--- title: "Elon Musk Says He’s “Dying” to Develop a Supersonic Electric Jet" description: "SpaceX CEO Elon Musk admitted that he is \"so dying to do a supersonic, electric VTOL jet\" in a recent tweet responding to entrepreneur Peter Diamandis." date: "2021-10-08" modified: "2021-10-08" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-supersonic-electric-jet" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "SpaceX" - "supersonic plane" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk Says He’s “Dying” to Develop a Supersonic Electric Jet ![SpaceX CEO Elon Musk admitted that he is "so dying to do a supersonic, electric VTOL jet" in a recent tweet responding to entrepreneur Peter Diamandis.]() *\Image: Virgin Galactic\* ## Electric Jet SpaceX CEO Elon Musk admitted that he is "so dying to do a supersonic, electric VTOL jet" in a [recent tweet](). But there's one big problem: "adding more work will make my brain explode," Musk added, including emojis of a brain and a firecracker to illustrate his point. After all, he is the CEO of a space, electric car, and brain interface company — plenty to keep himself busy around the clock. ## High Speed Flight In his fateful 2018 appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast — the one where [Musk famously smoked a blunt]() — the billionaire explored what such a jet could look like. "I have a design for a plane," Musk [told Rogan]() at the time. "I’ve thought about this quite a lot, quite a lot." "The trick is that you have to transition to level flight," he added. "The thing you’d use for vertical takeoff and landing is not suitable for high speed flight." Once at high altitude, "the energy you use in cruise is very low, and then you can recapture a large part of your gravitational potential energy on the way down," Musk explained at the time. "So you really don’t need any kind of reserve fuel." ## Jet Set But it sounds like Musk has backburnered the idea. "The electric airplane isn’t necessary right now," Musk told Rogan back in 2018. "Electric cars are important, solar energy is important, stationary storage of energy is important," he argued. "These things are much more important than creating electric supersonic VTOL." Musk seemingly hasn't changed his mind on that over the last three years given his recent tweet. That's despite the fact that a lot has changed for his companies since then — and that's putting it lightly. From [kicking off]() space tourism [for real]() and [mass manufacturing]() electric cars, to becoming the [richest person]() in the world ([twice]()) — Musk simply doesn't have time for a jet. **More on Elon Musk:** *[The Cybertruck Is Now the Cheapest Tesla]()* ## 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]()