Interview with CNN
Questions on ElonsFAQ asked in this interview (1)
Transcript
0:00NarratorIn the beginning, it was about instinct. Moving from place to place, initially for survival, then to pioneer. Today we travel because we can. On vacation, to business meetings. From point A to point B isn't just a car ride.
0:17NarratorIt's a train, it's a plane, and soon even a space flight away. But what about efficiency? There's a gap between imagination and actualization.
0:29Elon MuskYou can go anywhere on Earth, anywhere you can actually go to like the top of Mount Everest. There's no place you can't go anywhere. So I think we've explored the boundaries, at least the physical boundaries of Earth quite thoroughly.
0:40InterviewerYou're describing how we can go anywhere on Earth now, but the methods with which we use to get there. Do you think they're efficient?
0:46Elon MuskThe most important thing that needs to happen is the transition of transportation to electric. The ideal long distance transportation mechanism is a supersonic vertical takeoff and landing electric jet.
0:59Elon MuskAnd then there's a special case of cities which have a lot of travel between them below about 500 miles of distance, where I think the hyperloop would be useful.
1:12Elon MuskIt is a special case solution because once the distances get long, then the amount of time that an aircraft takes to ascend and land, which is most of what it does in a 500 mile trip, that percentage declines.
1:26Elon MuskAnd then it's better to just use aircraft. I know that there are various companies that are trying to create the hyperloop, and honestly, I think it's a lot easier than people think.
1:37InterviewerThe blueprints are pretty complicated.
1:39Elon MuskWell, blueprints are always kind of complicated. And I mean, yes, there's math, but it's really not that hard.
1:46InterviewerIt still sounds pretty complicated, Elon.
1:48Elon MuskIt's like a tube with an air hockey table. It's just a low pressure tube with a pod in it that runs on air bearings on air skis, with an air compressor on the front that's taking the high pressure air buildup on the nose and pumping it through the air skis.
2:08Elon MuskIt's really, I swear it's not that hard.