Welcome to another Tesla Tuesday… on a Friday. Yesterday’s announcement was so big and there’s so much misinformation flying around that I thought I’d post right away.
First, in case you haven’t seen it, the headlines are that Tesla announced a flying car. Here are actual videos from the event:
It’s hard to watch those videos without getting a strong Back to the Future vibe! Tesla made a lot of waves a few weeks back when they got FAA permission to close airspace over the event leading to lots of speculation about whether the permission request was just a PR stunt, etc. Turns out it was legit (probably, I don’t know all the details about what you’re required to file for, but at the very least, stuff was leaving the ground.)
So let’s get down to some actual facts that we know from the event:
- You’re not going to see cars flying down the interstate. The fans under the car are there for super customizable downforce. At low speeds (in corners), the fans will suck the car to the ground improving grip. At high speeds, the car reconfigures to reduce drag.
- Production timing is targeted for 2028. You can reserve one today for $50,000.
- The car contains pressure tanks that it can recharge on its own so you don’t need any special propellant.
- There are three versions:
- Performance: Seating for 2. Suction system for increased grip. (0-60 in 1.6 seconds)
- Thrust: Adds acceleration thrusters. This has “limited” availability. (0-60 in 0.9 seconds)
- Rocket: Seating for 1. Adds a full flight system. Only available by invitation. (0-60 in 0.59 seconds)
I expect that the flying version will be something that you’ll be able to experience in places like Dubai if you’re willing to pay enough money. There probably won’t be a lot of them in existence.
Why build this? We’re moving from facts to opinion, but Elon has always talked about making the best car full stop. No caveats. This specific model is intended to blow away many racetrack records. I’m excited to see what it can do. Hypercars push up to the limits of what you can do with traditional mechanical and aero grip, but this seems to be in a league of its own.
I don’t know how long it will be before we actually see them attempting to set those records or how long until people can actually buy one. It was announced in 2017 and the target date was 2020. So will we see it being produced in 2028? Probably not. But it certainly seems to be farther along than we’ve ever seen before and even if it’s never produced, this demo was impressive!