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[–] 32 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (10 children)

I know this whole thing was gimmicky as shit but can someone explain to me what I am looking at here, specifically.

edit: to be clear folks, I understand this is the flying roadster. I meant what am I supposed to be seeing about the underside that is different from an average Tesla that shows what it is that is funky that is going on.

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  • [–] 58 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (4 children)

    Looks like an absolutely stripped-down skeleton of a car built specifically to do attention-grabbing stunts, and not even close to driveable under anything resembling normal conditions.

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  • [–] 17 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

    That's the vibe I got from it as well, but I was wondering if anyone had better confirmation. Like I don't know what the average Tesla looks like underneath so I don't have anything to compare it to.

    But that was my guess, it's hollow and completely rocket powered, even when it was "driving", and remotely controlled.

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  • [–] 17 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 child)

    Real cars = heavy and full of stuff

    Fake cars = empty and light

    This is the equivalent of Usain Bolt wearing a Tesla hat and doing cartwheels and everybody going "holy shit musk is a genius he made a Tesla do cartwheels"

    It was a purpose built stuntcar, and basically just a car shaped drone. It means nothing in relation to what he's selling, meaning, again, and more now than ever before, this offer of his, what everybody's imagination saw, will never come to fruition unless they either buy exactly what's on stage or wait 10 years and get a weird disappointing non-road-legal we-have-flying-cars-at-home version for 2x the price and it breaks the first time and erupts into flames.

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  • [–] 25 points 3 weeks ago

    The 600L, 10,000psi nitrogen tank that allows both the flying and speed versions achieve their goals are the equivalent energy of 65kg of TNT in a fragile carbon fiber tank just behind the drivers head.

    If you through electric cars are dangerous to crash into, you ain't seen nothing yet.

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  • [–] 22 points 3 weeks ago

    So basically a shell-toy, like...

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  • [–] 5 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

    judging by the shadows i would guess maybe 6in of clearance between the bottom frame and the battery pack? It's hard to tell because of the perspective of the shot and the perspective of the picture taken of the screen. Obviously there needs to be some open area for the fans, but idk why it would need a frame in it.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 weeks ago (3 children)

    I would assume it's not a real car. It's wearing a car shell and has functional wheels. I think a proper ev weight about 2 tonnes or something like that. This one is probably just functional for display purposes only.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

    Yeah, they said it's about 1.7 tonnes. They've also shown off the drivetrain, battery pack, etc in separate displays. Idk, I think it probably is pretty similar to what they plan on selling (to a limited number of selected people apparently)

    I'm sure all versions of the car aren't ready for real world use and manufacturing or else they would be selling it already

    Edit: it doesn't seem like Tesla R&D has done much else in the past 8 years lol. They have a ton of time, money, and manpower and it does not surprise me that they're willing to spend it on cool but stupid stunts

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  • [–] 1 point 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    Agreed. This is a stunt to get other wealthy people hyped up and buy one for their garage of cars which rarely gets opened. This car will never be road legal. It's for collectors only. Same deal as his silly cyber truck, only this one can't go on the roads

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  • [–] 2 points 2 weeks ago

    The plan is apparently to sell 4 versions going from none of the silly features to all of the silly features (basic -> suction -> forward thrust -> flying iirc) (with the flying configuration being restricted to invite-only). So the stunts with the flying version will probably drive the sales of the versions that will actually get sold in a meaningful quantity. Although from what I've heard it seems unlikely to me that any of the additional features will be allowed to be used on roads. (Apparently the gas gets really cold when fired due to the pressure dropping, to a possibly dangerous degree, and the wind will certainly be a problem for things behind it, as well as being extremely loud. The suction thing is probably going to also going to be quite loud and might have a risk of firing small rocks out the back at high speeds, it also requires a gasket that wears out over time so it can't be used mindlessly)

    It might be really good on tracks, since that was apparently a big focus for them (and a current sporty EV with fans for suction is very good on tracks). Then I guess people will want to buy it because of the sportiness for the same reason people normally buy whatever supercars

    Tesla in general seems to have lost whatever lead they had in affordable EVs (especially outside of the US where Chinese EVs are allowed to be sold) so maybe they're trying to shift their brand to more premium?

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  • [–] 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

    Is there actually any proof it wasnt AI generated? I honestly cant tell. Theres a load of other problems anyways so it doesnt matter really

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  • [–] 2 points 3 weeks ago

    I cant wait for somebody to die at Tesla HQ

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