One thing Tesla’s CEO isn’t short on is new ideas. In a recent interview, the executive and inventor hinted that an electric aircraft would make “an interesting opportunity” for the world’s most famous electric car builder.
CEO Elon Musk told CNBC that he has investigated the idea of an electric vertical takeoff and landing – or EVOL – aircraft. Such a move wouldn’t be Musk’s first foray into the space above; his Space X firm has already begun launching rockets to supply the International Space Station.
Aircraft represent far different challenges than automobiles, not the least of which is the fact that they need to be light enough to fly and their batteries need to be advanced enough to keep them in the air. In many ways, the final frontier for electric mobility will be aircraft.
Eventually, Musk said, nearly all forms of transportation will be electrically-powered – aside from rockets, he believes.
“Unfortunately, there’s no way around Newton’s third law,” he said, referring to the rocket exception as “ironic.”
The executive also took the opportunity to subtly bash the aviation industry.
“It seems unlikely that it will come from Boeing or Airbus given that they seem to be focused on very incremental improvements to their plans as opposed to radical improvements,” he said. “But it could come from a startup.”
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