How ‘frugal’ billionaire Elon Musk splurges: An inside look at his $78 million private jet (Page 2 ) | November 8, 2024

Claiming that frequent air travel is necessary to maximize available work hours, Musk is well-known for frequent use of private jets for commutes as short as five minutes. He famously flew more than halfway to the moon in 2018 alone. In 2022, he took a flight almost every other day, burning enough jet fuel to emit more than 132 times the average person’s carbon footprint for an entire year.

Some of that CO2 might be offset by the number of Teslas on the road, but the price tag certainly isn’t. Musk’s 2023 flights reportedly totaled more than twice his 2022 emissions and racked up $3.2 million in fuel costs. While this gas bill might be staggering, it doesn’t come close to covering the cost of the newest jewel in the jet-setter’s crown: a brand-new Gulfstream 700.

$78 Million of Cutting-Edge Design at Supersonic Speeds

Gulfstream began deliveries of the sparkling new G700 on April 23, 2024, according to a press release. In addition to being its most luxurious aircraft, the G700 is also the fastest, reaching Mach 0.99 during testing. Though its maximum cruising speed is slightly slower at Mach 0.935, Elon will still be cruising the stratosphere at just under the speed of sound. Here are the details:

• Maximum speed: Mach 0.935
• High-speed range: 6,650 nautical miles
• Long-range cruising speed: Mach 0.90
• Maximum range: 7,750 nautical miles
• Cruising altitude: 41,000 feet, the lowest in the industry
• Accolades: Holds more than 50 world speed records

According to Gulfstream, being able to fly longer distances at higher speeds means fewer flight hours and less frequent maintenance. Combined with its more aerodynamic wing design, this sleek speedster claims to be more fuel-efficient than its predecessors — a feature that the Tesla founder should appreciate. Even the newly announced G800 doesn’t match the G700 for speed.

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