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Flying Cars Are Coming, but They Will Be Terribly Expensive

This is a good-news-bad-news type of scenario. The good news is that it looks as if we’re inching closer to getting the flying car we’ve been dreaming of for decades. The bad news is that, when it does come, only a handful of people will be able to afford it.
Klein Vision's AirCar is the first flying car to complete an manned inter-city flight 6 photos
Photo: Klein Vision
AirCar Prototype 1 has completed the first-ever inter-city flight in SlovakiaAirCar Prototype 1 has completed the first-ever inter-city flight in SlovakiaAirCar Prototype 1 has completed the first-ever inter-city flight in SlovakiaAirCar Prototype 1 has completed the first-ever inter-city flight in SlovakiaAirCar Prototype 1 has completed the first-ever inter-city flight in Slovakia
This should hardly come as a surprise: every new technology is expensive until it matures enough to become affordable. This will also apply to flying cars, a recent study by Pentagon Motor Group reveals. So, those who will first get to own a vehicle able to operate both on the road and in the air will have to be rich.

If you want to put an exact figure on the flying car of tomorrow, this survey does that: the asking price for the first units to come to market will probably be in the vicinity of $686,455. For less the amount ($625,000), you can get a 2021 Ferrari SF90 Stradale in the U.S., and that’s not even the worst part. That would be the fact that, to the price you pay for the flying car, you have to add the costs of getting a pilot license, insurance, fuel and storage, which could total $69,000 for the first year of ownership.

To come up with these figures, the study looked at some of the most mediated projects of flying cars, like the PAL-V, the AeroMobil, the Moller Skycar, the Aska, SkyDrive, and Terrafugia. Because many of these are planned with long ranges and the battery technology is not there yet to deliver, they have large large fuel tanks and two jet engines. They also have retractable wings, a necessity if they’re to be allowed on the road as well, and both automotive and avionics equipment on board.

In other words, like everything else in this world, flying cars will be rich men’s toys when they first come to market. If they ever come to market.

Flying cars have been a long-standing dream with mankind, but also a seemingly unattainable one. Some of the projects mentioned above were supposed to head into production back in 2016 or 2019, and they’re still not even close to getting there. But there is hope – for the one-percenters.
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Editor's note: Gallery shows the AirCar from Klein Vision, which completed a manned inter-city flight successfully in June 2021.

About the author: Elena Gorgan
Elena Gorgan profile photo

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.
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