Elon Musk says he wants new Tesla Roadsters to fly ‘without, you know, killing people’

13 Feb, 2021 13:27 / Updated 4 years ago

SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk says he is considering the possibility of making the forthcoming Tesla Roadster capable of flight using SpaceX technology.

According to Musk, a rocket thruster package could significantly increase the already ludicrous speed of the second-generation Roadster, and could be also used to make the vehicle fly.

“We’re going to throw some rocket technology in that car,” he said in his latest interview on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

“I want it to hover, and I was trying to figure out how to make this thing hover without, you know, killing people,” the Tesla CEO said.

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He said that the company would finish engineering the Roadster in the current year with a view to beginning shipping in 2022.

“I thought maybe we could make it hover but not too high. Maybe it can hover, like, a meter above the ground, or something like that. If you plummet, it’ll blow out the suspension, but you’re not going to die,” Musk said of its possible flight capability.

Tesla, a pioneer in the mass production of electric vehicles, announced plans for the next-generation Roadster as long ago as 2017. Back then, the manufacturer touted a wide range of impressive specifications, such as 0-60mph in just 1.9 seconds, as well as a battery range of 620 miles, which is notably impressive for a car of its kind.

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