Elon Musk Wants The New Tesla Roadster To Hover

Elon Musk was on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast this week and Rogan asked him about the next-generation Tesla Roadster. Elon did not hold back and instead embraced a radically futuristic and bold idea. And remember, folks, Elon never gives up on his dreams — so don’t write this off as crazy. I believe it will happen.

“I want it to hover, and I was trying to figure out how to make this thing hover without, you know, killing people,” said Elon. Hovering Roadsters sound really space-age and cool. And yes, I agree — we need them to not kill or hurt anyone.

“I thought maybe we could make it hover but not too high. Maybe it can hover, like, a meter above the ground, or something like that. If you plummet, it’ll blow out the suspension, but you’re not going to die,” he added.

He also said that Tesla was finishing the engineering on the Roadster this year and that it would hopefully start shipping in 2022. He also added, “We’re going to throw some rocket technology in that car,” which echoed his 2018 tweet about the version with the SpaceX option package that includes less than 10 small rocket thrusters.

When Marques Brownlee replied to Elon’s 2018 tweet with, “No takebacks, Elon,” Elon made a promise that he will definitely keep. The next-gen Tesla Roadster will definitely be unique — just as the original Roadster was in its own heyday. Remember, that EV was the first in a long line of successful and industry-changing vehicles.

Honestly, this makes me feel like our Jetson future is getting closer. If Tesla does make a vehicle that hovers, it will again set the standard for vehicle design and engineering.

Last month, GM unveiled a concept of a flying Cadillac EV called the eVTOL. If GM is actually able to create this vehicle — one that flies — it would be interesting to see the eVTOL and the next-gen Roadster race in the skies — depending on how high up the Roadster is able to hover. Either way, the future in transportation is exciting and the best part about it is that these are both EVs — which don’t pollute the air.

Photos of next-gen Tesla Roadster by Kyle Field.