DeSantis says flying Teslas will be legal in Florida

DeSantis says flying Teslas will be legal in Florida

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has announced that Tesla's flying Roadsters will be legal in the state. The announcement, made on social media, has triggered an immediate wave of skepticism: the vehicle Elon Musk promised years ago still does not exist commercially, and the measure comes without a single unit ever registered. In the context of the Tesla CEO's recurring announcements —Hyperloop, CyberCab, Semi, Mars colonies— the news has been received as another marketing episode rather than a real regulatory step forward.

What exactly did DeSantis announce about flying Teslas?

The announcement is brief: the Florida governor states that flying Roadsters will be legal in the state. There are no technical details, no timelines, no safety requirements, and no mention of whether the vehicle has passed any kind of federal certification. The measure is presented as a statement of intent, not a full regulatory framework.

The most common reaction points to a propaganda operation. Some argue the announcement is a stunt by Tesla's owner and that the measure responds to no real need. On the other side is the argument that Florida wants to position itself as friendly territory for automotive innovation, though with no vehicle to regulate, the gesture hangs in the air.

Musk's track record of promises that fuels the skepticism

The announcement is read as one more link in a chain of loudly trumpeted projects that never reach production. Hyperloop, CyberCab, Roadster, Semi, Mars colonies: the list is repeated as a reason not to take the latest promise seriously. The disappointment is explicit in many comments, which call the flying car an appalling absurdity and place it among the businessman's most grotesque deceptions.

The comparison with fashion shows appears as an attempt to salvage something from the announcement: what seems extravagant to the general public could be a technical demonstration for the industry. Under that reading, what was presented would not be a commercial flying car, but a capability —the vehicle knowing its position and correcting it in three-dimensional space— that Musk would be showing to the industry. The show would be the wrapping; the technology, the content.

The practical problems nobody answers

Beyond the announcement, the physical and legal obstacles pile up. The maneuvers attributed to these vehicles would require a highly trained fighter pilot, with an anti-G suit and Eurofighter seats, or the result would be deadly. It is no minor objection: legalization without safety regulation leaves open the requirements for training, insurance and civil liability.

Police chases, if these vehicles ever took to the roads, would be spectacular, whether the driver respects the limits or believes they can do anything. The only practical solution suggested is a remote switch allowing authorities to stop the vehicle, something absent from the announcement.

Florida, the climate and the rest of the country

The announcement comes at a time when the state's average altitude and its exposure to flooding are a running joke: more than one person suggests that in Florida it would be more useful to legalize submarine roadsters, because before long its residents will be swimming with SpongeBob. The irony points to a contradiction between the state's futuristic image and its geographic reality.

The comparison with Spain appears in passing: there, the people's vehicle is the bicycle and the electric scooter for the better-off, not a flying sports car. The gap between the announcement and actual purchasing power closes the circle: a vehicle with no price, no date and no legal existence in the rest of the country.

The striking fact is not the announcement but its sequence: Musk keeps piling up transport promises —Hyperloop, CyberCab, Roadster, Semi— and none has reached the roads. Florida has just announced the legalization of the latest one without it existing.