Elon Musk has said Tesla has a submarine car design ready and raring to go.
The announcement came after Tesla’s CEO was asked at the company’s annual shareholder’s meeting on Tuesday (June 11) whether he would ever look to develop an aquatic car.
Musk of course answered that yes, the company does have a design for a submarine car which could travel on roads and then transition to continue either on or under water.
What else would you expect from the entrepreneur, really? I’d be disappointed by anything but a submarine car at this stage, to be honest.
As per Business Insider, Musk said in response to the question about a potential aquatic car:
Funny you should mention that… we do have a design for a submarine car like the one from ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’.
The Tesla CEO was referring to the 1976 Lotus Esprit in the 1977 James Bond film, which turned into an amphibious car and could be driven on both land and underwater.
Musk continued:
I thought that was like the coolest thing I have seen in a movie.
Fair, because who doesn’t want a car that can transform into a submarine? I mean, hello. You literally can’t get any cooler.
The 47-year-old added that he owns this car in a not so humble brag. Not the submarine, obviously, but the Lotus Esprit. He reportedly bought it for nearly $1 million at an auction in London in 2013. Yikes.
Musk previously expressed his disappointment at finding out the car did not, in fact, transform into a submarine and put the feelers out for a new, improved model.
Shortly after the CEO purchased the car, he said in a statement:
It was amazing as a little kid in South Africa to watch James Bond in ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ drive his Lotus Esprit off a pier, press a button and have it transform into a submarine underwater.
I was disappointed to learn that it can’t actually transform. What I’m going to do is upgrade it with a Tesla electric powertrain and try to make it transform for real.
The entrepreneur yesterday confirmed it is ‘technically possible’ to make a functioning version, although the market would likely be ‘small but enthusiastic’.
Now if the legitimate submarine version could just hurry up, please and thank you.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).