back to article Flying cars, submarine cars – Elon Musk says NOTHING is beyond him

Not impressed with Tesla Motors' line of all-electric cars so far? The company's billionaire founder, Elon Musk, says he's still thinking of new ways to wow you, as long as he can get the technological kinks ironed out. "Maybe we'll make a flying car, just for fun," Musk told The Independent during a launch event for the Tesla …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Herby

    So...

    Q section has a new supplier.

    Might work.

    Pay attention 007.....

    1. JeffyPoooh
      Pint

      "Maybe we'll make a flying car, just for fun."

      Forget that. Why don't you 3D print the Flying Car?

      Order up a tube of Flying Car Paste off the old interweb, and off you go. Obviously there's no reason at all why you couldn't 3D print the fuel tanks full of fuel and the tires already inflated.

  2. Idocrase

    The dude might as well just go right ahead and change his name legally to Tony Stark.

    1. Lamont Cranston

      Howard, surely?

      Unless he's going to skip on from flying cars and get busy building a wearable robot.

  3. Frumious Bandersnatch

    flying car, yay!

    He should call it Hubris. What could possibly go wrong?

  4. Khaptain Silver badge

    Challenge

    I challenge Elon to make a vehicle as follows

    Road legal.

    Carries 5 people (average person = 85kgs) i.e. five grown men comfortably..

    Must be able to store at least three large sized suitcases in the boot/trunk.

    Autonomy of 1000 Kms.

    Costs about the equivalent of 3 months’ salary (based upon average nationwide salaries - excluding those within the higher end pay bracket: i.e. anyone that earns over 300 000 $ per year) - applicable throughout the world - price varies according to country because of exchange rates.

    Cars must be built locally (nationally) and where possible using home country materials.

    Should have good fuel consumption - 3 litres per 100 Kms mixed conditions - Engine should be replaceable by alternative fuel system - today petrol, tomorrow Diesel, after tomorrow Hydrogen etc.

    Capable of doing 180Km/h safely.

    Must have at least 200 000Kmh or 7 year guarantee for all parts except the usual consumables.

    Most if not all parts ( anything that weighs less than 20 kgs) should be user replaceable without the need for special tools. Could create a huge market for customisation.

    Must look more aesthetic than a Traban but possibly less than a DB9 in black..

    Nothing fancy here, nothing over board but definitely a challenge.

    1. oolor

      Re: Challenge

      Surely you have been sucking from the hosepipe said Trabant. The leaded fuel by the sounds of it.

      And nothing could be more aesthetic than a Trabant made from random panels of the three colours of one's country's flag.

      On the other hand, that would be some interesting specs to match at least in part. Different combinations tied to prize money could lead to some interesting solutions.

    2. Irony Deficient

      Re: Challenge

      Khaptain, according to the revised 2012 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings from the Office for National Statistics (the latest non-preliminary results available), median gross annual pay in the UK is £21,500, and mean gross annual pay is £26,756, which would make three months’ gross pay £5,375 (median) or £6,689 (mean) — and that includes people in the higher pay brackets. How would you propose building a car in the UK to your challenge’s specifications and being able to sell it profitably there for no more than £6,689?

      1. Khaptain Silver badge

        Re: Challenge

        >How would you propose building a car in the UK to your challenge’s specifications and being able to sell it profitably there for no more than £6,689?

        Now you see just how interesting the challenge really is.

        1. Irony Deficient

          Re: Challenge

          Khaptain,

          Now you see just how interesting the challenge really is.
          without a feasible way to meet the challenge, it’s not particularly interesting.

          1. Khaptain Silver badge

            Re: Challenge

            @Irony Deficient

            Which option(s) do you consider as being non feasible ?

            And, are they any less feasible than flying cars or underwater cars ?

            1. Irony Deficient

              Re: Challenge

              Khaptain, I consider the local, profitable manufacture of such a car with its retail price being no greater than three months’ mean salary for people in that nation to be non-feasible. I welcome being proven wrong on its feasibility by being shown how it could be done in the UK.

              Yes, your challenge is less feasible than the challenges to build flying cars and underwater cars; they don’t have an upper bound on the price for which they can be sold.

    3. Geoff Campbell Silver badge
      Facepalm

      Re: Challenge

      Homer? Is that you?

      Sound ghastly. Who the hell would buy it? All those compromises to solve problems that only exist in your mind, but which would significantly reduce its usability as a vehicle.

      GJC

    4. Weapon

      Re: Challenge

      Considering that Musk is not a believer of burning gasoline, diesel or use of fool cells. He would decline based on merit.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Challenge

        "Considering that Musk is not a believer of burning gasoline, diesel"

        What do his rockets use then ?

    5. dogged
      1. Irony Deficient

        Re: Challenge

        dogged, are Dacia Logan MCVs built in the UK?

    6. Wize

      Re: Challenge

      "Most if not all parts ( anything that weighs less than 20 kgs) should be user replaceable without the need for special tools. Could create a huge market for customisation."

      That alone scares me. I remember seeing many a home repaired car that would shed a reasonable proportion of its weight by driving over a cobbled road. Imagine all those home repaired cars, held together with string and wrong sized bolts, flying over your head waiting to plummet to the ground.

    7. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: Challenge

      "I challenge Elon to make a vehicle as follows"

      You mean like the Volkswagon, Morris Minor, Mini, Lada, and probably many others, especially in (the old style) eastern europe?

      Not sure they all meet the suitcase criteria though.

      I suspect the problems in making a reasonably decent cheap car come from the huge development expense these days where so many regulations must be met in terms of safety features etc and the imported American obsession of having a "new" model every year so all that dev and retooling cost has to be recouped relatively quickly.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Shouldn't it be

    ford (or Toyota etc etc) developing the self driving car? or the electric car? Nope to invested in petrol!

    Boing etc developing the commercial space program? no to busy sucking up tax payers money!

    If those companies don't start paying attention, they are going to be relics of the 20th century..

    I never really followed Musk's previous ventures, but the guy is certainly putting his money where his mouth is!

    1. Naughtyhorse
      Headmaster

      Re: Shouldn't it be

      sorry dude,

      but,

      boing?

      rly

      hav u no eard of guggle?

      normally i'd let it pass but it is pretty funny.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Shouldn't it be

        Upvote for you.. I deserve that ;)

        1. Naughtyhorse

          Re: Shouldn't it be

          right back at you m8 :-)

      2. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
        Happy

        Re: Shouldn't it be

        I think Boing! is an excellent name for a company that builds rockets and aeroplanes.

        "This is your captain speaking. I'm afraid all four engines have failed,and we're going to have to make an emergency landing. However, don't worry chaps. This is the new all-rubber constructed Boing 797. Please assume the brace position, stow all trays and belongings, return your seats and stewardesses to the upright position, and prepare for some serious bouncing."

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    We need more of these people.

    People used to dream.

    When did we get so complacent?

    1. phil dude
      Coat

      when...

      governments used fear and intimidation to carry out wars on <insert pointless activity>, rather than setting a goal that was greater than the current viewpoint of society.

      The Apollo program was possibly a rare example of this, despite the malign politics that fostered it.

      A meritocracy means a decline in the power of politics, and the politicians will not allow that.

      "Politics is the pursuit of power without merit"

      P.

    2. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

      Piketty fences!

      When progressivism occurred.

      None shall stand out, and they shall all duly fill their paperwork for proper taxation and birth-to-death accompaniement by the State.

      (Except for the cronies behind the curtain, of course.)

      Then True Equality shall be achieved.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Piketty fences!

        of course, if Piketty fences are erected, Elon Musk won't be able to do this, as his wealth would be taken away, but let's not get fairness and rewards for effort get in the way of politics

  7. Denarius
    Meh

    like the notion but

    flying cars do not seem practical using known physics. The disk loading for VTOL is disruptive no matter what the powerplant. See a V22 land vs a mere helicopter. Sikorsky prototype X2 is still big end of town but technology looks practical if expensive. So we need anti-gravity or a road system that is also a runway. yeah, right. And drivers who can fly. The driverless car might make the management feasible, but I thing the wrong problem is being solved. Why do large cities with dense populations outside of Hong Kong and the hellholes of western Europe exist ? Regardless, I applaud Musk. We need adventurous engineers and business people dreaming up new technology and machines. That 90% may fail is irrelevant. The few who succeed that matter. How many times was controlled flight tried before it became practical ?

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Yayy !!

    The 1% will be needing more ways to fly far above the gridlocked masses.

    And the rest of us can't hardly wait to squint upwards into your musky exhaust fumes.

    1. Geoff Campbell Silver badge

      Re: Yayy !!

      "Pull!"

      GJC

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I guess....

    ...he got bored with that Hyperloop thingy.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    When you are clueless...

    ...you believe all things are possible.

    1. JDX Gold badge

      Re: When you are clueless...

      Except that he has a track record for succeeding.

    2. James Hughes 1

      Re: When you are clueless...

      Are you implying Musk is clueless?

      Have you made as much money as him from your own ideas?

      I guess not. Which is the clueless one, the anonymous net troll, or the very rich and getting richer through his own efforts Elon Musk?

      I think it was NASA engineers who have praised Musk, stating he went from knowing nothing about rockets to being an acknowledged expert in his time at SpaceX. Sorry, cannot find the quote, but it's out there somewhere.

    3. John Bailey

      Re: When you are clueless...

      When you are powerless... You believe all things impossible.

      Flying car.. Done, Years and years ago. Utterly impractical, but still done. It drove, and it flew. Bolt on wings and tail carried in a trailer. It did however require a pilot'#s license as well as a driving license, and all kinds of permits.

      Submarine car.. With electric motors.. why on earth not? Possible?.. Yes. Practical? Hell no, but an interesting design challenge. Being able to spend six months parked at the north pole is not a requirement. Being able to convey one or more people under power while fully submerged is. Scuba gear requirement optional.

      Retracting wheels, propulsion pods mounted at the sides.. Not actually that hard.

      To achieve these (for want of a better word) goals, a retail model is not actually required, So doesn't even need to be street legal.

      If he wants to blow his money on this, nobody has any need to stop him.

      If he wants to make things for the fun of it.. More power to him.

  11. el_oscuro

    Amphibious cars aready done

    Unlike the James Bond ride, the Amphicar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphicar was road worthy. While it couldn't go under water, it could do 7 knots on water and 70mph on land. About 4,000 of them were produced from 1961 to 1968 and President Lyndon Johnson owned one. Perhaps Musk should pick one up. I am sure he can afford it and it might make a good basis for his submarine ride.

    1. dogged

      Re: Amphibious cars aready done

      Looks oddly familiar....

      1. Simon Harris

        Re: Amphibious cars aready done

        Always though Thunderbird 4 looked a bit like a Reliant Robin

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuBPX4BtLoA

        not sure this one actually is amphibious though!

    2. Lamont Cranston

      Re: Amphibious cars aready done

      He should have a word with Renault, have them revive the Racoon.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Racoon

  12. Benjol

    Hyperloop

    I'd love to see that become a reality, far more than flying cars.

    And miniature self-contained nuclear power as well.

  13. Peter Simpson 1
    Holmes

    How about a flying underwater car? And it must make that "Jetsons car" sound.

    Musk is bright and has a track record of success. However, as they say in the stock market: "past performance does not guarantee future results."

    Maybe he could take a short cut and team up with this guy, who has a lot of "valuable experience" in the field: http://moller.com/dev/ :-)

  14. aurizon

    Organic Flying Car

    With research into jurassic DNA, Musk is currently gene-engineering an organic winged vehicle capable of seating 4. The initial prototypes had to be fitted with cones of shame http://bit.ly/1pfqADS because of a distressing tendency(to the passengers) to eat passengers because they apparently tasted better than bat kibble.

    If these and other bugs (like dung falling 40,000 feet) can be worked out we might see them roosting in yards everywhere in a few years...

  15. Ben Bonsall

    "We will be making a submarine car. It can transition from being a submarine to a car that drives up on the beach," Musk said. Though he added, "Maybe we'll make two or three, but it wouldn't be more than that. It's not like we'd sell it, because I think the market for submarine cars is quite small."

    But, as the market is people with private islands and drug dealers, the profit is probably quite large...

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    sooo, based on idle speculation not grounded in product or profit reality..

    how many points did TSLA go up today based on nothing more than musings?

    Musk is pumping out ideas but falling behind on delivery of anything more than fancy multimedia presentations.

    It is also important to remember, Musk is a Money Man. He *hires* people that do the actual thinking, design, and practical engineering.

    But if he spends all his time producing ideas that don't go, while letting his promises and ideas past slide, he's gonna end up with a Donald Trump style record.

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like