Now that we've had a bit of time for the hype to die down on Elon Musk's theatrical sideshow, displaying what he called a "flying car", let us take a minute to ponder what actually happened.
Was a car flying and doing a flip cool?
Objectively, yes.
Does it make any difference in the real world whatsoever?
No. Very no.
The problem with Elmo Muss' flying Tesla Roadster isn't that this isn't a cool idea, it's that it is essentially a theatrical prop which serves no real world purpose other than claiming to pwn the libs, hur hur hur. Out here in the real world, every engineer worth a zack instantly knew that this was the equivalent of an old-timey medicine show, except that there isn't really a cure for anything here.
If on the other hand, we view this as a piece of industrial light and magic, using smoke and mirrors to tell a story about the star wars, then this is actually pretty good. Viewed in the cold hard light of day, this is a movie set piece.
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The first giveaway that this wasn't anything particularly special in the sense that this was supposed to be something, was the view of the underside. What we have is a hollow shell, which is incapable of holding humans. That there have been concept cars in the past which have been incapable of being driven, and which have existed as styling displays; which means that this is nothing special or different in that respect. The difference here is that this thing is claiming that there is technology which exists and/or is capable of being delivered; which simply isn't true.
To explain what's actually going on here, lets look at the science as displayed.
What we have is not rockets but actually a series of compressed air cylinders. There's nothing wrong in principle with this and ironically makes the thing easier to deliver but we have a problem. If it is just compressed air, then what we have is really really crappy specific impulse. By my estimate, that means that this is probably actually capable of being operated for less than a minute.
But even if we assume that half of the total mass of the vehicle is just the compressed air delivery system, then what we actually have is only five seconds of useful thrust. Remember, the thrust upwards must be equal or greater than the force due to gravity pushing downwards on the vehicle. Therefore, just to make the system make any sense, the case must be a practically empty lightweight shell, containing massive compressed air cylinders.
In real terms what this actually results in is either a fun demonstration which is totally impractical (which is what we saw), or a thing which doesn't actually work.
<insert technology picture>
<technology missing>
<oh noes>
The only people who seem to fall head over feet for this kind of thing are either the Tesla fanbois who look somewhat similar to the Apple fanbois, or that gullible section of the general public who see Elmo Muss as some kind of political saviour who will pwn the libs.
The other claims about this thing having many horsepowers and being really quick around a racetrack, are nothing more than sound and fury signifying nothing. Actually, the whole notion of super/ultra/mega cars generally bores me, because if you can post a number at the Nürburgring, then so what? As a motorsport fan, cars which don't compete against anything else just aren't that exciting. Quite frankly, the most impressive racecar that I can think of was the Audi R18 e-tron quattro, which won the Le Mans 24 Hours and the World Endurance Championship on multiple occasions; all while being lighting quick with a low hum. This Tesla Lucasart Airsoft ID10+ car, don't impress me much.
The actual real world impact of this piece of theatrical chicanery... is nil.
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