fly too.
As if the next generation electric supercar wasn’t impressive enough Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, has teased that a future upgrade pack could actually make it fly.
In the tweet Musk said: “Not saying the next gen Roadster special upgrade package *will* definitely enable it to fly short hops, but maybe…” He then went on to say it’s, “Just a question of safety” and “Rocket tech applied to a car opens up revolutionary possibilities.”
Elon Musk also runs rocket production company SpaceX. So these words aren’t just idle thoughts, they could actually become a reality.
While there are plenty of companies currently working on flying cars, which are essentially planes that can navigate roads, Musk’s idea appears different. The Roadster would rather be able to “hop” about rather than full-on flight. Presumably this could be useful to get it between intersecting road junctions without clogging up on and off roads.
Musk is also working on tunnels that will take cars over longer distances in low pressure for super speed travel before joining the road again to finish the final leg of a journey. Presumably the flight part could help here with access to and from roads.
When this will appear is another matter. Presumably we’ll need to be well into the use of fully autonomous cars that are able to fly themselves before this becomes a reality. We’re still going to go ahead and get excited right now.
