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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab2VVp1GfmA
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.”
