flying car
Mayukh Saha
Mayukh Saha
February 15, 2024 Â·  5 min read

You Can Now Buy A Flying Car For $92,000

If you were born in the 90s and grew up watching the Jetsons, a flying car should be on your wishlist. And as it turns out, it could soon be real. The price that has been put up on such a concept vehicle has been $92,000. With companies looking for new trends that would see them edge others out in the market, cars that can fly would be the thing to aspire for. Currently, quite a few companies have concept designs for vehicles that can both work on the road and fly. [1]

Some companies want to stretch it further with flying taxis ruling the roost. One of the companies that have been investing heavily in flying vehicles would be Jetson. According to the official statement from the website, this firm aims “to make the skies available for everyone with our safe personal electric aerial vehicle.” Interestingly, you can already buy the first car that they have produced. This is the Jetson One. 

This flying car goes up to a top speed of 63 mph, which could be partly credited to the motor which generates around 120 horsepower. The car is able to function constantly for 20 minutes. But what really sets this car apart from other concept designs is that it takes off vertically and is able to keep itself airborne. Surprisingly, the company has not noted the maximum altitude that this vehicle would be able to touch.

Jetson One Was Released A Year Ago- But It Soon Got Mired With Constraints

This car has several features, one of which involves a three-axis joystick. Interestingly, there is also a throttle lever that would adjust the power that is required. Since the car would literally be flying, safety is of paramount importance. And rightfully so. Therefore, it should come as a comfort to customers that the company has spared no expenses when it comes to ensuring that customers would be safe when riding this vehicle. 

The flying car- Jetson One, was launched in October 2021. This car is a single-seater, and the company has been able to sell all 12 of the first models made. It was announced that 50% of the vehicle would be assembled while delivered. The rest half would be up to the customer to finish themselves. This could be a little tricky- considering most of the riders will not have an acute knowledge of car mechanics. But this is exactly how the company has found a loophole regarding pilot’s licenses.

Yes, you heard it right!

Since it is a flying car (focus on the flying), one would need to have a pilot’s license ideally. And yet, there is a loophole that exempts homebuilt single-seater aircraft. So if the customer were to assemble 50% of the product themselves, it would be considered homebuilt. While finding the loophole speaks to the smartness of the company, having people build their own airplanes doesn’t exactly bring about confidence in the company.

The Jetson One also has quite a few constraints over it. This car is forbidden from being flown at night, or even over city traffic. Therefore, one needs to see this as a highly expensive toy that might come to use in the future.[2] 

Read: Grandmother Creates Her Own Electric Car For $24,000

The first flying from the company, Jetson One.
Image Credits: Jetson | Youtube

Flying Cars Can Be A Possibility In The Near Future- But They Come With A Big Question Mark on Safety

This makes one wonder- what happens if there is a flying car that can be flown whenever one wants to? As it turns out, there are around 150 companies that have been developing their own creation. And while the designs could be different, most electric flying vehicles are modified helicopters. And since helicopters don’t need a runway, customers would be able to utilize building rooftops and garages as pads for takeoff and landing.

In fact, these could serve as flying Ubers. At the World Economic Forum’s Lead for Aerospace and Drones 2020, Harrison Wolf stated, “When cities change, as populations move, the routes can move in a way that trains and rail, or highway infrastructure, cannot.”

The main desire to create a flying car is to prevent traffic congestion. With a huge influx of population into urban centers over the next decade, one can understand how a flying Uber would be useful. And with more population, more cars would be on the road. If the vehicles are powered by fossil fuels- they would be damaging the environment even further.

Therefore, an electric flying vehicle could be extremely handy in this situation. But the development of such vehicles has been slow- due to several restrictions imposed upon in. One of the biggest problems behind such cars would be the range at which they would be driven/flown. Back in January, Savvy Verma had stated, “The space where these aircraft will operate is sandwiched between low-flying drones and the traditional airspace high above. Aircraft flying in these layers will interact, and that’s where things get tricky.”

Read: 17-Year-Old Designed a Motor That Could Potentially Transform the Electric Car Industry

Maybe Flying Won’t Be As Tough As Driving?

One way to circumvent the restrictions would have been to embrace the learning curve that ground cars took over the last two centuries. But that wouldn’t be possible for the flying car due to regulations in place. Now, while some of us may consider these regulations to be a big obstacle, it need not be so! Regulations could actually be seen to help in speeding up the adoption of such cars. As it turns out, it wouldn’t be difficult for any developer to highlight the ability of the car to meet the standards. And this would guarantee the safety features of the vehicle. 

At the forum, Wolf was quite frank about this. “If we don’t take safety and security seriously, then society won’t trust this. The thing that matters most is that society accepts any form of new mobility or transportation. Without that trust, it won’t scale and the price will never come down.”

But this is where the different innovations would be helpful. The aura of creating something new always attracts potential clients. So if the developers were able to create a good flying car, it would garner adulation. According to Ed Lovelace, the CTO of Ampaire, “The performance-based standards are huge in letting electric innovations take advantage of a wide array of configurations that are non-traditional.”

Keep Reading: Dodge Unveils First Ever Electric Muscle Car As It Discontinues Iconic Gas-Powered Challenger And Charger

Sources

  1. You could soon fly to work in a $92,000 flying car that can reach 63 miles per hour.” Business Insider. Carlos Ferrer-Bonsoms and Nathan Rennolds. January 13, 2022.
  2. You can now buy a flying car for $92,000.” Free Think. Kristin Houser. October 28, 2021.