alt Hacker NewsTesla Roadster
Comments
At least this one doesn't look horrible. I can't see myself buying it, but I don't feel like I want to gag either.
It has rockets to accelerate, but no rockets to decelerate to fix a launch mistake, or a launch in the wrong direction. It's a death trap.
Why not just put wheels on a helicopter?
“This isn’t flying, this is falling with style.” - Buzz
People who already have a Veyron should go for this.
It's very impressive. Not useful, but impressive.
So has he hired anyone who does not exist to champion the cause of the innocent and helpless in a world of criminals who operate above the law?
I hate Tesla for their politics, broken promises, and all the drama that we are all aware and tired of hearing about. That being said, that was the coolest damn thing I've ever seen a car do.
I don't think there's any doubt in anyone's mind that it'll never make production like this, but what I see as being demonstrated is a suborbital lander/off-world ground transport concept that can work in low gravity environments etc. This will aid autonomous delivery vehicles etc to be dropped from low orbit and find their own landing sites, and then drive to location.
I wonder how many maimed kerbals are stranded around the space X facility while testing this.
Even in HN, I'll never cease to be amused at the amount of people who fall for Elon's smoke and mirrors.
In other news, the car is very ugly, which is the only thing that was interesting to me. They made it look like an underfed cybertruck for some reason
I personally see this like a 1UP for rich idiots that are about to drive themselves into oblivion. Beats the solution in Demolition Man.
If helipads can only handle one chopper ever few minutes, and they are surrounded by clear and open space, then that tells you that theres no way flying cars with the frequency of typical roads or even quite streets will ever happen.
Not beating the "Elon is 12" allegations any time soon.
I am amazed at how steady and in control the car was when flipping and jumping. If that kind of control on a vehicle is achieved today, it seems like flying car tech just took a giant lurch forward. Just in time for America's crumbling road infrastructure.
It's great to watch these types of videos and tech ideas. It makes me really happy.
It seems it's not a convertible anymore? Which means it shouldn't be called a Roadster.
It is really awesome, but seems like it's the start between Tesla and SpaceX acquisition
Whatever millions they spent on developing this car, are dwarfed by the amount this press coverage is worth.
Just curious: Was there a demo of a stable straight jump as well, or always barrel-rolls?
It must be incredibly difficult to keep the car stable while mid-air at low speeds, I suspect it wouldn't look that "elegant"...
Reminds me quite a bit about Compressed Gas Supercharging:
Is the copy grok's writing style? It feels inhuman but still more readable than Opus
If I'm understanding this correctly, it uses the electric motor to compress air into large tanks? How much thrust could that generate (and for how long)? It'd be amazing to jump over East River or the Hudson.
This reminds me of why Dieter Rams never designed a car: "Rams expressed irritation that the automotive industry has historically focused on building faster cars rather than rethinking the transportation system as a whole to genuinely serve society."
They wanted to copy the McLaren F1, but didn't have the guts to do a central driving seat.
So where is FSD that has been promised since 2017?
Cool stunt car though
This is a showpiece at this point. but I can see these on the roads in ~10 years; but it felt more like a frog car than a flying car? in my mind flying quadcopters felt much safer in videos than this frog. It feels overly complicated based on what i have read; rocket boosters?? why? quadcopters and other flying taxis seem much more economical and using tech that's been reliable for at least last 20 years.
You can hate the man, but you must respect him. Flying cars have truly arrived.
Why Musk would spend probably tens of millions of dollars on this prototype which clearly will never be drivable on roads. One explanation is he is a trillionaire and the 14 year old in him thinks it would simply be cool to do it.
I think there is a more rational explanation. Tesla sales have slowed, other companies are catching up, and if it weren't for import issues, Chinese cars would be eating Tesla's breakfast, lunch and dinner. Yet Tesla is trading at a 330 P/E and Musk has to do something to make it seem like Tesla is still light-years ahead of everyone else and just wait, that 330 P/E will be justified any quarter now. Just like shooting a roadster into deep space was just a PR stunt, this is a PR stunt to boost the brand with no actual market relevance.
This seems less like a consumer product than a stock market demonstration of the supposed synergies of merging SpaceX and Tesla.
Nice Testarossa!
Still waiting for the autonomous charging arm that you aren't supposed to bend down near.
> an expertly crafted extra-terrestrial vehicle.
hmmmm. spacex-tesla merger signalling?
This sounds more or less like the car my 5 year old son dreamed up a few months back: "Dad, dad! What if we put a bunch of rocket thrusters on the bottom of an electric car? We could even add a really powerful fan as well. And then the car could just hover past traffic jams, and it could even drive along walls or upside down if you put the fans in reverse!".
I'll be listening even more closely to his ideas from now on, even when they defy the "common sense filter" we adults tend to have.
Would not want to stand near this.
Totally thought this was AI when I first saw this.
Isn't it weird for Tesla to start adding non-electric propulsion to their car?
If used on public streets, these thrusters could easily maim/kill people- reckless to include them on a car.
in my opinion, this kind of technology is, at best, only gonna be feasible and most importantly allowed, for automatic safety systems in case someone falls of a cliff or a similar situations.
And I though the BYD U9 jumping car was a gimmick...
I have a friend who drives a Tesla (hates it but signed a lease). On several occasions he has been unable to get into his car when his phone had no battery and he uses it as a key. I'm sure he could use a real car key but that would probably be incredibly inconvenient to carry around.
Rocket-inspired design hints at desire to merge Tesla and SpaceX?
What's up with wheels not being round anymore? How is that supposed to work? I understand it for Formula 1, but for real world driving, it doesn't make any sense
I no longer like Elon and Tesla but, damn, that's a great looking Lamborghini, and a cool stunt to launch it!
Did you see 0 to 60 in 0.81 second, now THAT is flying!
Probably among the least comfortable cars to be hit by as a pedestrian or cyclist.
Does anyone know what sort of fuel the cold-gas thrusters use? It seems like it would likely end up as an environmental contaminant.