A picture of the Alef, which claims to be the “world’s first flying car.”AP
Tesla released videos on Thursday of a car that launched into the air, barrel-rolled over a lineup of cars and trucks, and landed on its wheels, apparently using thrusters and a fan system on the underside of the vehicle.
The car did not have a human driver, reportedly because Musk didn’t want to “kill anyone.” It’s not clear how far or high it can fly, or whether it will ever be safe to operate.
So maybe it’s for the best that regular human consumers, for the moment, can’t buy it: Musk said the car is scheduled for production in 2028 and the ability to purchase it will be “invite only.”
If the flying Tesla Roadster does become available to the American buyer, there will be a host of issues to address. Flying cars are legal to register, inspect, and drive in both Minnesota and New Hampshire (live free or die!). The legality of such vehicles in the rest of the United States, however, remains in question. So too does who would regulate the cars. The Federal Aviation Administration, for one, has said that flying Teslas, unlike planes or helicopters, aren’t its problem: “The Tesla vehicle does not meet the FAA’s definition of an aircraft,” the agency told Politico. A Department of Transportation official, meanwhile, told CBS it might not be that agency’s job, either.
Then, there’s policing: a traditional police vehicle cannot follow a car that flies. An airplane could possibly “pull over” a flying car, but as one car crash law firm hopped into my inbox to point out, the jets normally sent after stray private planes usually cost a minimum of $15,000 per hour to operate.
In true Musk fashion, this may all be a giant publicity stunt, like the time he claimed, in 2016, he would send humans to Mars by 2024. And it’s not the first time one of his cars has run afoul of safety regulations: One study shows they are 17 times more deadly than the infamously-combustible Ford Pinto, and are known to rust quickly, lock drivers inside their cars, struggle in snowy conditions, and get stuck in the mud. So a flying Tesla’s regulatory contentiousness might not mean much to the world’s richest man, who once said “If the rules are such that you can’t make progress, then you have to fight the rules.”
His massive political giving certainly reflects a man determined to have his way. Now the single biggest donor in the current election cycle, he has spent more than $366 million backing right-wing candidates so far. As my colleague Anna Merlan has reported, he may also be the midterms’ biggest disinformation risk:
The midterms’ largest donor, then, is also a person who controls an enormous information source, one that he frequently uses to amplify politically motivated lies and fake news—including tweeting about the possibility of “large-scale fraud” in elections. Musk’s company SpaceX currently holds several lucrative federal contracts with the Defense Department, which could be probed if Democrats retake Congress. And House Republicans have repeatedly blocked efforts to subpoena Musk amid an ongoing Democrat-led inquiry into his conduct while working as a part of DOGE.
Non-flying versions of Musk’s latest Tesla, for now, require a $250,000 deposit.
