As a kid, I loved flying cars, amphibious vehicles, etc., and I balked at the explanation that they weren’t more common because they weren’t any good. All the extra parts add weight and complexity.
One of the coolest such vehicles from my childhood, the submersible Lotus from The Spy Who Loved Me, was just a prop, but that prop has been bought by Elon Musk, who plans to convert it into a working model with an electric powertrain.
That’s the beauty of an electric powertrain: no heavy mechanical transmission to duplicate, just a cable leading to an electric motor where you need it.
Musk is heavily invested in Tesla Motors. Google a chart of the stock and see a Bubble being blown, especially on a car that has sold only 13,050 units through the year so far (as of September 30th).
Expect Tesla Motors to collapse.
I would think that to maintain positive buoyancy, the battery pack would have to be rather small, leading to limited range and run time.
I don’t know, Nookie, exploration submersibles seem to do okay and they’re all-electric. Of course they also move very sedately to take advantage of the fact that drag increases with the square of the velocity. You’ll certainly be correct if Musk intends to preserve the kind of speed and maneuverability seen in the movie.