Elon Musk just sold US$2m worth of The Boring Company’s flamethrowers in 24 hours – and it’s for real

By Sujin Thomas

You just can’t put anything past Elon Musk whose tunnelling startup The Boring Company unveiled a flamethrower for pre-order on its website for US$500 a piece on January 27.

There’s a fire extinguisher on sale too, which we know not much about except that it’s going for US$30, comes with a “cool sticker” and that you could buy one for less elsewhere.

What’s impressive is that he’s already received 4,000 pre-orders of some 20,000 flamethrowers up for grabs, which means he’s made a cool US$2 million.

Musk, who posted sales updates on Twitter through the weekend, was riding a high when he debunked any rumours that he’s secretly creating a zombie apocalypse to generate demand for the flamethrowers. That’s a joke, right?

In December, Musk announced on Twitter that if he sells 50,000 Boring Company hats, he would start selling a flamethrower.

No one really took him seriously but as it turned out, he meant it.

Marketing copy on the website said the US$500 price tag excludes taxes and shipping costs and that additional customs fees may apply for international sales.

The copy also carried this: “May not be used on Boring Company decorative lacquered hay bales or Boring Company dockside munitions warehouses.”

Shipping is expected to start in spring but The Boring Company gave us a foretaste of what to expect with a demo video.

Musk himself took it out for a spin, attacking a camera with it.

Read the original article at Business Insider