Elon Musk's Tesla Motors has flaunted a new flying car – well, sort of.
Mr Musk touted it as “something that you haven’t seen in any movie” but it's not exactly Back to the Future stuff.
However, the stunt seems to offer a glimpse of the future of transport. It's a great idea, but several points need clarity before road-and-air-legal cars become a reality.
What happened
Late on Thursday, Texas-based Tesla introduced the redesigned Roadster, the electric vehicle maker's original model. It was a long-awaited unveiling for the new version of the car after production ceased in 2012.
The Roadster was “launched” off a curved ramp, flipped over in mid-air and landed with the help of built-in thrusters designed by Mr Musk's other major venture, SpaceX.
The car was also made to fly and barrel-roll over a line of Tesla vehicles, including its electric cars, Semi Truck and Cybertruck, although it seemed to take off vertically as it neared the first vehicle rather than launching well before.
The latest Roadster, which is set to go into production in 2028, is billed as going from zero to 100kph in a second – significantly faster than the first-generation model, which achieved that speed in under four seconds.
What's inside
At the event at SpaceX's hub in McGregor, Texas, Mr Musk said the new Roadster used an “advanced ultra-high pressure air tank”, with 10 nozzles that carry about 250kg of air, which can recharge by itself without the use of any propellant.
Air tanks are critical in vehicle systems, as they are key components for brakes, suspension, tyres and thrusters. In the space race – one of Mr Musk's closely-watched endeavours – they are very high pressure to support propulsion.
The Roadster's air tank will “literally puff itself up and be able to do these manoeuvres whenever you'd like”, Mr Musk said.
However, the thruster-powered Roadsters will only come in limited-edition models and there will not be any street-legal versions.
Legal questions
That means not everyone can, at least not yet, “fly a car”, let alone perform barrel-rolls and kick-flips with the upcoming Roadster – especially as laws on the vehicle are both very tight and vague.
In the mid-2010s, US regulations had stated that flying cars would need two licences – one for the road and one for the air. The very niche nature of flying cars – whose technologies are still very much in their infancy – makes it difficult to assess rules by region.
Whoever drives the flying car is another issue. A notable example of this was the AirCar, which was granted an airworthiness certification by Slovakian authorities in 2022. Its maker, Klein Vision, subsequently said its operator would need a pilot's licence – not just a driver's licence – to operate it.
Mr Musk acknowledged this, saying, “I'm not sure if it's necessarily legal in all jurisdictions.” However, he emphasises that with the new Roadster, “we can go further … this will be an actual car on the roads”.
Insurance and air space
Then there's the thought of having to load a car with compressed gas, which can cause explosions and raise alarm bells for owners and insurers.
“[It's] a tremendous feat of engineering. It’s hard to argue otherwise,” said David Thomas, director of content marketing at US software developer CDK Global.
“I’m not sure where you fill up a car with that. And it’s unlikely anyone will insure it either.”
And after ensuring any flying car is safe and legal, commercialisation is also a big question, said George Agathangelou, general manager and executive director of Cyprus-based financial services firm Teroxx.
“Would drivers need aviation certification or a pilot’s licence? What happens to liability, insurance and airspace restrictions,” he said. “Imagine explaining to your insurer that you didn’t rear-end another vehicle, you attempted to fly over it.”
Yes, it's real
Tesla isn't the first to unveil such a vehicle: in 2021, Britain's McMurtry introduced the Speirling, an electric hypercar using powerful fans to generate downforce. Tesla's approach is different as it combines suction with thrusters.
Mr Musk made sure that there was an audience to witness the Roadster stunts in Texas and ensure people would not claim it was AI.
Analysts at Chinese logistics company Raman Technology noted that it was “not antigravity magic, [as] it integrates aerospace technology inside an electric vehicle”.
