Elon Musk doesn’t like flying cars, despite the fact that he founded businesses that are working to define the future of transportation with electric cars, space exploration, and tunnels that would house high-speed transit systems.
On Thursday, Musk gave a speech for his tunnel-boring business, The Boring Company, in which he discussed the potential drawbacks of flying cars.
Musk stated that the potential for a broken part to fall and strike someone on the ground, as well as noise, are his two main worries.
There will be zillions of these things flying about, Musk said, and sooner or later, someone will fail to properly maintain their vehicle, drop a hubcap, and guillotine someone with it. Additionally, it will be as loud as a storm.
Musk has previously voiced similar worries and thinks it’s preferable to create high-speed, underground transit systems like the Loop and Hyperloop to alleviate traffic congestion.
Musk described the potential operation of the Loop system on Thursday.
A slower-moving alternative to Hyperloop called Loop was first put up by Elon Musk in a white paper in 2013.
While Loop would transport passengers over shorter distances, Hyperloop would be used for transit between cities.
Each would transport passengers across networks of subterranean tunnels at speeds exceeding 600 mph, however because to changes in how the tunnels are pressurized, Loop pods would only reach 150 mph.
Musk stated the Loop pods could accommodate 16 people on Thursday. Several small stations that would carry passengers below and occupy the same amount of area as a parking space might be used to access the Loop system, he added. As little as $1 US could be spent on rides. Some of Musk’s rivals are working on planes that resemble flying automobiles.
Uber unveiled a flying taxi prototype in early May for its future Uber Air service, which will fly customers between what the company calls “skyports,” or rooftop landing pads.
Uber plans to test the service in Dallas and Los Angeles in 2020 before launching its commercial transport service there in 2023.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi stated in an interview with CBS This Morning that Uber intends to make Uber Air “affordable for everyday people.”
