Elon Musk’s Answer To Stephen Colbert’s Vision Of Ambient Wireless Charging: “We’ll Do It”

Last night Tesla’s Elon Musk appeared on The Colbert Report, and he discussed some of SpaceX‘s recent successes, the upcoming update for Tesla vehicles that let you name your car, as well as his general path towards supervillainy. Aside from the usual comedic hijinks, the segment also touched on some of Musk’s concepts for the future, and also on what Colbert himself wants to see in terms of the advancement of tech.

Musk articulated why it’s so important that SpaceX develop rockets that can take-off, land and then be refuelled and launch again without having to build a new rocket to do so. They also discussed the problems that have resulted from mounting tensions between Russia and the U.S., and how Russia’s refusal to continue sending astronauts to the International Space Station will benefit Musk’s space ferry service.

More interesting though are what Musk thinks the future of earth-based flight might hold: He talked about how aircraft should have vertical take-off and landing, for instance, which would be more efficient in terms of space, and which would also allow for electric-powered aircraft. There’s another great reason I’d like to see this, aside from the obvious benefits – we want our aircraft to resemble those in sci-fi movies, which almost universally take off and land vertically.

Finally, Musk opened the floor to Colbert, asking him what he’d like to see in the future – Colbert’s main request, after ditching the keyboard and mouse (Musk is already a fan of the Leap Motion Controller which enables this to some degree) was that we have wireless ambient power available in our homes, and across America via a subscription-based service so that you never have to worry about plugging in again. If it sounds familiar, it’s because that’s basically what TC Disrupt alum Ossia wants to offer with its Cota charging system, but no one has yet made a system like that that’s viable for everyday consumer use. Musk finished by conceding that “yeah, we’ll do it” however, so maybe he’ll turn his considerable talents to tackling this somewhere down the line.