Here Come The Jetsons

[PGlaves]

It looks like we shall soon be joined by the Jetsons; or not. Time will tell.

MSN

 

[GTRider]

Neat! But where I live, the legislature would still find a way to make it subject to road taxes…

Best,
DeVern

 

[classicvw]

With all the horrible drivers we already have on our roads, I can’t imagine dodging threats from three dimensions.

 

[mjfink420]

Batteries are not the way to go for this type of application. 25 minutes of flight time? Fine for a drone to fly around the yard, not so good when you're trying to get to work in the morning in your flying vehicle.

 

[pauls1150]

Every dronebike will have Elon's auto-pilot system.

But again the question arises: where is the power really going to come from? Figure the average driver is 150+ pounds; add the weight of the vehicle and its batteries, and we're talking major horsepower just to lift off and overcome aerodynamic drag.
I doubt we can just plug it in to our energy-efficient homes' batteries (and the power grid is already over-loaded in the cities); on-board solar cells are probably too brittle (and expensive); on-board wind turbines (for "regenerative" charging) add weight and drag.

How about little plutonium marbles superheating water for a steam engine....?

 

[Lendog]

I thought it was called the flux capacitor

 

[PGlaves]

Like they all said about Tesla cars several years ago, this will never work.

 

[pauls1150]

I thought it was called the flux capacitor

An entirely different principle:
The flux capacitor enables the flux generator to emit a variable chronotron field, enabling the operator, his buddy, and a DeLorean traveling at 88 miles per hour to time-shift.
Plutonium (a trans-uranium element) emits high-intensity gamma rays, instantly cooking anything near it. This requires massive amounts of lead shielding to protect the operator from also being cooked, instantly doubling the weight of the vehicle.

 

[robsryder]

Plutonium (a trans-uranium element) emits high-intensity gamma rays, instantly cooking anything near it. This requires massive amounts of lead shielding to protect the operator from also being cooked, instantly doubling the weight of the vehicle.

I assume that you are only joking, as this is most certainly not true about the isotopes of Pu. The Pu-238 isotope has a relatively short half-life (just a bit less than 88 years) and emits alpha particles and some weak gamma rays. It is the alpha particles with their short range that makes this very useful as a long term power source for many space going vessels (e.g., voyager and cassini spacecraft). These deep space exploration craft are too distant from the sun to make much use of solar power.

Properties of Plutonium Isotopes - Institute for Energy and Environmental Research

Voyager program - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Radioisotope thermoelectric generator - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[pauls1150]

But can't we believe everything we read on the internet? Of course I'm joking!
One of the Voyagers recently re-awakened and communicated.
I know a few people who worked on the Voyager and Cassini systems.

 

[cajunrider]

An entirely different principle:
The flux capacitor enables the flux generator to emit a variable chronotron field, enabling the operator, his buddy, and a DeLorean traveling at 88 miles per hour to time-shift.
Plutonium (a trans-uranium element) emits high-intensity gamma rays, instantly cooking anything near it. This requires massive amounts of lead shielding to protect the operator from also being cooked, instantly doubling the weight of the vehicle.