Flying cars – the business of the future?

Have you ever been stuck in a traffic jam wondering how easier it would be to fly over all those cars? Or have you imagined yourself in a private jet or helicopter but then you realized that even if you could afford it you would still need a car as the accessibility for such means of transport is quite restrained? From now on forget about it all – the AeroMobil s.r.o. comes up with a revolutionary idea of a flying car that will give you the possibility to choose between air travel and road transport! A real business of the future, isn’t it?

 Source: AeroMobil.com

AeroMobil – “The Future Is Coming”

The Slovakian start-up AeroMobil s.r.o. presented its new model of a flying car called AeroMobil 4.0 at the Top Marques Monaco car exposition held on 20^th April 2017 in Monte Carlo[1]. The half-car half-plane is a concept on which the AeroMobil team has been working since the 1990s and that in all has resulted in five developmental prototypes of the AeroMobil flying car – the 1.0 in 1994, the 2.0 in 2010, the 2.5 in 2013, the 3.0 in 2014 and the newest one, the 4.0, this year[2].

A car that can fly was until this year only in our dreams but it has come true. With a hybrid engine and two operational modes, this invention represents a new way of dealing with the transport saturation and environmental issues such as the alarming pollution levels we face today.

Source: OurWorldInData.org

A project that brings together experts from over the world

While the AeroMobil s.r.o. was founded by two Slovak engineers - Stefan Klein and Juraj Vaculik – in Slovakia’s capital Bratislava, the whole AeroMobil team assemble today “more than forty experts from the automotive and aerospace sectors representing over eight countries across the world.”[3] This international composition allows an exceptional exchange of know-how that has led to the creation of a unique and innovative vehicle of the future.

A futuristic design

Among the features of the six-metre-long AeroMobil 4.0 you can find for instance folding wings that enable the vehicle to transform from a plane to a car in less than 3 minutes, a hybrid electric and gasoline power system that contributes to the diminution of traditional hydrocarbon energies and thus to the reduction of the pollution. In the aerospace mode, the flying speed goes up to 360km/h with a fuel consumption of about 15L per hour and an autonomy of 750 km, and in the automotive mode, the top speed rises to 160 kph and an autonomy of 700 km. The vehicle is made of carbon fiber that together with its aerodynamic design make the AeroMobil 4.0 perfectly light to fly at high speed for a long time[4].

Source: AeroMobil.com

A flourishing business in the near future?

The AeroMobil s.r.o. is not the sole start-up working on the development of a flying car. In fact, the concept caught the attention of many other companies that all plan to finish their projects by 2020[5]. The reason why this sector recently exploded may be the sharp fall in the cost of the electronics and the intensifying investments in the sector of aeronautics. All of them offer stunning features and differ one from each other but only AeroMobil and Terrafugia can really be used both as a car and a plane.

Regarding the AeroMobil 4.0, the company has already started taking preorders that are limited to a maximum of 500 units. The price of the half-car half-plane is between €1.2 million and €1.5 million “depending on final customer specifications,”[6] and therefore is intended for a rather better-off target market. But the affordability is only a matter of time as the company is expected to develop various models of the flying car that will be available at different prices in order to meet as many needs as possible[7].

The idea of a flying car seems to be more and more applicable to the present times where there is an increasing need for sustainable energies and protection of the environment. Technological advances like this one will not only soon replace the current inventions we use on a daily basis but also represent the only possible way to live in the future.

Veronika M.

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[1] https://spectator.sme.sk/c/20515124/slovak-aeromobil-starts-taking-pre-orders-for-its-flying-car.html#storm_gallery_60872

[2] https://www.aeromobil.com/evolution/

[3] https://www.aeromobil.com/team/

[4] https://www.aeromobil.com/flying-car/

[5] http://www.businessinsider.fr/us/flying-cars-companies-2020-2017-6/

[6] https://spectator.sme.sk/c/20515124/slovak-aeromobil-starts-taking-pre-orders-for-its-flying-car.html#storm_gallery_60872

[7] https://www.flyingmag.com/slovakias-aeromobil-unveils-its-12-million-flying-car-in-monaco