Flying Cars Are Officially A Thing Now
The more I read about the state of technological progress today, the more I am convinced that we are moving into the future faster than ever, turning the impossible or at least the improbable into a reality.
One important area where we are doing just that, is the transportation system. You might have heard all the recent chatter about Hyperloop and driverless cars and how they have the potential to completely revolutionise the transport industry.
For a long, long time human transportation has remained pretty stagnant in terms of speed and convenience. Yes, we can fly to any part of the world within a day, but that’s not enough. We’ve always wanted better, faster, more convenient ways and now it seems like finally we are getting there.
Just when we thought that driverless cars are going to be the next big thing, we are now hearing about flying cars becoming a reality soon. It feels like we are already in the late 2020s. That’s how fast we are moving forward.
Why Flying Cars
Ever since the Wright brothers showed the world that human flight is indeed possible, we have been on the path of perfecting the technology to make any part of the world accessible to the common man.
While that has already been achieved, it still doesn’t solve our day to day problems. Flying to other states or other countries is not something that we do daily. Getting stuck in traffic however, is something that happens to us everyday.
The solution to that has existed in science fiction for decades. We’ve all seen and marvelled at the super sleek flying cars in movies and how easy they make life. Well now, we are quickly bringing that to reality.
From mere rumours, to concepts, to prototypes and now finally finished products, the first flying cars are ready to take on the world and we might be in for a big shift.
Exciting News
AeroMobil
AeroMobil, a company from Slovakia, has recently unveiled it’s flying car. The company will be initially making only 500 of these cars up for pre-orders and will be delivered to their buyers in 2020.
The price is hefty right now, at $1.2 million, but that is expected as this technology is as fresh as it gets. As with all other technologies, it will gradually become more affordable and go mainstream.
The car has a cruising air speed of 260 km/hour and it can travel a maximum distance of 750 kilometres which is a pretty good range. It can also be used as a regular car for when you are not in the mood of flying! All it takes is 3 minutes to go from normal to flying mode and vice versa.
Pal-V
If you are more into a helicopter style (drone style) flying experience, then the Pal-V is just the flying car for you. Developed by Dutch company of the same name, unveiled their flying car in February of this year.
It has helicopter style rotors though it won’t allow for vertical lift offs from roads. It can reach speeds upto 160 km/hour on the road and in the air. Like the AeroMobil, it can also be switched between a normal and a flying car which takes from 5 - 10 minutes.
The Pal-V is a lot cheaper than AeroMobile starting at $399,000 and you will get it sooner too by the end of 2018. The company states that you will need a ‘gyroplane pilot’s license’ to fly the vehicle.
The Lilium Jet
This is by far the most promising flying car that I have read about. Lilium Aviation is a German based company which has only recently announced the Lilium Jet, an all-electric flying car that has the ability of vertical take-off and landing.
Cruising speed of the Lilium Jet will be upto 300 km/hour and it will have a range of 300 kilometres on a single charge. The company boasts high efficiency stating that it will consume 90 % less energy than other drone-style aircrafts.
The Lilium Jet is only a prototype right now, but the company has had successful test flights which is encouraging for those who are waiting for a finished product.
Uber’s Flying Taxis
Uber announced just yesterday that it has entered into a partnership with several entities to make flying taxis a reality which could just be hailed like its regular cabs through an app.
Uber has entered into partnership with the governments of Dallas-Fort Worth and Dubai which will be getting the flying taxis first. It has also partnered with aviation manufacturers to come up with a vertical take off and land aircrafts.
Also, it has partnered with several real estate firms to plan takeoff and landing pads all around the cities along with ChargePoint, a charging company that will develop charging stations for Uber’s flying taxis.
If the project seems ambitious to you, it is, especially since Uber plans to publicly unveil the service in 2020, but with strategic partnerships with some of the best companies in their fields, Uber might just pull this off.
Any jet packs yet?
Funny you should ask. Jetpacks have had major advancements in the last year alone. Maybe I'll do a post about that soon :D
That Lilium Jet reminds me of dreams I had of a small plane when I was a child. I must have one!
hehe, It looks cool, doesn't it? I really hope they can turn it into reality. Looking at the success of the prototypes, chances are that it will be.
Great post . Rich boys toys
Thank you. Yes, right now they are. As the years pass, they will be available to the common man.
I think human carrying multicopters might actually be a thing in the future. Flying cars don't make any sense. Autopilot drones for 5-10 mile trips actually makes sense and I bet we see that before we see actual "flying" cars..
Yeah, the drones carrying people are more practical in my view too. They don't require runways and can be used for short as well as long distance travel. In fact, in one country (I forget the name) they have launched (or are going to launch) drone ambulances. Pretty neat, right?
Wow amazing post. I'm impressed
Thank you so much :)
Your so welcome
Hopefully, this comes in my life time and less need for more road space.
Definitely. It will take no more than 5-10 years to go mainstream (in my opinion). With vertical lift and land, it won't require a lot of road space.
Seems to be a much better solution than self driving cars.. if low energy air propulsion becomes a thing..
I think, now that serious attention has started on flying cars, and now that they are more feasible to do given the technology of today's time, we will se much more fast paced innovation in this area.
I also think that self driving cars and self driving flying cars will both be really popular. It will be cool to be in any one :D
are they practically operational now?
The first two are. They are not prototypes but commercial products :)
I remember reading about the Moller Merlin back around 1990.
it's the first I'm hearing about that. looks really fancy in photos.
It is a great news. But don't you think the same situation will happen what today we are facing on the road?
Yes, it definitely will. That is why we will need 2 things for it to be successful. Some sort of air traffic control and second we need to make these flying cars autonomous (which will really reduce accidents).
Terrorists are gonna be happy now. Just think of the possibilities!
Haha, any technology has the potential to be used for bad purposes.