Elon Musk to make James Bond submarine car a reality

[001sky]

It's a so-called wet submarine, meaning that it fills with water when submerged, so the driver has to wear a wetsuit and breathe air from a tank. (The dry passenger compartment shown in the movie was a set.) It has no steering wheel or other automobile controls and is instead controlled with levers. The fins on the outside are not retractable, but permanent.

So, the title is false. Or at best, misleading. He is going to take a james bond movie prop and get it wet. He is not going to make [the] "james bond submarine car" a reality. This is somehow increasingly typical of Tesla stories that make it on HN.

[baddox]

Are you sure Musk isn't planning on massively upgrading the thing to transform and be an actual "dry submarine"? The article says that the car he bought is just a prop that doesn't even transform, but that he wants to make it transform. That sounds to me like his goal is to recreate the functionality the car had on film, including having a dry interior when submerged.

[Sagat]

Criticizing Elon Musk on HN? Not a smart move, bro.

[johnvschmitt]

Pure novelty.

Subs are not energy efficient. Water is 1,000x more dense than air, & moving through it takes far more energy.

And, hybrid (land+water) is going to require far more hardware, driving up the price & weight (& thus efficiency) of a vehicle.

But, it's cool & he has the budget & gumption for it, so THANKS Elon, for keeping us entertained!

[Florin_Andrei]

It seems to me like this is his equivalent of a hobby or week-end project. So I wouldn't try to read too much into it.

Yet.

[baddox]

> Subs are not energy efficient. Water is 1,000x more dense than air, & moving through it takes far more energy.

I don't disagree that this is impractical, and you could be right that subs are inefficient, but the density argument alone doesn't seem sufficient, because propellers (and presumably other means of propulsion) also generate a lot more lift in water than in air.

[saraid216]

Clearly, it's actually a flying car. The car will leave the water and the juice will at that point be able to manage lift off.

[brittanymorgan]

I never thought Elon Musk would try to disrupt the Duck Tours business.

[mnbvcxza]

Hopefully his vehicle will be safer than theirs is.

[oofabz]

Top Gear also made a Bond submarine car:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfOwSTXP-3o

[ceejayoz]

Most of Top Gear's submarine cars weren't intended to be.

[Sam121]

Elon Musk can do anything i am waiting for the day when Elon Musk launch Robots like Pacific Rim and transformers. Initially i don know about this person but one of my friend inform me about Tesla,space x and Elon Musk. I got surprised and think that what i am doing or others are doing. From that day Elon Musk name give me Positive boost. You can do it sir. We are waiting...

[stcredzero]

> Elon Musk launch Robots like Pacific Rim

Sarcos had the technology for full-body haptic feedback harnesses of the type that were somewhat portrayed in Pacific Rim, and they had this in the 90's, if I recall correctly. DARPA had arm/shoulder/head haptic feedback projects even back in the 70's and 80's.

The problem is that the human form factor is quite complex, and it will always be cheaper to make a simpler specialized tool. Humans are scary good at controlling things, even without haptic feedback.

Transformers: Just physically impossible for anything more functional than a movie prop. (Ok, maybe Monster Truck rallies.)

[ck2]

"I was disappointed to learn that it can't actually transform"

This is after spending a million dollars on it (literally).

[a1a]

Not sure if you are serious. But I would assume he meant that he learned this before and later decided to buy the car either way.

[cobrausn]

So, I submitted this same thing earlier, but it looks like HN automatically kills gawker submissions.

http://jalopnik.com/zomg-elon-musk-to-turn-lotus-submarine-i...

[stcredzero]

I wonder if Elon actually has the resources to make a functional dry submarine car with capabilities as portrayed in the movie? With some consulting from marine engineers, his people could probably fabricate such a prototype out of aluminum. He and his companies probably couldn't afford to take the resources away from R&D to actually do this, however.

Top Gear made their submarine car Lotus, but it was considerably compromised as both a car and a submarine. Can't really be debonair when a stream of water is squirting onto your tuxedo trousers. It only held water out of the cockpit by having air pumped in at a high rate.

[mratzloff]

Spaceship, submarine car... has anyone heard anything about Musk planning orbital laser weapons, by any chance? It would be the next logical super villain move.

[walshemj]

If he starts cloning Persian cats we have to be really worried - Btw is it true that space X employees have color coded jumpsuits and hard hats as uniforms :-)

[ChikkaChiChi]

I wish more people dared to dream like Elon Musk does. He's a modern day Howard Hughes (minus the fingernail and pee thing).

[riggins]

just reading a Howard Hughes bio.

Howard Hughes was no Elon Musk. Musk is way more impressive.

Hughes inherited a fantastic business from his father and made a lot of terrible business decisions.

[Apocryphon]

So you're saying that Musk should go into show business?

[sschueller]

I don't think so. The amount air in the vehicle would require a very heavy car that would not perform on the street.

Rinspeed design tryed it and the closest they got was the scuba concept that is open for exactly that reason.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E4q7p6R3Og

[a-priori]

From the article: "It's a so-called wet submarine, meaning that it fills with water when submerged, so the driver has to wear a wetsuit and breathe air from a tank. (The dry passenger compartment shown in the movie was a set.)"

[blktiger]

I'm not really sure why he needed to buy the prop. He has a car company, why not just make a submersible Tesla. :)

[speedyrev]

Because it gives him positive press. Plain and simple.

[Apocryphon]

This can be used to cross the Bay without bridges, ferries, or BART. Between Tesla cars, the hyperloop, and this, perhaps he is solving Silicon Valley's transportation troubles after all.

[deletes]

Wouldn't you need a special(shallow angle) entry point to the water.

[ender89]

When are we finally going to admit that this guy is a real life bond villain? We need to stop him before he relocates to a volcano lair and threatens the earth with a space-based laser beam.

[orky56]

Is Musk buying these things like this submarine car and an actual submarine as just a patron or does he actually need them for research purposes?

[jlgreco]

The shape of that windshield seems sub-optimal for holding back any significant water pressure. Could the prop actually be submerged at all?

[T-A]

Yes, but with water on both sides of the windshield (it was a "wet" sub, no airtight compartment).

[pokpokpok]

it's a wet submarine, so there's no pressure differential

[knodi]

Rather have a flying car than submarine car.

[needacig]

Jesus Christ.

[jgalt212]

It's for the hyperloop.