Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Twitter this week that the next version of the company’s Roadster sports car could hover over the ground with the help of thrusters borrowed from his rocket company.
The new Roadster will actually do something like this https://t.co/fIsTAYa4x8
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 9, 2019
Musk was responding to a follower who sent him a GIF of the flying Delorean from “Back to the Future” movies. “The new Roadster will actually do something like this,” he commented. Pushed on whether he was kidding, Musk said he was not.
“Will use SpaceX cold gas thruster system with ultra high pressure air in a composite over-wrapped pressure vessel in place of the 2 rear seats,” Musk wrote.
He later added that “you can basically accelerate at the limit of human endurance.”
Musk previously mentioned a “SpaceX option” for the new Roadster that would add 10 rocket thrusters to aid in braking, speed and cornering. Hovering, however, is a feature not previously mentioned.
And, the Roadster is not short of impressive features. Planned for production in 2020, the car will speed to more than 250 mph, boast a 0-60 mph time of 1.9 seconds, a quarter-mile time of 8.9 seconds, and a range of more than 600 miles.