Flying cars don’t exist, even though we were promised that they’d arrive in 2015 – 2020 at the latest. The reasons why deadlines were never met were many, and each particularly complicated, from proper certification, to the lack of regulation and the challenges posed by the existing infrastructure.
AeroMobil plans to do away with all these obstacles and bring the first actual flying car to market in 2023.
AeroMobil is a Slovakian-based startup that first came to international attention in the early 2010s when it introduced the AeroMobil flying car concept. The first prototype was presented in 2013 and now, a decade or so later, has matured into AeroMobil AM 4.0, the fourth-gen model. The AeroMobil is a real flying car, unlike developing eVTOLs (electric take-off and landing aircraft), and it has already completed thousands of hours of flying in the real world. Does that make it ready for public use? Sure it does, AeroMobil says.
eVTOLs are often called flying cars, but they have nothing in common with road vehicles, except maybe certain elements in the cabin. Flying cars, on the other hand, are just what the name implies, road cars that can take off at the press of a button (or several), whisking the driver, now turned pilot, and at least one passenger to whatever destination they want. It doesn’t even have to be an airport: AeroMobil, for one, promises to land and take off even from grassy surfaces and needs considerably shorter runways than today’s planes.
Photo: AeroMobil
AeroMobil AM 4.0 was in Miami at the beginning of December for a presentation during Art Basel. The appearance followed a string of presentations around the world, from Monaco, Paris, London, and Brussels, to Shanghai. The company says that a special art edition of the fourth prototype will be unveiled by the end of this year, with two more years separating the “highly discerning” clientele from the possibility to order one. Deliveries are, for the time being, estimated for 2025.
This is good news, but it should be offered with some context, like how the initial release was scheduled for 2017 and got repeatedly pushed back by the same still-unsurmonutable obstacles mentioned above.
A flying car needs both flight and road certification, which means it has to meet strict standards both as an aircraft and a passenger vehicle. A flying car requires training, even though AeroMobil says theirs will be easy to pilot and drive, to the point where no special set of skills would be needed. A flying car needs proper regulation and a sound legal framework to operate. A flying car needs infrastructure or, if it uses existing networks, further regulation on how it can use them.
However we look at it, even if AeroMobil is able to meet the 2023 deadline, it will probably take more than four years to see these flying cars being used by regular members of the public, no matter how rich.
Photo: AeroMobil
But when they’re finally able to do so, AeroMobil will probably make for a fine choice, based on figures released by the company. AeroMobil can switch between road and flying modes in under three minutes by simply folding out the wings that sit tucked to the sides. It can take off with just 400 meters (1,300 feet) of flat land and land within a distance of just 300 meters (980 feet), as verified during flight tests.
Power comes from a hybrid system with a turbocharged internal combustion engine that develops 300 bhp, with adaptive transmission for either traveling mode. With a single occupant, AeroMobil has a driving range of 520 km (320 miles) and a flying range of 740 km (260 miles), at speeds of 160 kph (100 mph) on the road and 260 kph (160 mph) cruising in the air.
As of this moment, AeroMobil is working toward obtaining European flight certification, which should be followed by certification in the U.S. Road safety tests have not been performed nor been announced, but the company is bent on assuring potential customers that safety is a main focus in the development process. For instance, it mentions a ballistic recovery parachute system for the entire vehicle, integral carbon fiber structure and occupant cell, and the possibility to include autonomous flight as an optional. As you must have noticed, no word yet on how this dual-function contraption would protect the two people inside in case of a crash on land.
Photo: AeroMobil
Earlier this year, AeroMobil also got its first ad. Big words are being said in it as bombastic music plays, and the focus is pulled from the hurdles of actually bringing this to market by an emphasis on the long gestation period and future benefits.
“To be or not to be is no longer the question. I am. I am real. I am the AeroMobil. I am a new form of being. My DNA is the amalgamation of aeronautics and automobile,” we learn in the ad. “I’ll give you the freedom to go anywhere you want, whenever you want. Imagine what we can experience together.”
Fancy words aside, “imagine” is all we can do right now.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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