The Elio is a solution to a problem no one has: “Where can I buy a cramped little three-wheeled deathtrap instead of a decent used car?”

This article and especially the video made me laugh harder than I have in years. It’s going on my list of All Time Funniest Things.

Well. It does have the advantage of being better than most “manual modes” I’ve tried in automatics, at least.

No, I assure you the Hyperloop is still dumber. That’s nearly “vacuum-lifted Zeppelin” dumb. Not coincidentally, both of those ideas involve the use of a vacuum in real-world conditions, which is always a VERY VERY BAD IDEA.

One can only imagine how ruinously expensive this system would have to be in order to justify its initial cost and upkeep. Are there even that many rich people? You’d think that at something point they’d either put up with the traffic or use a helicopter instead.

Torchinsky at least knows when his harebrained ideas are harebrained. Musk could use some of his practicality when it comes to the impractical.

I’m starting to become concerned that Musk’s impractical flights of fancy are going to endanger his practical flights of fancy. The Hyperloop and cyborg-telepathy things can be written off as errant ideas written on a bar napkin, but this? This is becoming an unsettling pattern.

I would be a lot more jazzed about this if there was any indication that these batteries did anything useful other than “not exploding.” We already have plenty of battery chemistries that don’t explode. Nickel is also a red flag—that element is a lot heavier than Lithium, so the battery probably isn’t as energy-dense.