'Flying car' to go on sale by end of year
Flying cars are no longer reserved for the on-screen worlds of 鈥淭he Jetsons鈥� and 鈥淏ack to the Future.鈥�
In one of the first public test flights of a 鈥渇lying car,鈥� a prototype, seen in a video published on Monday, of a lake about 100 miles north of San Francisco.
The battery-powered Kitty Hawk Flyer 鈥� which looks like an oversized quadcopter drone with two pontoons attached to it for takeoff and landing 鈥� will be available to consumers by the end of the year, according to the startup financially backed by Google cofounder Larry Page. But don鈥檛 expect it to shave minutes off your morning commute anytime soon.
Yes, Kitty Hawk is a frontrunner in the race to bring the flying car to market, even as Uber aims to launch by 2020. But the Kitty Hawk Flyer will be restricted to flight over freshwater and away from cities and other densely populated areas.
The technology is near ready for hobbyists to take flight, with advances in electric motors, batteries, and computer software. But it鈥檚 further away from being able to stay in the air for the length of a commute, or ready for approval by aviation regulators for use over urban areas.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to be a Debbie Downer, but because of fears about battery fires,鈥� Missy Cummings, the director of the Humans and Autonomy Laboratory at Duke University in Durham, N.C., who is researching personal air transport for NASA, told The New York Times. 鈥淗ow is this going to work?鈥�
For now, one needs only imagine flying over water like Luke Skywalker in a Landspeeder. Or maybe the proper analogy is a ? That鈥檚 how Cimeron Morrissey, featured in the demo video, described her experience in a post on Medium.聽
鈥淵ou mount the seat and lean forward, just like you would on a bike. The controls are built into a set of handlebars and work similar to buttons and joysticks on a video game controller. It takes off and lands vertically, like a helicopter. But unlike a helicopter, the Flyer is 100 percent electric and powered by eight rotors,鈥� she writes. 鈥淚 feel like the Flyer and I are one.... This is just like my flying dreams!鈥�
In the test footage and other content published on Monday, Kitty Hawk did not specify what the Flyer鈥檚 intended use will be, only that it can be flown over freshwater. The California-based startup is also offering would-be pilots a $100 three-year membership for priority on a waiting list. Members will also receive a $2,000 discount off the eventual retail price of aircraft, although Kitty Hawk hasn鈥檛 said how much that will be.
Once the Flyer becomes available, operators can learn to fly it 鈥渋n minutes,鈥� according to Kitty Hawk, and will not need a pilot鈥檚 license. The Flyer is considered an ultralight aircraft, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, meaning an operator does not need a pilot鈥檚 license to fly it over 鈥渦ncongested areas.鈥�
The Flyer is one of numerous prototypes considered vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircrafts. Other big names in the mix include ride-hailer Uber, airplane manufacturer Airbus, and a number of other startups including Slovakia-based AeroMobil and German-based Lilium Jet. Uber announced at its Elevate Summit on Tuesday that it expects to deploy its flying taxis in both Dallas-Fort Worth and Dubai by 2020, according to Reuters.聽
VTOL aircrafts once they are in the air, according to VOX. Unlike traditional airplanes, VTOL aircrafts do not need a long runway for takeoff, making them perfectly suited for flying cars.
Flying cars have long been a science-fiction fascination. One of the first inventors in Northern California to tinker with the design was engineer Alexander Weygers, who , according to Bloomberg. In the 1950s, there was the , according to USA TODAY. 聽
What is really propelling these modern VTOL prototypes forward are advances in electric motor, battery, and software technology 鈥� and a host of wealthy investors.聽
鈥淓lectric motors can be much lighter, simpler, and cheaper than traditional aircraft engines powered by fossil fuels 鈥� and they鈥檙e getting lighter and more powerful every year. And that opens up a lot of new opportunities for airplane designers,鈥� adds Vox鈥檚 Timothy B. Lee.
The same is true with batteries. Improvements to the amount of energy laptops, smartphones, tablets and electric vehicle batteries have improved overall battery technology. This, along with advances in computer aviation software, is making their way into flying car prototypes. But these batteries still aren鈥檛 powerful enough to keep even an ultralight aircraft above ground for, say, a 30 or 50-mile commute, notes The New York Times.
Another major hurdle is winning over regulators who are trying to keep up in an age of flying drones and hoverboards.
"Generally speaking, technology is outstripping not just existing regulations, but the speed with which government regulators that ensure聽new technology is safe and organized," Karl Brauer, executive publisher of Cox Automotive, told USA TODAY. 鈥淭here are聽just regulations questions all over the place."
But it鈥檚 not just regulators who must be convinced. A majority of the public is wary of flying cars, according to a recent survey by two researchers at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute in Ann Arbor. Almost 63 percent of respondents said they were 鈥溾�� about the overall safety of flying cars.
鈥淕ravity is a formidable adversary,鈥� John Leonard, a mechanical engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology鈥檚 Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, told the Times.聽
