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Elon Musk details Tesla Roadster hovering capability with Joe Rogan

The next-generation Tesla Roadster at the Grand Basel Auto Show.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk joined Joe Rogan on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast for the third time, with the episode releasing earlier today. In the episode, Musk detailed some more specifics regarding the production of the next-gen Roadster, shedding more light on Tesla’s incomplete but highly-anticipated project. Musk dove into the possibility of the Roadster’s ability to hover with Rogan, indicating it could be limited to reduce the risk of injury.

Musk’s third appearance with Joe Rogan

Musk joined Joe Rogan once again for his third appearance on the JRE Podcast. Rogan tweeted the podcast episode’s release on February 11th, available exclusively on Spotify, which Rogan signed a massive contract with in 2020.

Musk has joined Rogan on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast on two previous occasions: once on September 7th, 2018, and another on May 7th, 2020. The first appearance in 2018 is Rogan’s most viewed podcast episode on YouTube with over 40.7 million views. The second appearance from Musk yielded slightly fewer views at 20.5 million but still stands at the fourth-most popular episode in the history of the JRE Podcast.

Musk and Rogan skimmed over various important topics in the latest episode. One of the most notable was Musk’s comments regarding the next-generation Tesla Roadster, which has been in development for several years.

 

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Next-Gen Tesla Roadster Hovering Ability

Musk told Rogan that Tesla is “finishing the engineering of the Roadster this year” and will “hopefully” begin shipping the car sometime next year. “We’re going to throw some rocket technology in that car,” Musk stated, speaking of the speculative SpaceX package that is expected to be released. Musk and Tesla plan to put cold-gas SpaceX thrusters on the car, giving it improved acceleration (as if it needed any). The CEO also stated that he would like to put thrusters underneath the car for hovering capabilities, but it hasn’t been figured out yet.

Musk said:

“I want it to hover. I’m trying to figure out how to make this thing hover, without, you know, killing people. I thought, maybe we could make it hover, but not too high. So maybe it could hover, like, a meter above the ground, or something. So, if you plummet, you blow out the suspension, but you’re not going to die. Maybe, I don’t know, six feet. If we put a height limit on it, it will probably be fine.”

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Tesla Roadster will be “part rocket” to beat Model S Plaid+ specs

Rogan then asked if the Roadster will be able to travel while it is suspended in mid-air. Musk simply replied, “Yeah.”

Musk told Rogan that the rate of travel while hovering will be “pretty fast,” but that it would be subjected to time limits to restrict operators from being off of the ground for too long. However, it comes with some catches.

If a Roadster owner wants the SpaceX package, it will remove the back two passenger seats, meaning only two people will be able to sit in the car at one time. Instead, the rear seats will be replaced by a high-pressure carbon overwrap pressure vessel, which would be “around 10,000 PSI,” Musk says. A series of thrusters will join the vessel.

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Musk acknowledges that this may not be possible, though. He talked about what could be released instead.

“At a minimum, I’m confident we could do a thruster where the license plate flips down, James Bond-style, and there would be a rocket thruster behind it, and that gives you three tons of thrust.”

Roadster Production and Release

Musk plans to have engineering finished on the Roadster this year, a detail he released after the 2020 Q4 Earnings Call in late January.

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Additionally, Roadster release candidates could be on the road this Summer. “Tri-motor drive system & advanced battery work were important precursors,” Musk also said. Now, the work could turn to whether Tesla engineers can figure out how to make the next-gen Roadster hover and travel at the same time, a far cry from the vehicle Tesla released initially in 2008.

Musk’s full interview with Rogan is available here.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla flexes its most impressive and longest Full Self-Driving demo yet

Tesla is flexing a lengthy Full Self-Driving demo from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

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tesla full self-driving demo from san francisco to los angeles
Credit: Tesla

Tesla its most impressive and longest demo of the Full Self-Driving suite, showing a zero-intervention trek from the San Francisco Bay Area to Los Angeles. The drive required no interventions from the vehicle operator, the video showed.

It also included a quick Supercharging stop about two-thirds of the way in.

Tesla has been extremely confident in the performance of the FSD suite since releasing it years ago. However, with improvements in data comprehension and storage with its neural nets, as well as a more refined Hardware system, FSD has made significant strides over the last year.

I took a Tesla Model Y weekend-long Demo Drive – Here’s what I learned

Tesla’s prowess with driving tech has established the company as one of the industry leaders.

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In a new video released on Tuesday, Tesla showed a drive of roughly 360 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles, a trek of about six-and-a-half hours, with zero interventions using Full Self-Driving:

Full Self-Driving is not fully autonomous, but it does operate under what Tesla calls “Supervised” conditions. This means that the driver does not have to have their hands on the wheel, nor do they have to control the accelerator or brake.

Instead, Tesla’s internal cabin-facing camera tracks eye movement to ensure the driver is ready to take over at any time and is paying attention.

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The version of FSD used in this example is likely the version that the public has access to; the only differentiating factor would be the Hardware version, as older vehicles do not have HW4.

With Tesla’s Robotaxi suite in Austin operating since late June, the company stated that those vehicles are using a version that is not yet available to the public. It does not require anyone to be in the driver’s seat, which is how the vehicles are able to operate without anyone in the driver’s seat.

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Elon Musk’s new $29B Tesla stock award gets strange synopsis from governance firm

Did CGI not realize that Tesla Shareholders supported Musk being paid not once, but twice?

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elon musk speaking
Credit: TED

Elon Musk was recently awarded around $29 billion in Tesla stock as the company’s Board of Directors is attempting to get its CEO paid after his original pay package was denied twice by the Delaware Chancery Court.

But a new and strange synopsis from the Corporate Governance Institute (CGI) says the award is potentially a strength move to “endorse the will of a powerful CEO.” The problem is, in the same sentence, the firm said the new award brings up a “question of whether the board exists to steward a company in the interests of all stakeholders.”

The problem with their new analysis of Musk’s pay package is that shareholders voted twice on Musk’s original pay package of $56 billion. They voted to give Musk that sum on two separate occasions.

Musk’s original $56 billion pay package was approved by shareholders twice; once in 2018 and once again last year. Last year’s vote was in response to Delaware Chancery Court Kathaleen McCormick’s decision to revoke the “unfathomable sum” from Musk.

Shareholders still showed support for Musk getting paid. Tesla said in its new award to the CEO that this is a way to give him compensation for the first time in seven years.

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CGI said in its note (via TipRanks):

“When a board builds its strategy around a single individual, it creates a concentration risk, not just operationally, but culturally and ethically. If that individual becomes a source of volatility, the company becomes fragile by design.”

What’s strange with this type of narrative is the fact that Tesla’s valuation has skyrocketed with Musk at the helm. Go back to 2020, and the stock is up over 200 percent. Since Musk’s $56 billion pay package was introduced in 2018, shares are up well over 1,000 percent.

Tesla engineer explains why Elon Musk deserves new pay package

Musk’s 2018 pay package was also not awarded to him without performance-based incentives. He was required to reach certain growth goals, all of which were accomplished through the launch of new vehicles and the advancements of its driver-assistance suites, like Autopilot and Full Self-Driving.

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It is tough to agree with CGI’s perception of Musk’s new pay plan, especially as it is much less than what shareholders voted on twice. Musk deserves to be paid for his contributions to Tesla.

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Tesla Robotaxi is headed to New York City, but one thing is in its way

Tesla is working to hire Vehicle Operators in New York City, but the company still needs some regulatory hurdles to go through.

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tesla store in New York City
Credit: Tesla

Tesla Robotaxi will be headed to New York City, but there is one huge thing that stands in its way: approval to test autonomous vehicles.

Tesla is expanding its Robotaxi platform across the United States as it currently operates in Austin, Texas, and the Bay Area of California.

The company has also been seeking approvals in several other states, including Nevada, Arizona, and Florida.

However, the company is also working to expand to major metropolitan areas across the U.S. that it has not explicitly mentioned, as it attempts to reach CEO Elon Musk’s goal of giving half of the country’s population access to the platform by the end of the year:

It appears New York City is next on the list, according to a job posting on Tesla’s Careers website.

The company says it is hiring a Vehicle Operator for Autopilot in Flushing, New York, a section of the borough of Queens. Queens is connected to Brooklyn and Long Island, so it seems more ideal than launching in Manhattan or the Bronx, where traffic is heavy and charging is not as readily available.

Tesla’s job posting states:

“We are looking for a highly motivated self-starter to join our vehicle data collection team. As a Prototype Vehicle Operator, you will be responsible for driving an engineering vehicle for extended periods, conducting dynamic audio and camera data collection for testing and training purposes. Access to the data collected is limited to the applicable development team. This role requires a high level of flexibility, strong attention to detail, excellent driving skills, and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.”

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It also lists the hours of operation as Tuesday through Saturday or Sunday through Thursday, with its three shifts listed as:

  • Day Shift: 6:00 AM – 2:30 PM or 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM
  • Afternoon Shift: 2:00 PM – 10:30 PM or 4:00 PM – 12:30 AM
  • Night Shift: 10:00 PM-6:30 AM or 12:00 AM-8:30 AM

We wouldn’t count on New York City being the next place Tesla launches Robotaxi. According to a report from CNBC, a spokesperson for the NYC Department of Transportation confirmed Tesla has not yet applied for permits that are needed to operate its ride-hailing service.

For what it’s worth, it could just be the first step in Tesla’s plans. It also has Vehicle Operator job postings in other regions. Houston, Texas, as well as Tampa, Miami, and Clermont, Florida, are all listed on Tesla’s Career postings.

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