--- title: "Wait, Was Elon’s “Flying Car” Just an Empty Shell?" description: "Elon Musk has a history of misleading stunts, so it's unreasonable to wonder if his \"flying\" Roadster isn't all what it seems." date: "2026-10-20" modified: "2026-10-20" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore.md" url: "https://futurism.com/advanced-transport/elon-flying-car-empty-shell" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Tesla" --- # Wait, Was Elon’s “Flying Car” Just an Empty Shell? ![A screenshot of Tesla's "flying Roadster" demo, showing the vehicle's strange-looking underside.]() *Tesla* Flying cars are right around the corner, if Tesla CEO Elon Musk is to be believed. Last week, he unveiled the automaker's[ long-awaited Roadster]() by having it drive to the top of a ramp, flipping upside down in the process, then fling itself into the air before using its cold-fuel thrusters to gently land in style. Minutes later, another Roadster did its best Evel-Knievel-with-a-jetpack impression by blowing itself into the air and leaping over a row of six Tesla vehicles, including its Semi Truck cab. Sure, the Roadster can "fly." There's no denying that it was an impressive stunt. But huge questions remain, such as whether regulators will ever deem it road — let alone air — worthy. Another is if the cars used in the stunt will remotely resemble the actual product that's sold to consumers, if such a thing does ever come to pass. Tesla says the "Rocket" version of its Roadster is loaded with 600 liters of compressed air, 10 directional cold-gas thruster nozzles, and a huge suction-fan system on the bottom. To make room for it all, Tesla says it removed the passenger seat. But some observers are wondering if the car is even more stripped down than that, perhaps even lacking a full-sized battery so the engineers could save room and cut down weight. Meanwhile, [screenshots]() of the car's sparse looking underside taken while it was midair seemed to show it lacking a suction fan, fueling further speculation that Tesla hasn't figured out to fully combine its capabilities as they're being presented. The car that stuck upside down to the top of the ramp and then cushioned its landing was, some skeptics allege, equipped with different hardware from the one that leaped into the air to leapfrog the other cars. Practical questions abound. Without a full-sized battery, the car obviously wouldn't be able to drive around on roads even if it were allowed to. None other than computer scientist and "godfather" of AI Yann LeCun derided the Roadster's aerial acrobatics display, calling it a "marketing stunt" and questioning its authenticity. "Even assuming that 50 percent of the mass of the car is the compressed air, that gives you less than 10s of useful thrust (with thrust-to-weight ratio larger than 1.0). Probably more like 5 seconds, actually," he [wrote]() on X. "So the car must be an empty, lightweight shell containing big compressed air tanks. Cute demo, but totally impractical." A little bit of misleading showmanship certainly isn't below Musk. Tesla stunned the world in 2016 with a promotional video of its self-driving car puttering along public roads and dutifully stopping for red lights. Musk boasted that it was clear evidence that "Tesla drives itself." But later, its engineers [admitted the whole thing was staged](). At its glitzy "We, Robot" event in 2024, Tesla tried to wow investors with its [Optimus humanoid robots]() that poured drinks, danced on stage, and mingled with attendees while holding down a conversation. But it quickly became apparent that what Tesla had unleashed weren't real-life C-3POs, because the seemingly autonomous robots were in reality [individually teleoperated](). In any case, it's impossible to verify what Musk's showing off with the Roadster since Tesla isn't allowing the public — journalists included — to take a peek under the hood. **More on Tesla:** [*Tesla Bros Using AI to Dream Up Improbable Scenarios Where the Flying Tesla Roadster Would Be Helpful*]() ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()