Back to the Future, on Elon Time

Elon Musk has shown off a flying Roadster. Yesterday, it drove upside down along a ramp, launched into the air, flipped and landed on its wheels. Then it jumped over several parked Teslas. Cue the Back to the Future soundtrack.

The engineers have earned their applause. Powerful fans generate downforce, while gas thrusters developed with SpaceX control the car’s position in midair. Making a sports car pull that off and land the right way up takes some serious engineering.

“The vehicle drove upside down, launched itself into the air and even jumped over several parked Teslas.” — Mashable

The airborne commute will have to wait, though. So far, the Roadster’s flight repertoire consists of controlled jumps. It can clear the rest of Tesla’s lineup, which is handy when Tesla has thoughtfully supplied its own traffic jam for the demonstration.

The real spectacle is the schedule. Announced in 2017, promised for 2020, the second-generation Roadster is now scheduled to enter production in 2028. That’s an eight-year slip by ordinary calendar standards. In Elon time, they’ve just squeezed in one little extra feature.

All it needs now is a flux capacitor. Then Musk can go back to 2020 and finally get the car out on time.