--- title: "Elon Musk: Tesla Is Working on a James Bond-Style Submarine Car" description: "During a shareholder meeting, Elon Musk admitted that Tesla has a design for a submarine car — and it's straight out of James Bond movie." date: "2019-06-12" modified: "2019-06-12" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-james-bond-submarine-car" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Tesla" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "amphibious vehicle" - "elon musk" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk: Tesla Is Working on a James Bond-Style Submarine Car ![During a shareholder meeting, Elon Musk admitted that Tesla has a design for a submarine car — and it's straight out of James Bond movie.]() *\Image: United Artists\* ## Diving Lotus During a Tuesday shareholder meeting, Tesla CEO Elon Musk admitted that the electric car company has a design for a submarine car — and it sounds like something straight out of a 70s James Bond movie. When asked if the company would ever consider such a thing, [according to *Business Insider*](), Musk answered: "Funny you should mention that... we do have a design for a submarine car like the one from 'The Spy Who Loved Me.'" ## "Can You Swim?" In the 1977 spy thriller Musk referred to, a 1976 Lotus Esprit sports car transforms itself into an amphibious submarine and [can be seen]() exploring the bottom of the ocean. "Can you swim?" Roger Moore asks before driving the Lotus off a pier and landing it in the water. "I thought that was like the coolest thing I have seen in a movie," Musk said. ## Buyer's Remorse Musk loved the scene so much that he [reportedly bought]() a Lotus Esprit in 2013 for just shy of a million dollars. "I was disappointed to learn that it can't actually transform," Musk told shareholders. "What I'm going to do is upgrade \[my own Lotus\] with a Tesla electric powertrain and try to make it transform for real." He did however admit that the market for an amphibious Tesla "would be small. Small, but enthusiastic." **READ MORE:** [Elon Musk says Tesla has a design ready for a James Bond-style submarine car]() \[*Business Insider*\] **More on amphibious cars:** *[The Most Futuristic Cars You Can Buy Right Now]()* ## 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]()