Lifestyle
Elon Musk and the electric (VTOL supersonic jet) plane that could
Elon Musk is a lot of things to a lot of people, but there’s something very interesting about him that drives most others: If he thinks something is worth improving, there’s more than a coin’s toss of a chance he’s going to make a go of it.
Now, Musk is a fantastically creative guy and all, but I’m not here to shower him with accolades (today anyhow). I’m setting the stage to discuss the next so-called improbable thing he might take on in the near future.
“I have an idea for a vertical takeoff and landing supersonic jet.”
— Elon Musk, every time the subject of electric planes comes up, to include almost never using the VTOL abbreviation for some reason that’s probably very unimportant. —
At this point, I’ve seen a few video montages of our serial entrepreneur saying this very thing word-for-word without fail to the point that it’s amusing. Wait, that’s not totally correct. In Musk’s Iron Man 2 cameo, he tells the (fake) Tony Stark that he (the real Tony Stark) has an idea for (just) an electric jet. I’m not sure if I cringe at the scene because it’s so awkward or because he went off-script on the plane’s usual description, but I digress.
Following Musk’s lead, the Tesla crowd has jumped on this electric plane idea a few times now, hashing out the particular advantages and hiccups that would be involved in battery-electric flight. It turns out that, along with reductions in carbon emissions (air travel is estimated to globally contribute 12% of the transportation-based carbon being pumped into the atmosphere), electric planes are fairly cost-effective even with the current state of battery technology.
Swapping Jet A (kerosine plane fuel) for a battery can bring a reduction of 60-80% in operating costs, 80% lower emissions and noise, and a 40% reduction in runway needs (not including VTOL), according to numbers crunched by one of the startups in the nascent electric aviation industry, Zunum Aero. Also, around 75% of all flights are domestic, and out of those, around half are under 700 miles and 20% are under 350 miles. Those mileage stats work out very well for current electric aircraft hopefuls as their planes have proposed travel distances of around 350-700 miles.
A few companies have thrown their hats in the ring along with Zunum Aero such as Airbus/Siemens, Eviation, and BYE Aerospace, but one has specifically cited Tesla as an inspiration for its business model. Los Angeles-based Wright Electric announced plans last year to bring to market a 9-seat electrified aircraft with a range of at least 340 miles, covering a distance of nearly 44% of all flights. CEO Jeff Engler spoke with Teslarati about Wright’s development plans last July:
“Our plan is similar to the Tesla approach, in the sense that they started with the Roadster and then scaled up to larger more mass market vehicles. Our first plane to market will be a premium aircraft meant to travel short distances with a small number of passengers… perfect for intercity flights and recreational activities like skydiving. This initial program is the springboard for development of larger longer-range aircraft.”
With so many players already on board with electric flight, the next question then becomes whether Elon Musk is still interested in developing an electric vertical takeoff and landing supersonic jet. He’s led on so much technology already, perhaps word has finally gotten out on the (global) street that it’s okay to be stubborn about making big changes where they’re needed.
He’s certainly still thinking about it at least. Last week the CEO had a discussion about the concept on Twitter (Musk’s go-to idea playground), commenting that while yes, electric planes are possible, the range is still too limited. Battery density is the hangup, and they need about 400 Wh/kg energy density or better to really be viable.
Tesla’s current battery density is about 250 Wh/kg (300 Wh/kg on a high cycle), but their recent acquisition of Maxwell Technologies could indicate some serious progress in that direction is around the corner. The new Tesla addition is known to use dry electrodes to reach higher levels of energy density and has identified a “path” to reaching 500 Wh/kg. Or in other words, Maxwell and Tesla together could make electric planes a commercially viable idea.
On Musk’s infamous sit-down with Joe Rogan last September, however, he kind of dismissed the idea for the near future. “I have a lot on my plate,” he explained on the podcast. “The electric airplane isn’t necessary right now. Electric cars are important. Solar energy is important. Stationary storage of energy is important. These things are much more important than creating an electric supersonic VTOL.”
Let’s assume for a minute that he’s definitely going to go for it. Maybe Musk gets stuck at an airport one day because his plane can’t take off thanks to a late fuel tanker delivery or something. The tweet storm we’d see might go something like…
The question then becomes what, exactly, is Musk’s idea? This talk about the technology needing energy density is great and all, but as seen with Wright Electric and similar ventures, regional air travel is doable without Tesla’s shock-jock-of-sorts guiding the way.
Musk seems hung up on the “supersonic” aspect that no one’s really talking about, but supersonic passenger jets haven’t been around since Concord waved goodbye in 2003, and sonic boom complaints are an inescapable matter of physics (as are all complaints, really). Also, I highly doubt he’s thinking air taxis, although Uber has a foot in that door and he’s taking them on with the Tesla Network eventually.
What do you think Musk has in mind? And, whatever his idea…will he actually do it? Let me know in the comments below!
Elon Musk
How to use Grok Bot to block spam calls and texts
Musk told users to ask Grok Bot to scrub their phone numbers from spam lists.
Elon Musk has a new use case for Grok Bot, and it is the spam call. On Thursday he replied to an X user named Arash with a short instruction: “Ask your @Grok @Bot to remove your phone number from spam call & text lists!” Arash had said he got tired of the calls, had an AI bot find his number on listing sites and file removal requests, and packaged the process as a free skill for others.
The skill is called Spam-Call Scrubber, which is described to find a phone number on people search sites and data brokers, submits the opt outs, completes the confirmation emails those sites send back, and rechecks on a schedule the user picks. Using it requires the Grok Bot app. The pitch is time saved, since most broker opt outs sit behind separate forms on separate sites.
Ask your @Grok @Bot to remove your phone number from spam call & text lists!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 15, 2026
Musk said Grok Bot now gives each bot its own email address, and that it can detect scam emails. On Thursday he also said SpaceX would make users whole if the bot botches a purchase or leaks a card, then told users to shop away from Amazon after the retailer blocked the agent, as Teslarati reported. The terms of service we reviewed at the time put responsibility for what an agent does on the user.
For Tesla owners, Grok Bot is not just a phone app. Tesla brought Grok Bot into its vehicles on September 22, and we argued earlier this week that the Cybercab’s real advantage may be the errands it runs during a ride. Every Cybercab and the rest of the Model Y Robotaxi fleet has it enabled. The more routine tasks like this one become, the more a rider has reason to hand over something personal in the back seat.
The new Spam-Call Scrubber skill can be downloaded for free and works on sites that honor removal requests, while noting that listings can reappear, and illegal robocallers do not check any registry. Whether Spam-Call Scrubber cuts anyone’s call volume is something the first wave of users will find out, and Musk’s endorsement guarantees that wave is coming.
For a century, the car has asked the same thing of its owner, which is basically to pay attention. Even the best ride-hailing app like Uber or Lyft only moved the problem into someone else’s hands. You stopped driving, but you still sat in a stranger’s car, while half listening, and wondering whether to take a phone call in the car without being rude. The Cybercab has no wheel, no pedals and no driver. With Grok @bot now live inside it, it becomes something else entirely, and I think that matters more than the fleet count that everyone is tracking.
Grok @bot is an agent, not a voice assistant. A rider signs in once, and from then on can say what they need and watch it happen. Order dinner from a favorite restaurant. Fill the grocery cart. Move money, answer email, adjust a calendar, push a work project forward. Tesla engineer Yun-Ta Tsai confirmed it is enabled across every Cybercab and the rest of the Model Y fleet, and Tesla’s own pitch is that Full Self-Driving handles the commute while Grok handles the errands.
Think about what that does to a thirty minute ride. Uber sells you a trip, while Waymo sells you the same trip in a more private setting. Tesla is selling the thirty minutes themselves, returned to you with an assistant attached. Errands that used to eat a Saturday get done between pickup and drop off. The ride stops being dead time between two places and becomes a place of its own.
Tesla integrates Grok Bot into its vehicles for the ultimate personal assistant
Best of all, your Bots follow you into any Cybercab, and presumably your own Tesla, then logs you out automatically when you step out. Anyone can bolt a chatbot onto a screen, but much harder to own the vehicle, the autonomy stack and the assistant at once. It also quietly ties SpaceX’s Super Intelligence business to Tesla’s fleet, after Tesla converted its xAI stake into SpaceX equity. The relationship between those two companies is getting harder to describe as separate.
This is also where the hard questions start, because an agent that can spend your money in a vehicle other people also ride in needs some answers. How does it handle a voice it shouldn’t trust? What gets recorded, who can see it, and for how long? What happens when a rider leaves halfway through a task?
If Tesla gets those answers right, the scoreboard changes. We have been counting Cybercabs and wait times. The more telling number may be what riders accomplish per trip. That is data almost no one else will ever have, and it is the real reason to watch Grok @bot.
What do you think? Leave me a comment.
Lifestyle
Tesla’s mirrorless Cybercab will give riders a visibility upgrade
Tesla engineer confirms Cybercab update letting riders pull up rear and repeater cameras on demand.
Tesla is working on a Cybercab update that would let passengers pull up the vehicle’s rear and side cameras on demand, and the request came straight from a rider.
The exchange played out on X late Friday. Cybercab rider Dan Burkland shared photos of the two-seater’s cabin screen after an evening ride, praised the UI team’s work, and left one request: let riders open the rear and repeater cameras whenever they want, “especially for peace of mind.” Tesla UI software engineer Evan (@CarCoder) answered with two words: “In development.”
The Tesla UI team absolutely crushed it with the infotainment software. Nicely done @CarCoder!
One feature request: Allow folks to pull up the rear & repeater cameras on demand. This would be great especially for peace of mind. https://t.co/mNAOSLx6pE
— Dan Burkland (@DBurkland) October 10, 2026
The idea fits a pattern Teslarati has tracked since public rides began. Days after paid Cybercab service opened in Austin, Tesla sent riders a survey that asked them to rate the touchscreen, the app and the cabin, and to pick the features they wanted most. We reported on that survey in September, and a camera view is the kind of small software change Tesla can push quickly if riders keep asking.
It also speaks to something unique about the vehicle. With no steering wheel, no pedals and no driver, passengers have no mirror to check and no way to see behind them. The hardware is clearly built for camera awareness, from the repeater cameras to the rear camera. Letting a passenger look through those same cameras would give a nervous first time rider a way to confirm what is around the car.
The timing matters because the fleet is growing fast. Tesla’s Robotaxi account said on Saturday that more than 300 Cybercabs are now serving Austin, an eightfold increase in 30 days, and Tesla AI chief Ashok Elluswamy named Dallas as the next city. More cars and more cities mean more people riding in a driverless vehicle for the first time, which is exactly when small trust features carry weight.
For now, the feature is confirmed only as in development. If Tesla follows its usual pattern with Cybercab software, riders could see it appear in a point release without any announcement, and Teslarati will watch for it.
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