--- title: "Elon Musk Says He Wants Future Tesla Roadster to Hover" description: "In an interview with Joe Rogan, Tesla CEO Elon Musk renewed his promises that the upcoming Roadster could maybe hover \"like a meter off the ground.\"" date: "2021-02-12" modified: "2021-02-12" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-future-tesla-roadster-hover" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Tesla" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "roadster" - "SpaceX" - "tesla roadster" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk Says He Wants Future Tesla Roadster to Hover ![In an interview with Joe Rogan, Tesla CEO Elon Musk renewed his promises that the upcoming Roadster could maybe hover "like a meter off the ground."]() *\Image: Tesla/Tag Hartman-Simkins\* ## Hovering Roadster Tesla CEO Elon Musk has reiterated that he wants his electric car company's long-awaited Roadster to literally hover. "I want it to hover, and I was trying to figure out how to make this thing hover without, you know, killing people," Musk told Joe Rogan in a [new episode]() of the host's popular podcast. "Maybe it can hover like a meter above the ground, or something like that. If you plummet it’ll blow out the suspension but you’re not gonna die." Musk has previously hinted that Tesla might offer a ["SpaceX package"]() for its Roadster, a hypercar with already out-of-this-world specs. Such a package, he's said, would usespace-grade thrusters to hover over the ground — and greatly enhance the car's blistering acceleration. "If you have three Gs of thrust, you can go in any direction," [Musk told the *Ride the Lightning* podcast]() back in 2019. "You can go up and accelerate with... more than 2 Gs." ## Anti-Thrust Action Beyond the engineering, Musk will have to convince regulators that replacing the backseats with rocket thrusters inside a passenger vehicle is safe. In fact, Tesla already was pushing it earlier this month when it revealed its new redesigned Model S will feature an [unusual Formula One-like yoke steering wheel](), reportedly catching the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration off guard, [*The Verge* reported](). "Yeah, I mean they use a yoke in Formula One," Musk told Joe Rogan this week. Even Rogan wasn't entirely convinced. "Yeah, but you’re not on the highway in a Formula One car," Rogan replied. "I like driving like this, resting my hand on the top of the wheel." “Well, Autopilot is getting good enough that you won’t need to drive most of the time," Musk countered. It can be difficult to separate Musk's ambitious engineering goals from his oddball sense of humor. But the man loves cars — and we get the sense that he's at least moderately serious about the hovering Tesla concept. **READ MORE:** [Elon Musk tells Joe Rogan he wants the new Tesla Roadster to hover]() \[*The Verge*\] **More on the yoke:** *[TESLA REVEALS LAVISH NEW SPACESHIP-LIKE MODEL S INTERIOR]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()