This week, news resurfaced again of Tesla’s interest in aviation. Given how many stories turn out to be nothing more than rumors, I decided to look into the likelihood of a Tesla aircraft.
So what’s the latest?
Not as much as you might think.
Working on Master Plan Part 3
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 17, 2022
The billionaire entrepreneur shared a post on Twitter, saying he is “working on Master Plan Part 3,” without revealing more details.
In response, Morgan Stanley’s key analyst on all things Tesla, Adam Jonas, asserted in a research note reported by MSN:
In our view, the chance that Tesla does not ultimately offer products and services to the eVTOL [electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft]/UAM market is remote. The potential skills transferability and network adjacencies are too strong to ignore.
How did the Tesla aviation rumors start?
There have been plenty of efforts to link Tesla and the sky. Elon Musk has not been shy in speculating about extending Tesla’s business beyond electric cars, space exploration, hyperloop tunnels, brain implants, and trucks.
Almost everything he says becomes either headline or article fodder and gets shared globally.
But if I was going to pick out a few examples to build an argument for a Tesla aircraft, I’d include:
Elon Musk in 2008 told TechCrunch that “an electric plane only gets more feasible as battery technology improves .”