Tesla flying car? Elon Musk teases "unforgettable" demo

Catch up quick: Musk delivered the eye-popping teaser during an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, who asked him about the status of the long-delayed Tesla Roadster sports car.

• "We're getting close to demonstrating the prototype," Musk said, adding that "this product demo will be unforgettable."
• Asked why, Musk added, "My friend Peter Thiel once reflected that the future was supposed to have flying cars, but we don't have flying cars."
• When Rogan pressed him to explain further, Musk responded, "I think if Peter wants a flying car, we should be able to buy one."

State of play: The current market for what technologists consider the closest thing to flying cars revolves around eVTOLs — electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles.

• Companies like Joby Aviation, which recently bought Blade Air Mobility's urban air taxi business, are working on them.
• They look like oversized drones and typically seat four passengers and a pilot.
• Proponents say they could make transportation cleaner, quieter, safer and more affordable, Axios' Joann Muller reported.

The intrigue: Musk had previously dismissed the idea of flying cars.

• "I like things that fly," he told TED's Chris Anderson in 2017. "But there is a challenge with flying cars in that they'll be quite noisy. The wind force generated will be very high. Let's just say that if something's flying over your head, there are a whole bunch of flying cars going all over the place, that is not an anxiety-reducing situation."
• He added: "You're thinking, like, 'Did they service their hubcap, or is it going to come off and guillotine me as they're flying past?'"

But in the new Rogan interview, Musk suggested that the Roadster demo "has a shot at being the most memorable product unveil ever."

• He said it will "hopefully" take place "before the end of the year."
• "This is some crazy, crazy technology we got in this car," he said, comparing it to "all the James Bond cars" combined.

Reality check: Musk has a long track record of promising new products long before they become a reality.

• Musk said in 2017 that the new Roadster would arrive in 2020 at a price tag of $250,000 and a 0-to-60 mph time of 1.9 seconds.
• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman — a Musk rival — publicly canceled his order last week, saying it had been almost eight years since he had placed a $45,000 deposit.