The dream of the flying car is almost as old as the car itself. For decades, there was not much more than airy announcements. But that is likely to change soon, because the first flying cars are currently being eagerly tested. Increasing electrification is creating a tailwind.
Lilium jet. Image: lilium
Kitty hawk cora. Image: kitty hawk
Pop up next. Image: italdesign
Volocopter. Image: daimler
Volocopter. picture: daimler
Volocopter. Image: daimler
lilium jet. Picture: lilium
Lilium jet. Image: lilium
Lilium jet. picture: lilium
Lilium jet. Image: lilium
Lilium jet. Image: lilium
Pop up next. Image: italdesign
Pop up next. Image: italdesign
Pop up next. Image: italdesign
Terrafugia TF-X. Image: terrafugia
Terrafugia TF-X. Image: terrafugia
Terrafugia TF-X. Image: terrafugia
Kitty hawk cora. picture: kitty hawk
Kitty hawk cora. Image: kitty hawk
Kitty hawk cora. picture: kitty hawk
"We will go into the third dimension", wilko stark, responsible for future topics at mercedes, emphasizes "we have already successfully tested the volocopter in dubai." the daimler group is not the only one that, in addition to its standard four-wheeled business, is soon planning to take to the skies in a profitable way. Daimler recently acquired a stake in the start-up company volocopter, which is working on manned and unmanned helicopter drones for urban transportation. The two volocopter 2X and 4X models, each with 18 rotors, are planned for passenger transport; unmanned goods transport will be handled by a cargo drone. through its new major shareholder geely, the swabians will in future also have a hand in the air car pioneer terrafugia, which has been testing bright white air cars for years – especially for the u.s. Once founded by MIT students, terrafugia has already presented a series of near-series air cars, but despite the US approvals that have since been granted, there has not yet been enough for real series production. Terrafugia is currently working on the hybrid TF-X, which is powered by an internal combustion engine for flight speeds of up to 320 km/h, while take-off and landing are purely electric. The maximum range is said to be 800 kilometers.
Google co-founder page presents air taxi
A company financed by google co-founder larry page wants to launch a flight service in new zealand with air cabs developed in-house. The small electric machines for two people can take off vertically and then fly like an airplane.
The volkswagen group presented a new vehicle at the 88th anniversary of its founding. At the Geneva Motor Show, his subsidiary italdesign will present a two-seater drone concept developed jointly with airbus and audi under the name pop up next. In normal operation, the vehicle travels on the road; however, with a propeller attachment, it can become a small helicopter that can reach a maximum speed of 120 km/h in the air and 100 km/h on the road. One battery charge is enough for 50 kilometers of flight. Recharging in 15 minutes.
The Dutch company PAL-V, which also presented its liberty to the public at the Geneva Motor Show, has already gone one step further. For those who are too annoyed by morning traffic, pal-V’s flying car is a practical solution for saving a lot of time. Two people can fly in the twin-engine autocopter a distance of 500 (in the air) up to 1.300 kilometers (on the road) – at a maximum of 160 km/h on the road and 180 km/h in the air. Price of the basic model: pal-V liberty sport edition: 299.000 euro. The luxury version costs just under 500.000 euro. there are enough requests.
Electric drives in the air
Technically, most of the obstacles have long since been eliminated, as have the highly diverse drive systems in two or more versions. Three dimensions are largely under control of the developers. For many years, however, there have been problems with the legal framework, as national and international transport authorities have struggled to grant the necessary authorizations for the operation of aerial vehicles on roads and in the air. Until now, renowned aviation companies and aircraft manufacturers in particular have had a hard time with topics such as the air car or the city copter. In the meantime, companies such as boeing and airbus, as well as numerous manufacturers of small aircraft and helicopters, are addressing the issue. Depending on the region, the symbiosis of car and airplane is probably of secondary importance. The situation is completely different with drones, which can take people to their destinations in urban areas without the risk of traffic jams. Especially for metropolises with millions of inhabitants like new york, los angeles, tokyo, singapore, peking, dehli or shanghai, citycopters would be a high-priced part of a future transportation concept.
Italdesign CEO astalosch: relieving the burden on megacities with pop-UPs
Italdesign boss jorg astalosch sees the pop-UP "flying car" concept developed together with airbus as a mobility solution to relieve megacities. The system is to be made available to many users at prices comparable to a VIP cab.
A few days ago, the New Zealand company kitty hawk presented a self-developed air cab called cora for the passenger transport of tomorrow. the californian mountain view company is led by sebastian thrun, who is working with his team on the dream of daily flight for everyone. Thrun was the founder of google X, where he led the development of the self-driving car google glass and other projects. the electric air cab cora has a wingspan of eleven meters, flies fully autonomously at an altitude of 150 to 1.000 meters and does not need a pilot. The maximum speed is 180 km/h, while the range of the batteries is a maximum of 100 kilometers. Cora is not available for purchase, but is to be offered only to airlines and air services. First test flights have already taken place in New Zealand. "in new zealand, we know we can’t use the same old approaches to meet our future challenges.", says dr. Peter crabtree of new zealand’s ministry of business, innovation and employment "we saw cora’s potential as a sustainable, efficient and transformative technology that can enrich people’s lives, not just in new zealand, but ultimately around the world."
A similar approach to kitty hawk with its cora is being pursued by the german company lilium. The company is currently developing the five-seater lilium jet, which can travel distances of up to 300 kilometers in purely electric mode. The air cab is ordered via app and can reach speeds of up to 300 km/h thanks to a total of 36 electric motors. It seems to be only a matter of time before we can take to the skies without an airplane – purely electrically.