Movies like The Sixth Element, Blade Runner 2049 and Harry Potter wowed us with flying cars and now that screen-fantasy has turned into reality. In the recent Detroit Auto Show, the world’s first flying car by Alef Aeronautics, made its thrilling debut and it’s everything you dreamed of. Get ready to soar away in it by 2025!
‘One small step for planes, one giant step for cars’
Jim Dukhovny, Alef CEO at Detroit Auto Show 2023, Photo courtesy: Alef Aeronautics
If futuristic had a personification, this Batman vehicle-like car would be it! As per reports, it is able to take off vertically when needed and fly overhead above traffic, allowing drivers to decide whether they want to take their journey on land or by air. We can definitely see how it’s environmentally-friendly and will usher in a faster commute.
It has a silver, lightweight carbon-fiber mesh on top with airflow, enclosing eight propellers each with a software-controlled electric propulsion system allowing it to move at different speeds. Another report adds how it can move at 200 miles on the road and touch 110 miles while in flight. The underbody has four wheels, each power-driven by its own motor. It also has a proportionate build, roughly 17 feet long, much like an SUV, set to make parking easy. “This is one small step for planes, one giant step for cars,” said Jim Dukhovny, CEO of Alef said in a press statement.
Photo courtesy: Alef Aeronautics
The Model A prototype electric vehicle had received approval for flight testing just two months ago by the Federal Aviation Administration. Be ready to shell out a tidy sum for it, for the car reportedly has a presale price tag of a cool $300,000 (it’s still approximately two years from production)! The company may unveil a second flying vehicle, Model Z, with a reduced price, but for that, wait until 2035!
