Elon Musk says he’s ‘dying’ to make a supersonic electric plane

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has hinted at the possibility of Tesla manufacturing their very own electric jet producing zero-emissions. Musk’s biggest struggles with creating an electric plane is creating a battery with enough energy to enable a plane to take off.

The battery would need to produce 400 watt-hours per kilogram for this to happen, about 150 watts-hour per kilometer more than the Tesla Model 3. Musk sees his batteries hitting the 400-500 watts hour per kilogram range in the next couple years, so be on the lookout for Teslas electric aircrafts. The aircraft Musk has in mind would have a vertical takeoff, or be a high-speed design that would need the long runways of current jets.

Even though Musk wants to produce an electric aircraft, his main focus is still on cars and clean energy as well as rockets. Cars emit much more global carbon dioxide, around 24%,  while aviation only accounts for about 2.4% of the problem, which is why electric cars is Musk’s main priority.

In spite of his enthusiasm for the electric jet, Musk’s plans hinge on Tesla’s willingness to enter the aviation business. Until Tesla is onboard with his high-flying ideas, it is not likely his invention will become a reality anytime in the near future.