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Elon Musk’s next great idea? An electric jet that can take off and land vertically

Published Feb 7th, 2016 3:30PM EST
Elon Musk Electric Jet

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Elon Musk is changing the world one idea at a time. First, with Tesla, the man so many people call the real life Tony Stark has done an incredible job of bringing electric vehicles to the mainstream. Second, Musk has been doing an impressive job over at SpaceX in the realm of space travel. And third, Musk’s effective rough draft of a high-speed transportation system known as the Hyperloop is being contemplated and conceptualized in a very real way by some extremely smart people.

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So where does Musk go from here? Why, Mars of course. Recently, Musk said that he plans to unveil SpaceX’s Mars roadmap next September. But on another front, Musk has also been thinking about developing an electric airplane capable of taking off and landing vertically.

While answering a few questions during a Q&A session at the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Award Ceremony last week, Musk was asked what his “next great idea” was.

The answer? Electric-powered air travel.

“Well I have been thinking about the vertical takeoff and landing of an electric jet a bit more,” Musk said. “And I think I have something that might be close. I’m quite tempted to do something about it.”

The pertinent portion of the exchange begins at around 18 minutes in.

While a similar statement from anyone else might go ignored, Musk’s track record dictates that we might want to pay attention to what the Tesla CEO is dreaming up.

Those who follow Musk closely will notice that this isn’t the first time he has touched on the topic. During a Marketplace interview this past October, Musk said he even has a design in mind for such an electric jet.

“I do like the idea of an electric aircraft company,” Musk explained. “I think one could do a pretty cool supersonic, vertical, take-off and landing electric jet. That would be really fun. I have a design in mind for that.”

Yoni Heisler Contributing Writer

Yoni Heisler has been writing about Apple and the tech industry at large with over 15 years of experience. A life long expert Mac user and Apple expert, his writing has appeared in Edible Apple, Network World, MacLife, Macworld UK, and TUAW.

When not analyzing the latest happenings with Apple, Yoni enjoys catching Improv shows in Chicago, playing soccer, and cultivating new TV show addictions.