The Musk electric jet is a jet-powered electric aircraft concept by technology business magnate and serial entrepreneur Elon Musk.
Specific design concepts for a vertical-takeoff-and-landing supersonic electric jet were first made public by Musk in 2014. The concept includes a large percentage of the aircraft by weight being made up of high-capacity batteries and significantly decreasing the amount of aircraft structure devoted to control surfaces, depending to a greater extent on "gimbaling the electric fan" for control of aircraft attitude.
History
Musk had publicly mentioned the supersonic electric jet idea as early as 2012. Initial public discussion of the design concepts behind the design was in 2014 at the MIT AeroAstro Centennial Symposium. Musk has brainstormed requirements with Sergey Brin and Larry Page.
Musk continued to be publicly open on the idea in 2015 and, in early 2016, told students at a design competition that he had been "thinking about the vertical takeoff and landing electric jet a bit more ... I think I have something that might be close." "I’m quite tempted to do something about it."
The Musk electric jet was briefly mentioned in the 2010 film Iron Man 2 during a brief cameo Elon made in the film.