Elon Musk: Flying cars are a bad solution to traffic problem

Elon Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla, has said he does not believe in the concept of the flying car as a solution to tackle the traffic problem in cities. He believes more in his own concept to reduce traffic jams: digging an underground tunnel network.

Musk says he likes flying vehicles, but can’t imagine how the flying car could be a “scalable” solution to the congestion problem. He sees some problems associated with the flying car. Musk explained this in an interview with Bloomberg.

First, Musk argues that flying cars have to generate quite a bit of downward force to take off and stay in the air, which automatically creates wind and noise for people on the ground. Also, a mid-air collision can result in dangerous debris hitting the ground at high speed. Finally, Musk points out the danger of a flying car that is poorly maintained. “If a hubcap falls off the car during the flight phase, it’s like a guillotine.”

The idea for the tunnel project originated when Musk was stuck in Los Angeles traffic last December. This frustration led Musk to the idea of ​​building a tunnel boring machine, under the name The Boring Company. This is no joke, Musk says. He has been thinking for years about the possibilities of building tunnels, not only to solve urban traffic jams, but also as part of the hyperloop. The hyperloop concept is based on a vacuum tube in which you can move from place A to place B at high speed, which in theory makes it a useful concept for transport.