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Is Elon Musk Serious About Building A Flying Tesla? (inc.com)
An anonymous reader quotes Inc:
It's inevitable, really. Musk's two largest companies, Tesla Motors and SpaceX, make electric cars and rockets.... Musk tweeted about a "SpaceX option package" for the next Tesla Roadster in June of last year. The upgrade was described as including about "10 small rocket thrusters arranged seamlessly around car. These rocket engines dramatically improve acceleration, top speed, braking & cornering. Maybe they will even allow a Tesla to fly..."
Musk then hinted even more strongly at the possibility of a flying Tesla this week when he retweeted a GIF of a flying DeLorean from "Back to the Future," saying: "The new Roadster will actually do something like this." He then went on to describe how small SpaceX air thrusters will be used to essentially turn a Tesla Roadster into a hovercraft or perhaps... something with an even higher vertical range.
Two years ago Musk insisted flying cars were noisy and annoyed the people on the ground -- although you could argue this shows he'd been thinking about the mechanics of flying cars, and when it's an appropriate time to use rocket thrusters.
Inc's headline? "Elon Musk Has Plans For a Tesla / SpaceX Flying Car (And He's Serious. Probably.)"
Musk then hinted even more strongly at the possibility of a flying Tesla this week when he retweeted a GIF of a flying DeLorean from "Back to the Future," saying: "The new Roadster will actually do something like this." He then went on to describe how small SpaceX air thrusters will be used to essentially turn a Tesla Roadster into a hovercraft or perhaps... something with an even higher vertical range.
Two years ago Musk insisted flying cars were noisy and annoyed the people on the ground -- although you could argue this shows he'd been thinking about the mechanics of flying cars, and when it's an appropriate time to use rocket thrusters.
Inc's headline? "Elon Musk Has Plans For a Tesla / SpaceX Flying Car (And He's Serious. Probably.)"
They should dust of David Hasselhoff to introduce it
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This is Elon Musk trolling for attention as usual. Of course he's not going to build a flying Tesla, why is this even on Slashdot?
soylentnews.org
How about Taylor Swift haters gunna hate...
People have already tried strapping rockets to cars. It usually doesn't end well, unless the outcome you wanted was some awesome high-speed camera footage and a totaled car. Also, rocket engines tend to use lots of fuel, and once you run out of fuel, gravity takes over with predictable results.
So yeah, unless Elon Musk is getting into the business of expensive car demolition (well, he did send a car off into space), I don't see the practicality in this. Sounds like he's just trolling for attention, again.
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DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
...thrower?
Personally his sounds like another marketing gimmick because he needs vulture capital again to make up for his production shortfalls.
I personally think he's getting a lot done, but as a hypothetical investor I don't feel he's in a very stable place right now and definitely a high risk investment at this point in time.
But hey, I would love to be proven wrong. He's pushed forward *TWO* whole industries that had been complacent for a long time (battery powered cars date to the 1910s-1920s!!!), and he's probably helped save the US billions in space scams to the defense-welfare industry as a result of the Falcon and soon BFR, compared to the launch costs for many of the 'military/nasa grade rockets', while making them more reusable and more advanced than the current designs.
Nothing more.
This is so impractical from the certification perspective that it's not even funny - I can't see it happening for years simply through trying to get permission from the FAA/NTSB to even try the idea.
I think this is Mr, Musk just trying to stay relevant and being talked about in mainstream media.
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
How much cost and value? Iridium works was deployed timely but the ROI was a boondoggle.
I would assume the car's computers would know just how much thrust is left so that it will settle gently on the ground before running out.
Apart from big problems like high fuel consumption, limited combat time, maintenance and cost, the minor problems not talked much outside included FOI, military speak for foreign object ingestion, small objects pebbles and stuff on the tarmac being kicked up and getting sucked into the air intakes. And another issue was the control jets. When the aircraft is hovering or at very low speeds, the control surfaces dont work, (ailerons, rudder, elevators etc), so they used small nozzles at the tips of control surfaces. These jets go in all directions creating hazard for tarmac workers and sailors on the flight deck.
The roadster is going to have two packs of Model 3 batteries. That is 2200 lb. So the loaded weight is likely to be around 3500 lb, very heavy for a two seat roadster. 10 thrusters, 350 lb each kicking up pebbles all around is very very impractical. Hazard to adjacent vehicles and pedestrians would be too much. But, on a clean surface, on prototype, with some good press cameras rolling, it can occupy one or two news cycles. About 30 sec coverage in news, and probably 2 minute segments in other programs. Free publicity worth about 100 to 200 million. So it is worth doing from Tesla point of view.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Because there are at least two reasons this cannot be done (and several more that make it horribly impractical):
1) The noise level would be insane and nobody would want / allow that to be used anywhere but an airport.
2) The tanks he mentioned using would be ridiculously cold, not something you'd put in your back seat.
It just goes to show one can write an article and get posted to /. without bothering to research (or just trolling?)
What you said, plus fast acceleration and a 'hover' mode just for show off, like the current dance mode or like a pneumatic low-rider's show-off modes.
In Elon's mind 3D travel is for tunnels, not the sky (excepting the electric plane). He never once suggested a flying Roadster.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
When Harrier VTOL fighter debuted in the 1990s
The Harrier was first flown in 1967, and was introduced to operational service in 1969.
it was remarkable.
In the 1990s it would have been remarkable. In the 1960s it was amazing.
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I want a time machine!
It could really be a flying Tesla S... drone.
In particular, if it's an air taxi service, those issues are addressable. The issues really are:
* Noisy
* Propellers will blow small rocks and sticks and such around.
* People peering into private backyards is unkind.
The air taxi solution is:
* To reduce noise and wind issues: longer but slower propellers and drop carriage by cables from the ends of long propeller arms.
Note: this also solves the problem of requiring landing zones. And longer arms give exact precision.
* To solve the privacy issue: put broad ledges just outside under the windows so occupants cannot see nearby neighboring places.
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To solve these problems for personal flying cars will require infrastructure under the Department of Transportation. Neighborhoods and/or places along highways could half lifting and landing zones created. So you'd drive to one, fly up, and then follow air avenues.
The air avenues would be routes through which you are allowed to fly (all under 700 feet -- to avoid conventional aircraft). I would suggest keeping them high, such as about 600 feet. With electric multicopters, you have sub-millimeter precision.
I think Elon has watched too many Knight Rider re-runs.
Doesn't matter if cold or hot - it's loud. Ever stood next to a Cessna when it's getting ready to take off? That's just a prop plane... How about a small helicopter? t's the airspeed differential between the thrust and the static air that creates the noise. Pressure (SPL - Sound Pressure Level) is what you hear, and to generate enough thrust - pressure - to raise the vehicle means it WILL be loud.
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
..this will require a liquid fuel source and you would need to add a gas tank to the car.
This is a novel idea, but people have a hard enough time driving in 2D. I don't want some idiot crashing into my 5th story apartment.
I would rather that the fuel system be used for powering an emergency generator just in case I can't get to a charging station in time. The tank can be small as to provide just enough charge time to get to the nearest charging station.
This is so impractical from the certification perspective that it's not even funny - I can't see it happening for years simply through trying to get permission from the FAA/NTSB to even try the idea.
That particular part is easier than you think. The FAA has something called a "powered lift license" already done and in the books. They did it for Moller back in the day. (Remember that Popular Mechanics cover?)
But it's rather blindingly obvious that the actual product is a Tesla vehicle with limited edition SpaceX badging, sold at a premium. That's a time honored tradition in car manufacturing. There are fucking Eddie Bauer SUVs, after all. They're a Ford Bronco, Explorer, Expedition, or Excursion with fashion company badging. An electric car with rocket company badging has got to be at least that good for marketing.
Usually you get the badging company's logo on a bumper plate, worked into custom floormats and seat backs, and as a wheel hub insert on custom wheels only available with that edition. Sometimes you get the logo on the dashboard somewhere, passenger side. On a Tesla you'd also get the logo worked into the console computer.
I'm just surprised it took this long.
Musk isn't talking about putting rocket engines on the car. He's talking about adding cold-gas thrusters. These thrusters are what is used to help steer rockets. Basically, he's going to add compressed air. The thrusters won't last for very long, and refueling them basically means running an air compressor. But it's going to be an awesome addition to have when visiting a drag strip.
I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar.
For an emergency brake system, would you rather deal with some loud noise, or with a pile of dead bodies?
Ezekiel 23:20