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Poll: Roadster to Hover?

Will the Roadster with SpaceX option be able to hover?

  • Elon is joking - Roadster will not hover (forward and lateral thrust only)

    Votes: 22 32.8%
  • Roadster will be able to hover in very controlled circumstances for short periods (demo)

    Votes: 34 50.7%
  • Roadster will be able to fly with limitations

    Votes: 3 4.5%
  • Roadster will be able to take-off vertically (1/4 mile in 8 seconds)

    Votes: 2 3.0%
  • Non customer version will allow a hover demo

    Votes: 6 9.0%
  • Non customer version will be able to take-off vertically (1/4 mile in 8 seconds)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    67
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I voted for "joking" but I think we are missing an option. I don't see it realistically being able to hover, but perhaps something closer to hydraulics? So if the car sees a pothole perhaps it can do a tiny hop to avoid it?

Anything that thinks it will be able to fly has been spending too much time with Joe Rogan. (I'm not mad, I just want an invite)
 
It maybe hubris not joking, even if they try something along these lines I doubt it would ever get certified road legal.

My understanding of the SpaceX option was that it is to help acceleration and cornering, i.e. added downforce + lateral jets to help turning at high speed, plus maybe forward jet to assist breaking (you need to be able to stop safely if you pushed the car too fast too quickly).
 
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Maybe Elon's not joking, but the ability to employ cold gas thrusters would come with some limitations. Clean Technica did some quick math. They calculated a fully charged 200 kWh pack could generate a possible hover duration of up to 7 minutes.
Can The Tesla Roadster Really Fly? Wired Says It Has The Answer | CleanTechnica
There's also questions of liability. Laterally expelling air at high velocity has some risk. Depending on the surface condition of the road, what would be a safe separation distance from other man made objects or bystanders?
 
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Maybe Elon's not joking, but the ability to employ cold gas thrusters would come with some limitations. Clean Technica did some quick math. They calculated a fully charged 200 kWh pack could generate a possible hover duration of up to 7 minutes.
Can The Tesla Roadster Really Fly? Wired Says It Has The Answer | CleanTechnica
There's also questions of liability. Laterally expelling air at high velocity has some risk. Depending on the surface condition of the road, what would be a safe separation distance from other man made objects or bystanders?
There are street legal cars that use actual jet engines so I don't think there is a liability issue? IDK.
 
Hmmm. I wonder. A hovercar would fit quite nicely in the tunnels of the Boring Company, where it is entirely possible to build the floors -very- smooth, and have the hovercars "hover" about an inch or so above the tunnel floor.

It would work out quite nicely in a low-speed version of a not-so-hyper hyperloop that does not bother to evacuate air from the tubes, allowing occupants to take their own hovercars and still breathe in the non-airtight vehicles (especially if they are Tesla Roadster Hovercars). Travel speeds would be considerably lower than the Hyperloop speeds that approach the speed of sound, but if its only 200 mph or so, that would still allow a reasonably short travel time for distances under 500 miles. Los Angeles to San Francisco in about 2 hours ain't too bad, y'know...

-- Ardie
It sounds like a logical step towards a flying car.
 
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Something like this ! = actually doing that thing.

Hmmm. I wonder. A hovercar would fit quite nicely in the tunnels of the Boring Company, where it is entirely possible to build the floors -very- smooth, and have the hovercars "hover" about an inch or so above the tunnel floor.

It would work out quite nicely in a low-speed version of a not-so-hyper hyperloop that does not bother to evacuate air from the tubes, allowing occupants to take their own hovercars and still breathe in the non-airtight vehicles (especially if they are Tesla Roadster Hovercars). Travel speeds would be considerably lower than the Hyperloop speeds that approach the speed of sound, but if its only 200 mph or so, that would still allow a reasonably short travel time for distances under 500 miles. Los Angeles to San Francisco in about 2 hours ain't too bad, y'know...

-- Ardie
It sounds like a logical step towards a flying car.
The energy requirements make that pointless though. Hovering a few tons takes a lot of energy, and this gas will be stored in tanks so energy aside you will be limited on the time that thrust is available.

Link to these bad boys?

Every street legal turbine powered vehicle I've seen (like that chryslter prototype in the 60's or something)does not use thrust to propel the vehicle for the obvious reason that it's freaking HOT right behind a jet engine.
Here is one.

Jet Beetle

But either way, you won't be stuck behind a roadster hitting your car with blasts of air so probably a moot argument.
 
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There needs to be an option - It won’t hover regardless of that Elon says and thinks.

Note: I have a deposit down and will be thrilled if I get the car sometime in 2020, it looks reasonably like the prototype, has decent autopilot and gets anywhere close to 600 miles on a charge.
 
Here is one.

Jet Beetle

But either way, you won't be stuck behind a roadster hitting your car with blasts of air so probably a moot argument.

That thing is amazing! However I don't see how this guy stuffing a jet into a car in his garage is even remotely applicable to Teslas liability in mass producing vehicles. Obviously they play by different rules that that guy, and it sure seems like a technicality that that car is road legal:D
 
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What is "something like" hovering? Not hovering is not like hovering.
We can flip that around. If it can hover, then why would you say it could "do something like hovering"?

Hey, if I'm wrong I'll buy another 50 shares of TSLA because that will move some damn cars. ;) Wired did the math and if we were talking about the model 3 it would take a full charge to hover 2..6 minutes. Better than I imagined actually.

A Flying Tesla? Sure! We Calculate the Power Demands