Ever since the first days of science fiction, futurists have imagined flying cars. From Flash Gordon to the Jetsons, many envisioned them to be right around the corner of history. Now, these may actually be here, as a Slovakian startup company has committed to bringing their first flying car design to the market as early as 2020.
Is The First Flying Car Finally Here?
At the international car premiere show, Top Marques Monaco, Slovakian based Aeromobil showed off the prototype of their new design. Sleek and sporty, it can convert from land mode to flight mode in less than three minutes. When on the ground, it has a top speed of one hundred miles per hour. It also has a range of over 450 miles. In the air, it can travel at over 220 miles per hour with close to the same range. This is estimated at around 465 miles. There will only be 500 of the vehicles made in the initial design. These are expected to sell for between $1.3 and $1.6 million.The vehicle is only approved to operate in Europe, and owners will be required to possess a pilot’s license. A runway will be necessary for all takeoffs and landings. Currently, the company is moving forward with getting the first flying car approved for use in the United States. Once that happens, they plan on introducing it in China.
What makes this car different from designs being pursued by companies like Uber and Zee.Aero is that it uses a runway. The others are looking at VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) designs. They would only require landing pads, or maybe no more than a driveway.
“The infrastructure and nature of today’s society simply doesn’t leave much space for flying cars, unfortunately.” This is according to Juraj Vaculik, the AeroMobil CEO.
Image Source: Flickr
The following two tabs change content below.
Michael Turner
Remember that strange guy from high-school who never seems to be paying any attention to classes and is completely absorbed by his doodles and sketches? That’s was me 14 years ago. I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember - according to my mom, since I was in diapers - and that has never changed - except for the diaper part.
For a very long time I thought that animations and graphic design are my calling, but two years ago I got side-tracked and started building an interactive website with a couple of friends. It received instant gratification from fellow internet users, and that’s when I realized that the virtual medium is where I belong.
I can freely share my passions with others, work on ingenious new projects and find the most fascinating information about, well, everything. I spend most of my free time writing reviews for crazy gadgets on ArgyllFreePress, I work as an interactive designer for an independent firm and I also received my Fine Arts degree from the University of Oxford.