Billionaire oligarch Elon Musk appeared on the latest episode of Joe Rogan’s podcast on Friday. And while much of the conversation covered topics we’ve heard before, Musk decided to drop some news about something he wants to demo by the end of the year: a flying car.
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before—from Musk himself, no less, who has been talking about making a flying car since at least 2014.
Musk’s flying car dreams came up in the context of Tesla’s Roadster, a car that was originally produced from 2008 to 2012. The second-generation Roadster has been promised by Musk for years, but he’s always failed to deliver since the original target date of 2020. When Rogan asked the Tesla CEO about the Roadster’s status, Musk slowly made it clear that he wants it to fly. But it took him some time during the conversation to actually reveal what he was talking about.
“We’re getting close to….” Musk said with a long pause, “…demonstrating the prototype. One thing I can guarantee is that this product demo will be unforgettable. Unforgettable.”
Rogan didn’t quite understand because Musk hadn’t revealed that he was referring to a flying car. The podcaster asked him how it would be unforgettable. Musk replied with a laugh, “Whether it’s good or bad, it will be unforgettable.” Rogan was still confused, asking Musk to explain.
“Well, you know, my friend Peter Thiel, once reflected that the future was supposed to have flying cars, but we don’t have flying cars,” said Musk, finally giving a hint.
Thiel, the cofounder of Palantir and Musk’s old friend from his days at PayPal, is another far-right billionaire who spends his days talking about the Antichrist in the most sweaty manner possible. Rogan couldn’t quite understand what Musk was saying and pressed him further, to which Musk replied, “I mean, I think if Peter wants a flying car, we should be able to buy one.”
Rogan asked Musk if the vehicle would have a “retractable wing,” imploring him to elaborate further. Musk replied that he “can’t do the unveil before the unveil,” but said that he thinks, “it has a shot at being the most memorable product unveil ever.” The billionaire said he hoped to unveil it “before the end of the year,” putting an emphasis on hopefully.
None of this should be a surprise for anyone who’s followed Musk over the past decade. He often likes to roll out prototypes and ideas long before they’re ready to deliver. That doesn’t mean you’ll actually see those things in the form they were promised.
Remember Musk’s idea for the Hyperloop? Or the more modest Loop system, which was supposed to be a 155-mile-per-hour autonomous mass transit system? It was going to be able to carry 16 people at a time, zipping around in tunnels underneath cities. When it came time for Musk to deliver, he built a tunnel in Las Vegas where human drivers ferry around people in regular Tesla vehicles at slow speeds.
Which is to say that Musk might very well hold a demo of a flying car soon, though a prototype isn’t the same thing as a product that hits the market. Musk also unveiled an autonomous two-seater Cybercab over a year ago, and there are no indications that it will be released anytime soon. The Robotaxis, on the other hand (regular Tesla vehicles that drive “autonomously” with a safety driver in the passenger seat), are already shuttling people around in Texas.
There’s also the issue that confronts every flying car inventor of the past century: Since flying is much more difficult and dangerous than driving, how large is the market for something like this? Any aircraft that carries passengers in the U.S. needs to be flown by someone with a pilot’s license. Unless, of course, it’s an autonomous flying vehicle. And that presents its own logistical challenges, such as coordinating air traffic.
The full episode, which is available on YouTube, includes the broader conversation, but Musk definitely hedged on the timing of his flying Roadster while talking with Rogan.
“You know, we need to make sure that it works,” said Musk. “Like this is some crazy, crazy technology we got in this car. Crazy… technology. Crazy crazy.”
Rogan asked him if it was different than what was previously announced for the Roadster, which Musk confirmed.
“It has crazy technology. Like, is it even a car? I’m not sure. It looks like a car,” said Musk. “Let’s just put it this way. It’s crazier than anything James Bond… if you took all the James Bond cars and combined them, it’s crazier than that.”
It’s interesting that Musk is giving hints that it might not be a “car.” It’s entirely possible that this means he’s developing a vertical take-off and landing vehicle (VTOL), which typically doesn’t drive on the road, but can still shuttle passengers. Many VTOL promises of the past decade have grabbed headlines as “flying cars,” even though they don’t actually drive on the road at all and function much more like helicopters.
Rogan was stunned, saying that he didn’t know what to think because he was only getting a “limited amount of information.” Musk, clearly sensing skepticism, told Rogan that if he wanted to see it before the unveiling, he would show it to him.
Are we going to see a flying car soon? It sounds like it. But we’ve had functioning flying cars since at least the 1950s. Are we going to see something that will be more than just a flashy distraction from the fact that Tesla vehicle sales are in the toilet ever since Musk aligned himself with President Donald Trump and made those two Nazi-style salutes? That part remains to be seen.
