The Not satisfied with announcing Tesla Roadster, the world’s fastest production car in terms of acceleration — zero to sixty mph (0-100kph) in 1.9 seconds — Elon Musk tweeted his vision for the future. He envisions a “special option package” roadster that might actually fly. The flying car is an aspiration of many car companies, but Elon Musk has a reputation for manifesting his vision as a tangible product.
“Not saying the next gen Roadster special upgrade package will definitely enable it to fly short hops, but maybe…” Elon Musk tweeted.
Elon Musk is certainly the visionary of this generation. He’s brought to life mainstream electric cars that have real range, then a semi-tractor trailer that is fully electric, then, a fully electric roadster that just happens to be the world’s fastest production car — oh, and did we mention he heads up Space X, with real-life accomplishments in space travel? When Elon Musk muses, his teams start to engineer the future.
Flying roadster possible
Elon Musk has flying credentials, after all. His company Space X was the first to perfect the relanding space capsule, among many other firsts in space. It isn’t beyond the realms of possibility that he could bring his vision and his engineer’s talents to a solution to the flying car of the future — electric, of course.
He even suggested SpaceX rocket tech may meet the Tesla roadster. “Rcoket tech applied to a car opens up revolutionary possibilities. His next statement implies the technology is definitely feasible today. He qualified. It’s “just a question of safety.”
His vision for the flying roadster appears to differ from that of other companies pursuing the flying car. Most prototypes today are airplanes that can drive safely on roads. They are different iterations of airplanes, some with multiple helicopter-like rotors, but conceptually they begin as aircraft. Elon Musk’s vision appears to start with a superb road car that can fly.
Meanwhile, we’ll have to content ourselves with a car that virtually flies on the pavement. The new Tesla’s specs are impressive; built on a Lotus chassis, the virtual racecar is capable of:
- 0-60mph or 0-100kph in 1.9 seconds (The only thing missing will be the roar of 8 or 12 cylinders.)
- 250 (plus) mph top speed
- Quarter mile in 8.8 seconds
- 0-100 mph in 4.2 seconds
- Range on battery of up to 620 miles
- Seats 4
- 4-wheel drive
- $250,000
