Would you buy one of these ? Image Credit: Alef Aeronautics
This remarkable aerial vehicle is capable of driving on the road and then taking off into the wide blue yonder.
It seems that companies have been vowing to deliver on the promise of flying cars for decades now, but this latest prototype by Alef Aeronautics is perhaps the closest thing we've seen to the real deal so far.
The car certainly looks unusual - almost like something out of a 1960s Gerry Anderson TV series - with an all-black design and a centralized cockpit where the driver and passengers would be situated.
The first footage of it in action (see below) was released recently and it does look quite impressive.
"While previous videos exist of cars driving and using a runway to take off, videos of tethered flights, and eVTOL flying taxis taking off, this is the first publicly released video of a car driving and taking off vertically," the company said in a statement.
According to CEO Jim Dukhovny, the car's controls take a mere 15 minutes to learn.
"This drive and flight test represents an important proof of technology in a real-world city environment," he said. "We hope it will be a moment similar to the Wright Brothers' Kitty Hawk video, proving to humanity that new transportation is possible."
But is this vehicle truly a car ?
While it can drive and act like a car on the road, in the air it operates more like a drone with a series of eight propellers providing lift and steering.
You can check out footage of it in action in the video below.
Somehow it's even uglier than a cybertruck, and that's saying something. I can't imagine it would do so hot in a collision - you would be turned to paste instantly in a crash of any kind. It's a plastic box. Not to mention if you watch the video the reporters weren't allowed anywhere near it, and they never saw anyone get in or out of it, since, you know, doors are important. It's a glorified RC drone at this point, not a functioning vehicle. This is not the "flying car of the future". We need actual anti-grav tech before "flying cars" become practical and safe, not flying lawnmowers.
The first thing I thought of was the legal issues an owner would face. There would be endless lawsuits from other drivers whose cars were "sandblasted" by the downwash. Also, if the price ever became affordable, what about the collisions?
Apparently, I am the only individual here who thinks the video is fake and who also thinks the car manufacturer is fake. Reminds me a lot of the Vanagan 3 wheeled cars of the 70s. The whole thing was a scam marketed by a scheister named Elizabeth Carmichael who, as it turned out, was actually a man impersonating a woman. The man's name was Michael Car. We are led to believe that NBC filmed this, so, it must be legit. Here is a pre-runner to the NBC 'footage' which actually isn't NBC footage at all. I think this is an AI generated video, and the whole NBC take is also AI generate... [More]
It doesn't need to be fake, drones of that size exist - but that's all it is, a drone with nobody in it. They don't show it driving down the road for more than a few slow feet, probably because it can't. They never show an interior or a pilot. You get in that thing and a motor or prop goes out, you're dead.
And when the guy wanted to see the inside he was told, no sorry...you know, we have secret things in there that we are not ready to disclose yet. Right...mmmm....hmmmm
Please Login or Register to post a comment.