A car that can fly, but can also drive on public roads just like a normal car: it is the kind of gadget that has fascinated the general public as well as inventors and novelists for decades. Think of film scenes from Back to the Future, The Fifth Element and Star Wars. An ever-growing series of start-ups and large companies are now eagerly responding to this.
Alef Aeronautics, a start-up from California that is financially supported by SpaceX, seems to be one step closer to a breakthrough. The American company hopes to start production of the first flying cars at the end of 2025. On Monday it announced that provisional orders – pre-orders in the jargon – are flooding in.
Vertical take-off and landing
The Alef Aeronautics flying car, which was christened Alef Model A, will accommodate one or two people. It is fully electric and has a road range of 320 kilometers. If you fly it, you can travel up to 180 kilometers.
According to the manufacturer, you can simply park it on the street, but also take off and land vertically like a helicopter. Take-off is done in the same way as other eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) vehicles. The car has no wings, but underneath the feather-light body there are small rotors that allow you to take off vertically and, importantly, land again.
Limited flying permit
This ambitious claim is supported by the limited flight permit that the start-up received at the end of last year from the FAA, the American airspace regulator. The permit allows the American company to conduct test drives and flights, give demonstrations and conduct research.
The expected purchase price for the flying car is $300,000, equivalent to more than 275,000 euros. That price apparently does not deter prospective buyers. No fewer than 2,850 customers have now ordered a copy, CEO Jim Dukhovny claimed in an interview with CNBC. Most paid a $150 deposit, an amount they can reclaim at any time. Anyone who wants to be on the waiting list for priority deliveries must pay $1,500.
Noise standards
Skeptics warn against too much optimism. According to them, anyone who already dreams out loud of being able to race and fly around freely anywhere and anytime in a car, like in Back to the Future, could come home from a bare-bones journey. According to the tech website The Register, it is striking that despite all the great promises, Alef Aeronotics has still not made a demo film in which you can actually see the car take off, land and fly. The company is still working on this.
Another common criticism is that the Alef Aeronautics prototype can reach a speed of up to 40 kilometers per hour on the road, making it look more like a moving airplane than a flying car. Moreover, there is still the greatest uncertainty about essential matters such as flight restrictions, safety of people on the ground, noise standards, legal consequences and insurance aspects.
The risk that the many prospective buyers will only be allowed to use their very expensive Alef Model A in very limited and strictly regulated circumstances in the coming years therefore seems high.
